Have you ever stubbed your toe? How is it that an injury to such a small part of the body can stop us in our tracks? All parts of the body are connected by the vascular system and the nervous system. For this reason, a good meal gives not just our stomachs, but our whole bodies a sense of well-being.
Paul wrote to a church in Corinth which had men and women, slaves and free, gentiles and Jews. What if one part of the body of Christ said, “I am not part of the body”? This “cut-off” as Family Systems Theorist Murray Bowen termed it would create great stress but not really remove the person from the body. Paul teaches that all parts of the Christian Community are indispensable and interconnected.
In our divided world, where tribalism prevails, this text offers us great hope. Instead of living isolated and insular lives, we benefit greatly when we choose to share life together. This requires both contact and compassion. We need to stay in touch with each other and also to actively care for each other. In Paul’s analogy, all of us have pains and joys. Through our connection to the head of the body, Jesus Christ, we share both joy and sorrow. As Paul wrote to the church in Rome, “We rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.” Take time today to look around the Christian community. Who is rejoicing? Rejoice with them. Who is weeping? Weep with them.
