The human body is a marvelous nexus of organs. While each organ has its own distinctive character and function, no organ has life independently of the other organs. There is a beautiful interdependence. Our lungs are vital to our life, supplying oxygen to our body while expelling that which we do not need. But our lungs would not be able to function without our nose, mouth, brain, blood, heart, and other organs. So it is with the heart, liver, stomach, intestines, eyes, ears, and all of the other members of our body.
The fact that we are one body doesn’t destroy the individuality of our members. Our one body needs a diversity of members in order to be one body. That is, in order for the body to function as it was created to function, each individual member is needed.
Just as the individuality of our members isn’t destroyed by our being one body, so the one body is not destroyed because we are made up of many members. The unity of our body is dependent upon our diversity, each member of the body contributing to the whole.
So it is with the body of Christ, the church. Our individuality doesn’t take precedence over the unity of the church, and the unity of the church doesn’t take precedence over individuality. Neither is destroyed by the other. We are diverse in order to be one, and we are one because we are diverse.
We in the church sometimes have a difficult time keeping these in proper relationship to one another. We either emphasize the individual over the corporate or we emphasize the corporate over the individual, usually trying to correct someone else’s over-emphasis on the other end of the spectrum. In this church the corporateness of the church is emphasized, so we must over-emphasize a person’s personal relationship with Jesus. What tends to happen in this scenario is that people begin to think that living in relationship with the rest of the body of Christ, the church, is a mere option to the Christian life; an added extra to help me along if I think I really need it. However, this would be like the stomach thinking it doesn’t need the teeth, the mouth, the esophagus, and other organs to function the way it ought. The stomach can sit out there on a lab table all by its lonesome and do just fine on its own. However, you and I know that the stomach only functions properly and fulfills its purpose for existence–the stomach only lives–when it is united with the rest of the organs in the body. Separated from the body it is a grotesque and dead organ.
The reaction to this over-emphasis on the individual is to emphasize the corporateness of the church to the point that we look more like the Blob than a body. We are to have a church in which everyone is generally the same. We are all to think the same and do the same things in everything. Diversity of gifts is seen as a threat to unity. But this would be tantamount to saying that the whole body must be the stomach. But if the whole body is the stomach, where would the chewing be?
There are people who might also think that all that matters is that you are part of the church, and your personal faith and function within the church are really not all that important. This would be like saying that stomach can be diseased or dysfunctional, yet it can hang out in the body and still be considered alive.
Both extremes are to be rejected. You are an individual in the body of Christ, especially gifted to fulfill a function in and for the body of Christ so that the body of Christ can be healthy and function properly in the world. Maintenance of your health is vital to the church. Through the Spirit’s activity, you must draw life from the other members in the body of Christ and function within your particular gift for the health of the whole body. You can’t live apart from the rest of the body, and the rest of the body needs you to healthy so that the whole body can be healthy.
When each member of the body is healthy, no member draws attention to itself. It works with the other members quietly, almost unnoticed, as the whole of the body focuses on its mission. Only when a member is hurting or diseased does the body have to turn its attention to one of its members. When a runner is healthy, he is not thinking about his feet or his lungs. He is only thinking about the finish line. The body just does what it is supposed to do working together to reach the goal.
So it must be with the body of Christ. Our individual gifts are not given to us to draw unnecessary attention to ourselves. Our gifts are given so that we can quietly work with the other members for the mission of the whole body. When this happens, you have a healthy church.
