How Each Person Fits

No room for dis-ease or dis-harmony in the body of Christ.

Message Magazine’s Online Devotional for Thursday, March 26, 2015
Based Upon 1 Corinthians 12

Diseased! This is the first word that comes to my mind when I think about anytime the body is out of balance. When the pancreas does not know how best to produce and/or regulate insulin and we develop diabetes or hypoglycemia, we are dis-eased. When the liver is overtaxed by ingestion of excess cholesterol, or it produces too much cholesterol due to ingestion of too much saturated fat, and we develop hypercholesterolemia, we are dis-eased. When we exercise too much in the sun without adequately hydrating and replenishing minerals in our bodies, and we develop heat exhaustion or heat stroke, we are dis-eased. When we consume excess sodium, exercise too much or too little, take on too much negative stress, or even have complications during pregnancy and develop hypertension, we are dis-eased. And whenever we are diseased, our bodies compensate, but when it becomes overtaxed all systems fail. A good example of this is frostbite. When our bodies are overexposed to extremely cold conditions, in an attempt to protect the vital organs, the body starves its extremities of warm, vitalizing blood, which eventually results in the freezing and possible death of those extremities. Yes, the vital organs are protected for a while, but at what cost? Besides, just how long can this continue before extreme hypothermia sets in and the entire body dies?

If you have read our theme chapter, you may already see where I am going with this. Paul said, “For just as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of the body, although they are many, are one body, thus also Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free persons, and all were made to drink one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” not because of this is it not a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body, not because of this is it not a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body just as he wanted. And if they all were one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body. Now the eye is not able to say to the hand, “I do not have need of you,” or again, the head to the feet, “I do not have need of you.” But by much more the members of the body which are thought to be weaker are necessary, and the parts of the body which we think to be less honorable, these we clothe with more abundant honor, and our unpresentable parts come to have more abundant presentability, but our presentable parts do not have need of this. Yet God composed the body by giving more abundant honor to the part which lacked it, in order that there not be a division in the body, but the members would have the same concern for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer together; if a member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and members of it individually,” (1 Corinthians 12:12–27, LEB).

Each member of the body of Christ has its vital function, and thus, it is indispensable. It really burns me when intelligent people say that there are certain parts of our bodies that we don’t need. For example, people say we don’t need our appendix, just because we can take it out if it becomes infected. Some say, we need only one kidney, just because we can kindly donate one to someone who needs a transplant. Some say we need only one leg, or none, as the case may be, since some have become well-adapted to not having any. Whether or not we learn to adapt in these and other situations does not negate the fact that our God created us to have all of our parts present and in tact. Did He not know what He was doing when He created us or something? If anything is missing or diseased, there is disharmony in the body. Such is the case with believers. If we either remove ourselves or allow others to run us away from the body, we all suffer. If we are so proud that we think we can decide that we are just not gifted enough, because we think we know more than we really do about God’s organism, and exclude ourselves, we cause disharmony in God’s body. If we disrespect other members of the body and create schisms, we cause disharmony.

So what is the bottom line for today’s thought? The Head of our spiritual body, Christ, determines how each person fits into His body. The Holy Spirit gives gifts to be used among us for His glory and the salvation of those who do not yet know Him. We must be content to allow the Creator of our bodies, determine their use and eradicate all dis-ease and dis-harmony. I would think the One who created the body would know exactly how it should function. Let us be give Him thanks and accept His idea for our lives.