Talking About "Body Parts"

As the parent of a soon to be college basketball player, I have had my share of sitting in gyms watching different teams practice and play over the years. One thing that usually intrigued me was that if one player did not do exactly as the coach instructed during practice, the entire team had to do laps around the gym. Something about that did not seem fair and some of the boys’ facial expressions said as much! However, in the context of team, it reinforced the fact that the actions of one affected the whole. This is not unlike what happened in Eden. Adam and Eve messed up and all of humanity continues to be affected by the consequences of their actions. Again, that does not seem fair. Just maybe, if we were able to start in our own Eden we would have made a different choice! However, just like those boys doing their laps in the gym, we did not get a vote. For better or for worse, we are a team.
 
The apostle Paul used the same idea when he sought to remind members of the early Church of their obligations to each other. To the Corinthians he writes, "The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don't, the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance" (1 Cor. 12:25-26, The Message). I find the last two sentences rather compelling; if one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the cheerfulness.
 
One body, one team. We all need each other. Earlier on in his letter Paul states, "For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him" (vv. 14-18, KJV). In other words, there is interrelatedness between each part with each part doing exactly as it should. Then and only then is the body truly healthy.
 
What does that mean on a practical level? As members of the body of Christ we are obligated to each other to play our part as God intended. We cannot opt out simply because we do not like some of the other body parts. Secondly, what part do you play? Maybe someone could benefit from a word of encouragement, a phone call, a note to say you care. Thirdly, understand that together we are the church, the body of Christ. Individually, we cannot wait for someone else to do what God placed us in the Body to do. An ineffective body part is a strain on the body; the body may compensate but it is not functioning as well as it should.
 
Are you effectively doing your part?  Is the Body hurting because of the loss of your contribution?