Dear Friends,
Sometimes it feels like being a Christian would be a whole lot easier if it weren’t for all these people. In the book of 1 Corinthians Paul would write to a group of young Christians trying to understand how they fit into the larger scheme of faith:
“The body is a unity, though it is made up of many parts; and though all of its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (12:12-13, NIV).
As a North American Christian I read these words and I picture myself as an independent individual joining with other independents to work together for a common cause. The focus is on what I bring to the Body.
I believe, though, we would do well to not see ourselves as individual wholes but to see ourselves as cells in the body. The function of cells in the human body is fascinating. Cells are the basic building blocks of life. Each cell has a specific function and purpose in the body. But each cell is only able to carry out its purpose in unity with other cells. Cells are unable to live on their own outside the body. The body is unable to live without cells.
There are times when cells attempt to function as independent of the body. We call them parasites and cancers. When they do so, and are allowed to persist, they will ultimately kill the very body from which it is gaining its own life, even though it tries to live as though it does not need the body.
The applications to us as people part of the church we call The Body of Christ are many.
When I say that I can worship God on my own. I am like a cell attempting to live outside of the body. I can survive only for a moment and the body is weaker for my death. Maturing in faith includes learning that life is found in the Body and the life of the Body depends on my serving my function as a cell in the Body.
But this is not just about individual persons. We can easily expand our understanding of the Body further. When one church attacks another, we attack the Body. It is a hand trying to cut off a foot. We fail to realize the cutting off of the foot may result in the death of the hand as well.
When we in North America view our way of doing church as central and treat Christians in other countries and cultures as less important. It is as if the foot is trying to cut out the knee. We miss that our life and health needs and is dependent on the other parts of the Body.
What are your thoughts? Have there been times when you were tempted to try and live separate from the Body? How does seeing yourself as a cell in the Body change the way you participate in your local church? Share your comments below or on Facebook.
Blessings,
Pastor Stephen
P.S. This week’s Milk Can is part of a series we are undertaking at Hope using the book, Soul Shift: The Measure of a Life Transformed by Steve DeNeff and David Drury. I highly recommend this book. We are drilling down over the next few weeks on the shift from Me to We.