The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 1 Corinthians 12:21-22
I often think of this passage when I graze my pinkie toe on a table leg or when an eyelash stubbornly sneaks its way into an unreachable part of my eyelid. I can go days without thinking about my tongue until I irritate a taste bud or get a kernel of something in my back teeth. I cannot stress how relevant this passage has been for me this past week. Body aches and pains seem to be a daily part of my mid-life “turning point” (“crisis” seems a wee bit dramatic), and it seems like each morning I find a new body part I am either overusing or not using enough. I have learned that my current pains are actually due to the weakness of my piriformis muscle. This smaller than 2.5 cm gluteal muscle can be traumatized by lifting, overused by walking and irritated by prolonged sitting. Well goodness!
Can you relate? Maybe your issue isn’t a pain in the butt (literally), but perhaps you are also realizing that your body is made up of big flashy attention getting parts along with tiny linchpin parts that need attention and daily stretching.
Our Body of Christ is the same according to Paul. Addressing the disunity in the church plant in Corinth is echoed in the church in Rome:
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
Romans 12:3-5
We – in all of our various roles and giftings toward one another, impact each other in the whole endeavor. And this is all by design.
This past month, I loaned my car to someone awaiting car repairs and had to rely on so many people in order to get through the end of the school year and the kick-off to summer. I carpooled more with my husband, Matt, and took up offers for others to pick up my groceries. I turned coffee dates into walks in my neighborhood, and forced my kids to walk more places.
And do you know what? I more than survived, I thrived!
Turns out my husband and I enjoyed more time together, my kids and I talked more, and I finally connected with a new ministry partner that I had been meaning to schedule with because she offered me a ride home after also taking me to run errands! This isn’t possible when we try to function completely alone. Self-sufficiency is pretty lonely and exhausting.
Paul continues to tell the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 12:23-24):
…and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it.”
This week let’s continue to make a point to “stretch our muscles” and tether ourselves to community in two ways:
- Stretch your attention: Take time to consider who might be integral to the functions of your life, your community and our church by seeking out who is not being noticed that you could notice? Find a person you could “treat with special honor” and then go out of your way to acknowledge them.
- Stretch your reliance: Find a way that you might be trying to “do it all” and allow others in your community to provide for you and give you support. You may just receive a double blessing by choosing to be interdependent.
by Kris Thulson
