One Body

The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it, if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. (From 1 Corinthians 12)

I hope the fact that I have not been writing in a while does not mean my life has been stagnate and lacking growth but only a reflection of getting everything done at school for the kids. One of the things I am blessed with each week is getting to hear a great speaker in our congregation. I call him a great speaker because every time I hear a lesson, my mind is challenged to think and consider all that God has done in the past and is doing right now in our lives. While I would not even assume he desires for my thoughts to wonder in the many directions my mind has taken, I know he loves to know he has engaged listeners each week. I trust that the Holy Spirit is involved with his lessons each week and also trust the Holy Spirit is leading my thoughts in the direction needed for my individual growth.

Oddly, I was not even present for the lesson leading to the thoughts coming from the scripture above. Due to this, I should probably not "quote" much from his lesson. We did have a discussion of the lesson in our Sunday night life group and I got the message "second-hand." The concept sending my thoughts into a spin came from his description of the "two side" comparisons of our brains and what motivates some of us to approach our Christian lives in one way or the other.

I have already stated my belief of the body of Christ being found throughout the many denominational names we see on buildings in our community and yet I never really considered how this variety might be a GOD DESIGN! Of course, those growing up within the same heritage as myself know how we have always declared denominations to be an abomination. This is also why so many in my fellowship are offended when someone associates those meeting in a building with the name "Church of Christ" with the word denomination.

Having visited many of the various denominations in and around the community, I am quick to recognize sincere devotion to God and our saviour Jesus Christ. I have found nothing other than people wanting their lives to reflect the light of Christ in all they do and yet for most of my life, I condemned what they were doing as evil and considered them adversaries of Christ because they were not like me. While there are still those within my fellowship stilling holding on to these beliefs, I am proud to say they are becoming fewer and fewer with each passing year. Effectively, we were considering ourselves the "head" and telling every other part of the body they were not only not needed but destructive to the body.

Having taken a little time to look inward on my local congregation, I see the same thing within the walls of one building I see demonstrated in the community. We have several life groups with differing names (denominations) and different focus of Christian activity. We have differing classes each Sunday and Wednesday. One of the groups on Wednesday night has named themselves (Christians In Action) and focus getting out to the community with Christ-like activities. Yes, it is perfectly ok for us to have a variety of names representing who we are and what we are doing for Christ just as long as we come to the building with "Church of Christ" on the sign.

Taking this focus back into the community, I see no problem with grouping Christians based upon the focus of Christ-like activity going on in each group. In fact, if we are serving Christ, the true head of the Church, then we are all part of the same body and necessary for the body to function properly.

When I look at the last part of the quote from 1 Corinthians above, I also see how the body suffers when any part of the body suffers. If we take a careful look at what has happened to Christianity over the past decade in our country and how many people are living without Christ in our communities, it is not hard to see how the failures of those in many denominations representing Christ have led to a distrust of Christianity (the body). Whether it is a preacher being caught in an adulterous affair, a television evangelist caught in criminal sting operation or a priest abusing young boys, we are all affected in a negative manner because of who we represent.

As I finished writing this last comment, I am reminded of a dear friend who discovered a cancerous tumor in his brain a few weeks ago and the comment that cancers survive the defenses of the body because the body does not recognize the cancer as being destructive. I think it is too bad we are quick to raise our weapons in the defense of tradition and effectively miss the cancer of Satan slipping in to eat away at all that is GOOD!