Here is the revelation that is shaping my life today – the picture of the body of Christ is not nice imagery it’s a spiritual reality.
1 Corinthians 12:25-27 NLT
[25] This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. [26] If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. [27] All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.
Observation
In a day when isolation and aloneness seduce so many of us, we need to be reminded that we are all part of the body of Christ. We are not alone – we are together. This imagery of the body makes it clear that we are not just part of, but critical too, each other. We are connected in the same way body parts are connected. Each is different from the other, but each is important to the other. And our connection is deep, we suffer and rejoice together.
I think in our big house, my space, fenced lifestyles we have lost this beautiful reality of togetherness in one body of Christ. Aloneness has broken in, self has become the focus, and being part of and responsible for being, one body has been lost. We have lost the rejoicing and pain of togetherness, and we have lost our sense of ‘part.’ Here is the invitation to return to the Kingdom of God imagery of my personal reality – “All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.”
I can’t help but wonder how the world would view the church if this beauty was portrayed by the church? And how much the church operates as a cripple and not the well-tuned athlete, clear on purpose and the race, because we have lost the image of one body? Witness and Effectiveness are keywords in the church world, but we seem to want to develop a new program to achieve these results rather than submit to the Kingdom reality of one body in Christ.
Application
I need to allow Holy Spirit to bring me into greater awareness of my place and position in the body of Christ. I will allow this Kingdom reality picture of one body to shape my framing story.
Response
Thank you that you put me in community. You give me others and you give me to others. Thank you that you continually call me from the small story of self into your larger story for life of others. Thank you that you invite me into the community of yourself.
Meditation
Meditation truth – All of you together are Christ’s body.
Consider:
How much do aloneness and self shape the story of your life?
Do you consider those in your sphere of the body as part of your body? Do you rejoice and suffer with them?
JOURNEY DEEPER
