Mutually dependent on one another

Romans 12:4-8

4 For as in one physical body we have many parts (organs, members) and all of these parts do not have the same function or use,  5 So we, numerous as we are, are one body in Christ (the Messiah) and individually we are parts one of another [mutually dependent on one another].  6 Having gifts (faculties, talents, qualities) that differ according to the grace given us, let us use them: [He whose gift is] prophecy, [let him prophesy] according to the proportion of his faith;  7 [He whose gift is] practical service, let him give himself to serving; he who teaches, to his teaching; 8 He who exhorts (encourages), to his exhortation; he who contributes, let him do it in simplicity and liberality; he who gives aid and superintends, with zeal and singleness of mind; he who does acts of mercy, with genuine cheerfulness and joyful eagerness.

In these verses of Romans 12, Paul teaches us that as individuals, we do not have everything we need to complete the body of Christ.  He says that we each have a different function in the body.  When he speaks about this he uses the image of a physical body to draw attention to the fact that we are in actual fact in a certain sense, created incomplete.  Of course the nose is created complete as a nose, and an ear is created complete as an ear, but the ear is not the whole body and neither is the nose.  Therefore a body has many parts that are created complete in their own sense, but they cannot function on their own.  The nose is dependent on the ear to hear and fulfill that function and so is the ear dependent on the nose to smell and breathe.  The ear cannot fulfill the function of the nose and vice versa.  

God therefore created each of us to fulfill a specific function for the body of Christ, but He also created us to lack in certain functions so that we will need the other parts for the body to be alive and doing all it was created to do.  If He created each member of your body with all the functions of the whole body, then your nose would have had feet and then it probably would have been on AWOL a long time ago.  It would have given a runny nose a whole different meaning!😉 The nose would not have needed the body and the body would not have needed the nose.  If this was true then there would never have been a possibility for the body to live and move and have its being in Christ and in unity.  

When Paul continues to mention the different gifts that God gives us according to His grace, then we can understand that we all have a different gift given to us according to God's grace.  He has created the body with all these different functions so that we do not have a choice but to work together in unity - if we would like the body of Christ to be whole and healthy and functioning the way God created it.

What sadness that we as human beings just simply cannot manage to envision a world where everyone has a part to play, even though it is a different part.  We compete as if the knee will be able to become the toe, we feel inadequate as if the thumb can take over the function of the kidney.  We are jealous because we fear that the left eye will see better than the right eye - as if both are not needed.  If we can just understand that everyone has their own unique part to play and nobody on earth can do it as well as you can.  We are all unique, yet connected to a body full of other unique parts, and we are meant to make the most beautiful music together, being mutually depended on each other.

Point to ponder

Ask Holy Spirit to show you if you secretly feel threatened or jealous by someone else in the body with a different gifting than yours.  Ask Holy Spirit if you secretly do not feel adequate when you look at some of the other members of the body of Christ.  Both these viewpoints are ungodly.  Ask Him to restore unto you the uniqueness of the identity, gift and function He has created you with before the foundation of the earth. Ask him to reveal to you which one of these gifts He has created you with, then walk in authority with it without domination, in godly confidence without pride and in joyful eagerness without disdain or feelings of incompetence.  Bless the design God placed inside of you when He dreamed up your design.  

City on a Hill - Casting Crowns