Share My Life With Others - Community

      "¹² Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized by^[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴ Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

 ¹⁵ Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

 ²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” ²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, ²⁴ while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

 ²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. ²⁸ And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. ²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰ Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues^[d]? Do all interpret? ³¹ Now eagerly desire the greater gifts." - 1 Corinthians 12:12-31

     I know that's a lot, but this passage is really what the spiritual discipline of community is all about.  We, as Christian's, were not  created to live and work as individual, independent units.   We were meant to share in the ministry of proclaiming Christ.  It is all modeled after this passage.  The whole metaphor of the body of Christ points out that each part of the body (each person) has it's (his/her) specific set of gifts or abilities that make them unique.  They are they only ones that can do certain things, or accomplish certain tasks.

     Each part of the body is not also totally dependent.  The feet do not need the nose to walk, or the eyes need hands to see.  Each person does not necessarily put all their backing on every single person in the Christian community.  I mean, could you imagine...A missionary in Africa calls home and says, send me every Christian in the world because I can't do ministry without them.  That's crazy.

    What the body is...is INTERdependent.  The body works together as one cohesive unit.  Let's say the eyes see something they want to grasp and send this to the brain, then the brain tells the hands to pick it up.  The body works together to accomplish the goal.  In the case of the Christian community, the goal is to reach the lost for Christ and to become more like Christ through helping each other.  There is just a subtle difference between interdependence and dependence.   Dependence means no initiative, no individualism, no uniqueness.  But that's not what the scripture says.  We are all a part of the body of Christ, with our own unique gifts that God has blessed us with for the advancement of his kingdom.  The discipline of community means that we recognize our oneness in completing our goal: to become like Christ, and help others do the same.