When Discomfort "Speaks" - Part I

The feeling was as uncomfortable as it was annoying. The discomfort became worse with each step and the trek across the parking lot seemed like an exercise in torture. I do not know where it came from because had I felt it before, there was no way I would have left it there. It had happened before and I knew it would only get worse if I did not get it removed. The source of my problem? Something that felt like a very small pebble in my shoe. And it caused me a lot of hurt.

When I was able to finally remove it, I recall the feeling of relief. My whole body seemed to thank me because even though the pebble was only in one shoe, it was as if every other part of my body shared the hurt. Of course, that can be explained biologically. However, some days later it occurred to me that God, in Christ, set up His body, the church, the very same way. Every believer is a part of the body of Christ. The apostle Paul puts it this way, "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. . . . But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him" (1 Corinthians 12: 13-14, 18, KJV). That is as true today as it was in the first century when he wrote it. Because we are all a part of one body, when one hurts the whole body should hurt. Paul continues, "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" (vv. 25-26, The Message).

My left foot was exuberant when I removed the pebble, and every other part of my body entered into that exuberance. To put it in simple form, the sensory nerves in the sole of my foot transmitted to my brain the problem my foot was experiencing. My brain processed that information in a way I could understand and I was able to call upon my hands, both of whom cooperated, to do something about the pain in my foot. Because they are all connected. That church brother or sister that we try to avoid, don't particular care for or couldn't care less about, is connected to us. We cannot be indifferent to the needs of any person in the body. We must share in each other's joy and pain. It is easy to do the former, but the latter is much more difficult. It is easier to believe that someone else's pain is not our problem, yet it is God's will that we be mindful of each other.

Do you know or know of someone in "the body" that is hurting? Can you feel that hurt? What are you going to do about it?