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When we are reeling with the immediate pain of an acute injury, our bodies instinctively respond by embracing the injured member with one of our healthy members. For example, if we stub our toe, we quickly reach down to apply gentle pressure on the toe. Or if we smash our fingers against a hard surface, the healthy hand surrounds the wounded hand in an attempt to assuage the pain.
This instinctive response of our physical bodies gives us a helpful illustration of what life in the body of Christ should look like. When one member of the body of Christ suffers, the other members should instinctively and immediately come to the aid of that injured member, surrounding that person with loving care, presence, and assistance.
The Apostle Paul says to the church at Corinth, “If one member suffers, all suffer together” (1 Cor. 12:26, emphasis added). This picture of life in the church is not merely Paul’s desire for the church at Corinth but rather the desire of our Lord for His people in every age and place. This kind of unified love not only pleases God and blesses our brothers and sisters in Christ, but also serves as a living, breathing apologetic to unbelievers about the beauty and authenticity of the gospel of Jesus Christ (see John 13:35).
Imagine how strange it would be if we twisted our ankle and were unable to walk, yet our voice didn’t bother to call out for help, or our fingers weren’t interested in picking up the phone to get assistance, or our eyes were too busy to look at the ankle and assess the damage. It’s hard to conceive of our physical body’s operating in such a clearly dysfunctional way. Indeed, it would be a sign that something had gone terribly wrong at a fundamental level.
The same is true of the church, which is called the body of Christ throughout the New Testament (see Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12; Eph. 3:6; 4:15–16; Col. 1:18, 24). If one member suffers and the other members ignore or fail to come to the aid of the member in need, severe dysfunction is present in that body.
To be sure, some of us have experienced the pain that comes when the body of Christ does not respond to our suffering as it should. Perhaps our wounds were even inflicted within the church itself. As much as we must strive to obey the Lord’s will for the church, it will never function perfectly in this world. Our hope, therefore, is not in a perfect church but rather in the perfect Lord of the church, who sees our struggles, hears our cries, and is faithful and merciful to us in our distress.
In a culture steeped in radical individualism yet also longing for meaningful connection and community, Christians have the opportunity to visibly and tangibly display the glory of a relational, triune God and the wonder of our union with Christ when we care for fellow believers as we would members of our own body. And as we grow in this love through the power of the Holy Spirit, may the world increasingly say of us, “See how they love one another!”