The Church: the Body of Christ

two person standing near white church
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As the (human) body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.

Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.

1 Corinthians 12:12 & 27.

How our human body gives us cause to wonder at it! King David exclaimed: “I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made!” (Psalm 139:14).

Indeed, what diversity, and yet what harmony there is in this complex of members and organs, of which the tiniest and lowliest has its purpose and proper function! Our eye and our little finger, for example, cannot replace each other, yet the latter makes it possible to remove a speck of dust that irritates the former. 

If the function of a single organ is insufficient or out of order, the whole body will soon prove to be ill.

These aspects are all reflected in the Church, the body of Christ. which is not an organisation but a living organ. “Those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary” (v.22), and each one should beware of scorning his or her own function or that of others (cf. vv. 15.16.21). An aged or infirm Christian, through his prayers, a timely word or simply material help, may well encourage an evangelist or another servant in his zeal.

Similarly, whatever each of us has received, let us use it for others “as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10).