"14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts,[b] yet one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it."
~ 1 Corinthians 12:12-27
*** I want to start this with a MAJOR disclaimer. This is coming from my personal conviction - from having my eyes opened to where I have been failing as a member of the Body of Christ. I am not directing this toward anyone or about anyone. If you find it strikes a chord, I pray it quickens you to action, and I pray that you help hold me accountable to my attempts to do better as well.***
This week, I had the opportunity to teach a Life group (Sunday School. Bible Study, Connection Group... whatever you want to call it) for a friend. Nick was teaching our class as he does every week. We taught the same lesson (admittedly the lesson he researched and developed - I was just a delivery vessel) on the Church - both the Church with a capital "C" and the little "c" church - the first one being the body of believers in Christ, and the second being the brick and mortar unit with local members where we act on our expressions of faith in a communal setting.
The lesson addressed the "test" against which every activity of the church (and the Church) should be measured, with the reminder that anything not
committed to glorifying God is outside the realm of healthy church
activity. 1 Corinthians 10:31 - “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it for the glory of God.” This simple instruction is the charge of every believer. Mutual
accountability to this command must be the “DNA” of our churches.
This is the only pure motive. Anything less is an impure offering.
This is where the conviction started to rise up.
Here I was, teaching a class and realizing that I had been in church with these ladies for 2 years, and I didn't know them. I had seen some of the faces, but I knew nothing about them. Are they married? Widowed? Divorced? Single? Do they have children? Grandchildren? Where do they work? I recognized one from my son's karate school - we had never talked there. I recognized then that I had failed as a member of both the Body and the body.
I wondered then - on a larger scale - is my church hurting others in our Church? Are we hurting them by leaving them unnoticed?
During the service, from the vantage point of the platform, I surveyed the congregation. There each family sat in "their" rows. I found the ladies from the class, primarily scattered around the back of the church - many sitting alone. I recognized looking around that my church looked an awful lot like a high school cafeteria. There was the youth row; the "cool kids (adults)" row where you only sit if you know you are "in" that group; the young marrieds row; the family rows (where each family literally fills their own pew). There were faces in the places I expected them. And then I noticed, around each of these rows were scattered the occasional lone male, the woman who is there without her husband (whose kids are sitting with the youth so she is left alone), the middle-aged woman who is just another face in the crowd... and my heart broke.
The first time I visited my church, I was alone. I remember looking around for a seat and knowing intuitively where I could not sit. The spread out belongings, the group conversations - the fact that I seemingly passed by unnoticed - so I finally took a seat off to the side. An older member of the church came and took a seat next to me. She introduced herself to me at the "welcome" and at the end of the service, she stopped me to say "I'm glad you came today," and she asked me "is there anything I can pray for you about?" That single act was the greatest influence in my return visit, my eventually joining the church, and my finding my place of service within the body.
As I considered this, I wondered, how many times have I missed an opportunity to give that welcome. How many times have I passed a "face in the crowd" on my way to "my row", or been so caught up in catching up with my church friends, that I failed to greet or acknowledge another? How often am I preoccupied with my friends while waiting in the nursery line that I fail to to engage with the visitor in line behind me?
I am not saying that it's wrong for me to have friends in the church, but I think often the church becomes the hub of our social world such that we inadvertently become exclusive. We say we welcome others - but do we really? I wonder if we took a survey in the church - how many people would say they felt welcome? How many people would say they feel "included"? Are we taking people back to the days in high school where they could hear kids at the next table talking about weekend plans they aren't invited to? Are we asking people to join our "organization" (our church body), but not allowing them into our exclusive unit within the body?
The Body - the Church with a capital "C" - is made up of all of us as believers and in many instances, we are neglecting parts of our own body as we pursue relationships and "do life" (a new catch phrase in a lot of churches) with others. It's a tricky balance to reach in making sure that "doing life" with others means community and not exclusivity. It struck me as I sat in a Life Group that was not my own that when they "do life" together, and my Life Group does "life" together, and the young marrieds "do life" together, sometimes instead of creating community and being the Body (the Church, made up of many parts - each contributing to the whole) - we are create the high school cafeteria.
So what do we do? I am not a theologian, but I think it's a simple answer with a tough follow through. Jesus gave some clear directives: love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength; love your neighbor as yourself; and go into all the world a preach the gospel...
So that's what we do. We love God. By loving God and truly loving His creation - we love people (yes, even if we don't like them; even if we feel they have wronged us -- we don't let the enemy get a stronghold in our heart and ultimately our church through bitterness). We love the unloveable. We love those we don't know yet. We care. We speak. We invite. We share the news of the amazing gift God gave us through His son. And we ask ourselves "is everything we are doing bringing glory to God" - and if it's not, we make a change.
I know what my first change will be - next week at my church, don't look for me in "my spot." I am moving someplace new in the sanctuary. I am going to sit with someone other than the same old friends. I am going to offer a welcome. I am going to ask someone how I can pray for them. And if more people do the same, maybe - just maybe - the "high school cafeteria" can be transformed into a community where we can see what it really means to "do life" together. I know I am excited to give it a try.
