We Are All One Body

24 Jan

As a body is one though it has many parts,
and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body,
so also Christ.
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons,
and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.
Now the body is not a single part, but many.
You are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it.  (1 Cor 12:12-14,27)

Paul, just as Jesus had done, spoke to a lot of people who thought that they were the most important and that no one else mattered.  He also dealt with a lot of jealousy and envy.  People wanted to have “the” spiritual gifts.  They wanted to be the ones to whom everyone looked.  They wanted to be center stage.

Paul, in one sense, brought them down several rungs and, in another sense, reminded them of their own unique importance.  No one can really be more important than anyone else.  We are merely all parts of the body of Christ.  He, Jesus Christ, is the one who is most important.  We exist because of Him and we exist solely for Him.  It is to Him that we will ultimately appear one day.

Therefore, we need to “get over ourselves”.  We need to remember that, just as we have been blessed, others have been blessed with their own unique talents and together we make up the Body of Christ.

That Body of Christ needs to work together.  It needs to further the Kingdom of God here on earth.  It needs to proclaim the Good News.  It needs to serve the needy, to console the sorrowing, and to seek the lost.  It needs to be the hands and feet and arms and voice of Jesus now that He has gone to His Heavenly Father to prepare a place for us.

When I say “it”, I mean you and me.  Since we are the Body of Christ, we need to be the ones who proclaim, serve, console, and seek.  We need to be Jesus here on earth so that we may be with Jesus for eternity in heaven.

FAITH ACTION:  Pray for those who do not accept their place in the Body of Christ but, instead, look to have more and be more.  Pray that they may be content with what God has given to them and pray, as well, that they may use their unique gifts and talents for the good of all.