Being the Church #13

So much of being the body of Christ has to do with our attitudes, as we see in I Corinthians 12:

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together

There is absolutely no room for arrogance or a sense of spiritual superiority in the Body of Christ - no attitude that someone else is not needed. All that does is create division and strive. On the positive side, the atmosphere we need to have and encourage is one of empathy, so that because we are one body, we feel with one another all the hurts and the honors any other member receives. We adjust our lives to do what is appropriate and needed in the lives of one another. Our hearts beat together as one heart.