A lawyer defending a man accused of burglary tried this creative defense: "My client merely inserted his arm into the window and removed a few trifling articles. His arm is not himself, and I fail to see how you can punish the whole individual for an offense committed by his limb."
"Well put," the judge replied. "Using your logic, I sentence the defendant's arm to one year's imprisonment. He can accompany it or not, as he chooses."

The defendant smiled. With his lawyer's assistance he detached his artificial limb, laid it on the bench, and walked out.

That's certainly not what Paul had in mind when he used the body as an illustration of the relationship that Christians share with one another! Because we are the body of Christ, we enjoy unity on a level rarely experienced on this earth.

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. ... For in fact the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? (1 Corinthians 12:12-16 NKJV)

There are no "artificial limbs" in the church.

Paul's point is two-fold. First, we shouldn't be jealous of other members of the body who do something we can't do. All members of the body don't have the same role. Just because you can't do an eye's job doesn't mean your role as an ear isn't important.

Second, we shouldn't look down on those members who can't do what we do. If everyone in the church worked at doing what I do, there would be a lot of redundancy — not to mention a lot of tasks left undone.

Furthermore, there are no "artificial limbs" in the church. We can't break pieces off without negatively impacting the rest of the body. We suffer together and we rejoice together. (1 Corinthians 12:26)

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (1 Corinthians 12:27 NIV)

The Way of the Heart: Desert Spirituality and Contemporary Ministry by Henri Nouwen The modern classic that interweaves the solitude, silence, and prayer of the fourth and fifth century Egyptian Desert Fathers and Mothers with our contemporary search for an authentic spirituality.

Alan Smith ministers with the Church of Christ in White House, Tennessee and publishes the email devotional "Thought for the Day."

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