Now you are the
body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (1 Corinthians 12:27)
A psychologist once did a
study on how members of the various sections of eleven major symphony orchestras
perceived each other. The perceptions that they found were that the
percussionists were viewed as insensitive, unintelligent, and hard-of-hearing,
yet fun-loving. String players were seen as arrogant, stuffy, and unathletic.
The orchestra members overwhelmingly chose "loud" as the primary
adjective to describe the brass players. Woodwind players seemed to be held in
the highest esteem, described as quiet and meticulous, though a bit
egotistical. With such widely divergent
personalities and perceptions, how could an orchestra ever come together to
make such wonderful music? The answer is simple: regardless of how those
musicians view each other, they subordinate their feelings and biases to the
leadership of the conductor. Under his guidance, they play beautiful music.
You see, Christ is our
conductor. When we subordinate our
feelings and our biases, we are able to play beautiful music together.
Paul, in our lessons
from Corinthians above, compares the church to a human body with Christ as the
head. It’s the same truth as with Christ
as conductor of an orchestra. Each one
of us is a part of Christ’s body. Some
are hands, some are feet. Some are the
mouth, some are the little pinky fingers.
Regardless of what the part, each is vital for the health and the
function of the body. Without each part doing its job, the body will suffer.
It doesn’t matter what
part of the body you are. You are
important. And when we subordinate our
feelings and biases to the head who controls the body, then the body will function
properly. When we are willing to follow
the head and to work together in sync with each other, the body can thrive and
it can grow bigger and stronger.
I don’t think there’s a
single one of us who does not want the body of Christ to thrive and grow. So as a member of that body, what will you do
to help promote its growth? How will you
do your part to make it thrive and flourish?
Find forgiveness at the
cross, find peace with God and peace with the other members of the body, and find
ways to serve the rest of the body. And then watch the body thrive and grow as
we work together. We will grow stronger,
more will come to know Christ, and God will be glorified. May God bless our church and give us the
wisdom and the strength to follow our head, Christ.
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