My trip to Kansas last week was nice. I was privileged to hear some great preaching and teaching, along with some very good singing. I came home encouraged and excited to hear what the Lord is doing in our two-state convention. The only down side was that I was a bit lame from what appears to have been touch of gout in my left foot.
With the pain in the toe experience, I was once again reminded of the passage of Scripture in which the apostle Paul describes God’s family as a body. Each of the parts is dependent on the others, and expanding on that thought, when any part hurts, the whole body is affected.
“The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though its parts are many, they form one body…. Now the body is not made up of one part but of many…If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it” (1 Corinthians 12:12, 14-26).
At the local church level, we feel the pain or share in the joy each member experiences in their daily lives.
We are also members of a larger body, which is God’s global church, made up of believers everywhere in this world. So, when we hear of Christians being persecuted for their faith in other parts of the world, it should cause us to feel their pain.
Likewise, when we hear of other Christians being blessed by God, we should rejoice with them, instead of being envious of their blessing. This week, when I heard testimonies of lives being changed in far places because of the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I rejoiced with those who were seeing these things first-hand. So, also, news of Christians being killed for their faith, brings feelings of sorrow and pain.
A Christian is not an end unto himself. We are all a part of the body of Jesus Christ. I know of no place in the Bible that says we are called to God’s Secret Service, and I read of no Lone Ranger Christians. We may not all be in high-visibility positions, but we are all parts of the same body.
Ephesians 4:15-16 says, “Speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”
Are you part of His body?
Simply His,
Pastor Jerry
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