I am writing this on Monday, November 23, 2020, for publication on Monday, November 30. This is day five of my quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19. I enjoy my wife’s company and we have not driven each other too crazy, but other than her, I have seen few people. We were able to wave out the window at our grandsons in the driveway and celebrate my son’s birthday virtually. But this has been pretty much a time of isolation.
This forced seclusion has reminded me of a basic truth of our human condition. We are made to function best in community. This is not simply a genetic trait; this is part of what it means to be created in the image of God. Before God created anything, he existed in community for all eternity past with God the Son and the Holy Spirit. This spiritually inbred need is what makes the Body of Christ such a vital part of our lives. The Apostle Paul clearly states this truth in 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. 13 For we were all baptized byone Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.”
This picture is found in a discussion of the importance of using the spiritual gifts God has provided through his Holy Spirit. Again, as we have discussed over the past several weeks, these special abilities offered to us are important for our ministry in the Church. However, the benefit goes beyond our “formal” ministries to our consistent interaction with each other. We need one another. No one is exempt from this truth. Paul goes on in the passage quoted above to say, “Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.”
We all need each other because God has created us to fit together perfectly. If one part is missing or not connecting, the Body of Christ is handicapped and will not function to its full potential. Therefore, it is important for each of us to find our place in the community and reach out to others. It is what we were created for.
Your part may be an encourager. Drop a text or call a brother and just find out what is going on in their life. You may have the gift of helps. Reach out and find a need in the life of another and meet it. If your gift is giving, offer assistance to a brother in need. You get the idea. We will only function at our strongest when each one fulfills the role God created him to fulfill. Don’t leave the rest of us incomplete.