For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
– Romans 12:4-5
Most people, in one fashion or another, have experienced the frustration of missing parts. Perhaps there was a time when you were assembling something new for your home, like a new piece of furniture. Along the way you discover that a package of screws are missing. I know friends who have faced the frustration of assembling a jigsaw puzzle and realizing that a piece has been lost. Missing parts nearly always leave us feeling frustrated. They impress upon us a sense of incompleteness, and quite often decrease the functionality of the thing of which they are a part.
It was timely that I had a chance to play with the bell choir of my church just before considering these verses. A bell choir is a great example of a body that needs every member functioning in their given role. Even one missing member is noticeable when the music is played. If a chord is written in the music, every bell for that chord must be played for the sound to be complete. In a run of notes, each bell in that run needs to be played at the right time in order to make the run complete. An omitted bell, or one rung out of sequence, is quite noticeable. During the songs we were playing, I was called upon to ring my bells sometimes as part of a chord and at other times part of a run. There were also times when I went several measures without being called upon to ring my bells at all. The only thing that mattered is that I was making my particular contribution to what the whole choir was producing.
Our words of scripture today help me remember that I am part of a larger body, and I have been designed by God to function in that body as God sees fit. It means I have a certain role to play. I need to be clear on what that role is as my giftedness aligns with the needs of the body. Because this is true not only of me, but of all members of the body, I should resist trying to serve outside of my giftedness. There are plenty of members who are gifted to do those things, and I should not deter them from exercising their gifts by trying to do what they will do better.
Lastly, these words remind me of the importance of relationship and interdependence. No one in the church can say they don’t need me, and I can’t say we don’t need you. If you have entered into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, you are part of His body on earth. Just as it is with our physical bodies, when any part of the body of Christ fails to function as designed, the whole body must work harder and learn to compensate.
One thing is for certain about a bell choir: there are no spectators. Every member has an assignment. In the body of Christ we may not all have the same function, but we are all a part of the body designed to function somehow. Every Christian has been designed as a body part, and is thereby joined to a functioning body. There are no missing parts of Christ’s body, only parts that have forgotten their call to function.
See you along the Winding Path
