Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
Romans 12:4-5 NLT
Last summer I ran down the garden, stretched down and picked up a fallen apple, recreating my great cricketing fielding past. I felt my right tricep scream out in complaint, and so began a journey of sorting out an injury.
St Paul’s analogy of the human body (Ephesians 4) for the community of Christ is well-made. It’s all too easy to forget that we each exist and play an essential role in making the community function.
After some delay after injuring my arm, I made an appointment with a physiotherapist and got some advice on how to manage the healing process. This was not instantaneous and demanded a lot of me, some of which included further physical discomfort. The tricep injury impacted my ability to cook, garden and do other tasks.
There is a unity to the human body in that each part is designed to work with every other part. This enables each one of us to live an effective human life. So too within the body of Christ. There is a unity, which can only be achieved when we respect the role each part plays in the wider objective of revealing God’s kingdom on earth.
Of course, we carry injuries from time to time. And injuries take time to repair. Some do so naturally; yet others benefit from some specialist and external advice. But ignoring an injury is unwise and can delay recovery. Self-diagnosis is also risky. Best to acknowledge and address the injury, seeking informed advice to aid a return to full effectiveness.
The benefit of injuries is that I can learn from them and so ensure that I continue to function well, despite the natural impact of ageing, both physically and spiritually.
QUESTION
What injuries are you carrying today?
PRAYER
Thank you for the gift of local church and for the variety of people in them.
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