An Opening Thought
I function at a high level. Usually. Most of the time. Sometimes I don’t.
Some Examples
1968: I was twelve, with a severe case of tonsillitis, in a hospital getting pumped full of penicillin. It turned out I was allergic to penicillin. Huh, who knew? An already sick little boy got a whole bunch sicker. It wasn’t pretty.
1973: It was the 4th game. We were 3 & 0 and looking to go 4 & 0 by beating Holton. Early in the game I injured an ankle. At half time, they taped it up, gave me a pep talk and sent me in. I played half back and corner back. The taping helped some. The pep talk not as much. We lost.
1986: For three weeks a pain in my lower abdomen kept me awake, interfered with work, and made it difficult to drive. The pain was somewhere in-between manageable and crying for my mama. They hospitalized me, ran tests for five days, and finally did exploratory surgery. They discovered a dysfunctional appendix. It had partially burst then sealed over.
For Consideration
Our bodies are remarkable acts of creation. God designed us to function and we are most functional when each part is healthy, strong, and working as God intended.
When parts get sick or removed, it interrupts the functionality our bodies were designed to maintain.
A little boy can’t attend school when he’s stuck in a hospital bed. A High School running back can’t play football on crutches. A young preacher can’t be as effective when he’s in severe pain every day.
Making It Real
Spiritually, God designed the Body of Christ just the way he wanted it to be. There are many parts, but one body. There are many members, but one church.
What makes a church functional or dysfunctional depends on the health of the church. Healthiness is measured by how well the body functions, by how well each part does its work.
Crossing The Finish Line
Beginning tomorrow morning, and for the next three Sundays, I will speak on:
“The Amazing Body of Christ”
To my Southeast family, please try to make each Sunday of this series.
For everyone else, if this series will bless your spiritual life, then log on each Sunday at 8:30 or 10:45 for the live stream, or find the lesson series in our site’s archives. http://www.southeastonline.org
Closing Thought
God designed our bodies to be functional, to work effectively.
He designed the body of Christ to be functional, to work effectively.
Let’s discover how and why.
