We are the Body

This week I had eye surgery. I had some floaters that showed up after having cataract surgery. I came home with a patch on my right eye and of course I had fun being a pirate for the day – Ahoy Matey! I digress. Anyway, my right eye is my dominant eye. It helps the poor left eye see. My left eye was better after cataract surgery but it is still weaker than my right. That being said, by the end of the day my left eye was very tired. It was droopy and it hurt. It hurt even more than my right eye.

The next morning, I removed the patch and my oh my how bright and beautiful everything looked. My eyes were working together in tandem again. No more floaters and my vision was much better than it had been in a while!

This really got me thinking about my body and my health. My poor left eye was carrying the load that they both normally do. It became tired and worn out because it was weaker.

As the church, we have been described as the Body of Christ. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 12, uses the human body as an example of how the church should work. He says in verses 25-26 in the Message;

“The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exhuberance.”

If you belong to a church, you matter. Church is not about what I get out of it (alone) but how do I help everyone else function inside that body. Just like my weak eye, it works better because the one beside it has a different function. When the right eye quit working it caused the weaker eye to become weaker. Everyone is important in the body of Christ. Your gift be it small or grand keeps the body in working order under the headship of Christ.

When my eyes worked together, what a glorious sight they were! What a glorious sight they beheld!