CROSSROADS CONNECTIONS (Part Three)

How strange a body would be if it had only one part! (1 Cor 12:19, NLT)

A one-part body.  That WOULD be strange, yes?  But is it any less strange to see Christians who have isolated themselves from the body.  “I don’t need to go to church.  I’m a believer and that’s enough”.  C’mon that’s as strange as a one-part body.  Being a Christian out there lone-wolfing it, is like having a body part in a jar of formaldehyde up on a shelf.  It doesn’t look like something that’s a part of something else.  It looks like something that belongs in the laboratory of a mad scientist.  We’re not supposed to be the “body PARTS of Christ” on the earth – we’re supposed to be the BODY of Christ on the earth.  We need each other.  We have to be connected to one another because:

The STRENGTH of the Body is in the CONNECTIONS.

It doesn’t matter how strong the bones in your body are, if you don’t have connecting material – sinew, ligament, muscle, connective tissue – if you don’t have that material you got a sack of bones.

In a building, it doesn’t matter how strong the bricks are.  Without mortar, a stiff wind can blow them down.  Concrete isn’t worth a flip without reinforcing steel; lumber is just extra-large toothpicks without nails and screws.  It doesn’t matter how STRONG you are as a PART.  Your value and effectiveness depends on how CONNECTED you are to the BODY. 

Let’s say, you’re an eye.  And you are not connected to the body.  How bizarre is it for an eye to just go rolling down the street for Christ.  It’s bizarre.  You’re like some kind of monster. “The EYE that looked at Enterprise.  AAAHHH!!”  You follow what I’m saying?  The problem with just being a rogue eye out there, is that you can’t hear what needs to be heard, you can’t speak what needs to be said, you don’t have legs to carry you, or hands to heal.

But as a PART of the BODY, you are INVALUABLE.  The BODY can’t function WITHOUT YOU!!  That’s why we’ve GOT to be in unity.  We’ve got to work together.  We’ve got to be connected.  When we are it’s GOOD.  Good for us, good for others.  The Psalmist sang, “How good, how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in UNITY”.  

WE NEED EACH OTHER.