Today I was reading a devotional and it reminded me one of the numerous times one of my cell phone succumbed to the abuse it received. In this particular situation - I hesitate to disclose this - I dropped it in a toilet. I was helping my daughter and it slipped out of the pocket of my cardigan. I will give you a moment to recover from the "EW!" You okay now? Good. In any case, phones are expensive and I had heard if you put it in rice it should start working again. I tried it, and low and behold it worked...kind of. It worked fine except for my "m" key. My initial thought was "Oh well, I can make due." And I did, but it was a challenge to say the least. At first I would try to write texts without using words that contained "m"s. I became really good friends with my thesaurus app. After a while I just gave up and started sending texts and messages with the missing "m". Sometimes I would try to explain and other times I just figured the reader would figure it out. And by in large they did...I have smart and very patient friends.
Eventually the phone just died. But as my devotion reminded me today, it drives home a very real truth.
WE ARE NOTHING WITHOUT CHRIST AND
WE ARE LESS THAN WITHOUT EACH OTHER.
Without Christ we are like a cell phone in the toilet; no power, no function... in the crapper (sorry for being blunt).
Without each other we are like a cell phone missing a key. Not functioning properly.
Romans 12:3-10 reads,
3 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. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Paul isn't just reminding us to be humble about our position in body of Christ but to be respectful of the positions of others. Not what position they hold but that they hold value because they hold a position. Everyone is a part of the body. It doesn't matter what part, but they matter because they are a part.
When I read verses 9 and 10 and it drives the point home further. "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good." I am no scholar, but the way I read those verses is "You must REALLY love each other. Not just the "Well I love them, but I don't really like them." thing we try to get away with. Nope. Love has to be sincere - real - no qualifications. In order to really love someone you focus on the good. Sometimes you have to "cling" to the good. Hate what is evil. Cling to what is good. In ourselves and in others.
It can be like a couple who has been married for years. In order to stay happy together you have to focus on the good. Don't ignore the bad necessarily but cling to the good. Focus on what you love. People who do this, they are happy. You focus on what you don't like and pretty soon you don't like anything. Focus on what you love and pretty soon you start to notice amazing things you had previously missed. Its the same with the people in the body of Christ.
It is important to love - really love the members of the Body of Christ. To love the people in your church family is key to keeping the family together. And keeping the family together is important because if you lose a member you become less than. You are missing a part. Your "m" doesn't work. You may be able to muddle through and manage but you will never be functioning at the level God intended for you.
Families, marriages AND churches are meant to stay together. They were not designed to be transient. The sad thing is not WHEN a person leaves but WHY IT WAS SO EASY FOR THEM TO LEAVE. It is a symptom of disconnected lives and disconnected hearts.
