One Body

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”  ~1 Corinthians 12:12-13

About fifteen years ago I had my appendix removed. It wasn’t a particularly invasive operation — I think there were three tiny incisions that were closed up with a single stitch each — but the impact this minor surgery had on my daily activities surprised me. I didn’t previously realize how many things I did required engaging my core. Coughing. Laughing. Sneezing! Getting up or sitting down. Nearly every activity required using the area that had recently been incised, and I suddenly understood how the whole body is joined and held together. 

The Apostle Paul reminds us that the Church is like a body, with Christ as its Head (Ephesians 4:15-16). This indicates that we are joined together in essential union with one another and with Him, and just like we need our various parts to fulfill their purpose (e.g., the ear to hear, the eye to see, the hand to grab, etc.), we need ALL the individual people in the Church to work together so the body builds itself up in love. No part is less significant than the other, for how can the eye say to the foot, “I have no need of you” (1 Corinthians 12:21-26)?

Just like a twisted ankle will eventually cause your back to hurt as you compensate for the injury in your leg, so too when our brothers and sisters in the Church are hurting, it ought to cause us to hurt with them. And just like one has to pay special attention to the injured area to make sure it heals, so too do we need to pray earnestly for those in Christ’s Church who are hurt.

I would like us to consider how we ought to be remembering the global Church more intentionally, and how we ought to pray particularly for the Christians in Nigeria right now. It is estimated that somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria over the past sixteen years, with estimates of around 7,000 just in 2025. To be sure, there are others besides Christians being killed by terrorists in Nigeria, and for each of them we also weep, for the ending of a life is a terrible thing. But I want to encourage us to remember that our brothers and sisters in Nigeria — with whom we are united together as one body in Christ — need our prayers and our remembrance. We ought to weep with them as we go to God in prayer.

It’s easy to forget how big the Church really is, and how diverse in composition. But praying for those in other parts of the world — especially those facing horrible persecution — is a good way to keep this front and center in our minds. And it also points us to the joy we will experience when we are one day together with them in glory, worshiping our shared Head as He sits on His throne. Then we will truly understand that we are one.

Rev. Kyle Lockhart, Pastor