This reflection builds upon our previous article, “we are God’s family.” You may need to review it in case you missed it.
As we go through Lent this year, let’s remember that God’s only intention, by sending His only begotten Son, still is to draw us back to Himself.
What we talk about in this article, therefore, is the first practical meaning of what it means to be a member of God’s big family.
A good scripture to serve us as our foundation is 1 Corinthians 12:12-14,
Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so, the body is not made up of one part but of many.
I’d encourage you to read this section through the end (verse 31) on your own though.
Being members of God’s family means we are the body of Christ
Through baptism, we are incorporated into God’s family.
As I discussed in my previous reflection, “we are God’s family,” baptism means being adopted and born into God’s family through water and the Spirit.
Therefore, no matter who we are, what we look like, where we’ve come from, God makes us all parts of Christ’s body.
Whether Jews, Gentiles, slaves, or free, we are all members of the body of Christ through faith in Jesus.
One body with many parts
Read verse 18,
God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be.
The body of Christ has many parts. And, these parts are not all the same. They are very diverse.
Paul is using the analogy of our physical bodies. An eye doesn’t look like an ear. They are of different shapes because that’s how they were made.
And, they were made the way they are because of their roles in the body. An eye is for sight while an ear is for hearing.
Read verse 21,
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”
All these parts of the body depend on each other. They are interconnected and interdependent.
Also, there is no such thing as a useless member of the body. The eye can’t say it’s better than the ear. Nor can it say “I’m taking over the sense of hearing.”
No. It doesn’t work that way!
See verse 25-26,
… there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
Instead of the parts competing with each other or looking down on other members, they should understand that whatever affects a member, the rest of the body feels it too.
That’s again the interconnectedness and interdependence as pointed out above.
As members of the body of Christ, we can’t be and do without the other members.
There’s a saying from some African philosophy that goes this way, “I am because we are.”
Every person you know of in your life, and with whom you’ve interacted (directly or indirectly) will always represent what God has used to make you who you are today.
I know there are some past and unpleasant experiences you’ve had with some people. Even those ones, God has also used them to build you up to become who you are now. So, “you are because we are.”
Bringing it together
God has placed every member in the body just as He wanted them to be. That applies to you and all the other brothers and sisters in Christ. So, be thankful for each person you’ve encountered and those you will meet in the future. Ask God to help you appreciate even the members you struggle to love. Make it your prayer, daily. O Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers!
