The Body of Christ

So, I’ve officially started 10^th grade, y’all. At a christian private school here in Cameroon. (RFIS, Yaounde, Cameroon) I had a bit of a rough start, but I’m getting the hang of it, thankfully. Recently in English, my teacher gave us an assignment that I appreciated a lot. So, I am in turn giving you this assignment. Just try it, if you have like 20 minutes. If you have even longer, do it with a friend. Or two. Or your family. Or (if y’all have been paying attention) your bible study group. So:

• Read 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 and 1 Corinthians 12:12-26. (Even better, get someone else to read them to you really slowly)
• Make a list of all the attributes of the Body of Christ that caught your eye or you liked. (The next step is if you do this with someone else or a group, if you aren’t, skip it and keep going)
• Combine your list with your friend’s, family members or fellow bible study member. Get rid of repeated characteristics. (By this I mean keep one copy of it, the one that makes the most sense/the most concise, but erase the others) Then make a new list of all the characteristics that are left.
• Read your list. It’s pretty impressive, huh? What if we lived like that? We respected those who were weaker than us in certain areas, because we know they have other functions than us. We rejoiced with the people who were honored and suffered with those who are suffering.
• Now, take two items off your list and write two principles/disciplines/rules that you are going to follow in how you relate to other people. Then actually do it!

When I did this assignment, I was blown away. I feel very weak in many areas, (particularly sports and anything athletic) and knowing that the weak are still to be treated with care and respect, not to mention that we all have different functions . . . that was amazing! No matter how hard I try, if I’m an eye I can’t just quit being an eye and be a foot. Just not possible. It was an excellent reminder to me. Because I also realized all my friends who are awesome at sports can’t write stories. Or maybe they can, it just doesn’t come naturally to them. And I can’t treat them differently because they are arms and I’m an ear. It just doesn’t work that way. We’re all equal. We’re one body under Christ at the head.

For we are all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body – whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

-1 Corinthians 12:13-14

-Ali