Lent Day 2: You Matter

 

I just realized, that though all scripture is awesome (2 Timothy 3:16), all does not stoke the fires of the blog. In today's Daily Reading for Personal Growth, 40 Days with God passage, it was strangely less about personal growth, and more about the Christian collective. The scripture was 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, the scripture about how we're all part of the body of Christ; and just like individual body parts each person has a particular function. On second thought, that does get at personal growth. In the passage, it's clear that people sometimes dislike their role:

If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. 

- 1 Corinthians 12:15-16

It seems that the foot is displeased. It seems like the ear is sad. They feel useless, or else they wouldn't say something as stupid as "I'm not a part of the body." I mean...but umm...it's attached! In my mind, I imagine a disembodied ear, kneeling (as much as an ear can kneel) on the ground crying out "woe is me!"  If you were a disembodied body part abandoned on the side of the road, there may be some cause for dismay; however that's not what is going on here. 

Even if the foot is not a hand, it has foot functions, so why would it say: "I'm not a part of the body?" I can't be sure, but I think the foot is so focused (figuratively speaking) on the hand, and the function of the hand, that it doesn't realize they are connected. The foot feels disembodied, but it's not disembodied. The foot has a function, but if it is disembodied, that function cannot be performed. Why? Because a disembodied foot can't move. It can maybe wiggle its toes (I feel like my calf is involved), but it can't move without the leg. And the leg on its own can't move without the hip, and so on and so forth. 

So what does it all mean? 

I don't know! 

But I think it means two things: 

1. You matter; your function matters
2. Our functions only make sense in community

Knowing #1 is true, makes you seek the community in #2. When you don't know you matter, you feel disembodied and like your on the outside of community looking in. 

The personal growth in this comes in realizing that you're a big deal within a big deal. Sometimes we feel small and disconnected, but that is likely a lie of the enemy and a little bit crazy. It's just as crazy as driving by a disembodied ear crying on the side of the road. 

Such a thing does not exist...in the body of Christ.