5/2/2022

Recently, I sprained my ankle, and you never really know how important your ankle is until you injure it!  Trying to get around was absolutely excruciating, and I depended much more on my upper body strength to have any mobility.

It made me realize how ill equipped my arms were to do an ankle’s job.  I almost dislocated my shoulder trying to lift myself at one point.  I thought . . . “This is going to be a domino effect!!  If my shoulder gets injured trying to do the job of the ankle, who knows what’s next?!”

I considered the scripture from 1 Corinthians—which is so true of the church.  All members of the church are SO important, and when one part isn’t healthy, or refuses to contribute, other parts will ultimately suffer trying to do a function they are not created to do.

I ran into a Christian friend of mine who has been hurt by the church, and sadly, no longer attends.  I invited him to connect to the body of Christ again, and he said, “Naw, Jesus and I are good”—implying that being a part of a community of faith is not essential to his spiritual walk.

This is flawed thinking on so many levels, and it hurt my heart, because I know somewhere in the body of Christ some “shoulder” (figuratively speaking) is trying to do the job that God uniquely created my friend, “the ankle,” to do.

The Bible makes it very clear how important every person is to the body of Christ, the church, so much so, that that the church is called “the bride” of Christ and that he “loved and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25).

Jesus also taught clearly in Matthew 18:15-20 just how crucial the church is in keeping each other accountable.  He also reveals that “where two or three are gathered together, I (Jesus) am there with them.”

I have prayed that my friend will healthily grieve the hurt he has experienced in the church and realize it is made of flawed human beings and that Jesus knew that and still died for us and called us to keep running the race to try to be like him.  I pray that God will soften his heart and he will re-connect so that his unique gifts will be utilized abundantly!

I pray also for others who have lulled themselves into mistakenly believing that a faith disconnected from the church is not a problem . . . just ask my ankle!

Importance of all parts and unity in the body of Christ, the church:

The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church:  every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t.  If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing.  If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.  You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are!  You must never forget this.  Only as you accept your part of that body does your “part” mean anything.  1 Corinthians 12:25-27 (MSG)

Importance of the church in accountability:

“If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him—work it out between the two of you.  If he listens, you’ve made a friend.  If he won’t listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again.  If he still won’t listen, tell the church.  If he won’t listen to the church, you’ll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God’s forgiving love.”  Matthew 18:15-17 (MSG)

Importance of the church in Jesus’s presence and action:

“Take this most seriously:  A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven.  What you say to one another is eternal.  I mean this.  When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action.  And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there.”  Matthew 18:18-20 (MSG)

-Melody