Hands
in Rebellion
The Greek storyteller Aesop told this
fable:
"The members of the Body once rebelled
against him. They said he led an idle, lazy life at their expense. The Hands
declared that they would not again lift a crust even to keep him from starving,
the Mouth that it would not take in a bit more food, the Legs that they would
carry him about no longer, and so on with the others. The Body quietly allowed
them to follow their own courses, well knowing that they would all soon come to
their senses, as indeed they did, when, for want of the blood and nourishment
supplied from the stomach, they found themselves fast becoming mere skin and
bone."
Aesop's MORAL of the story was: "No one
can live to himself; but he must take account of his neighbor's needs." I think
Jesus would agree.
But the fable also has another parallel
to Christian teaching -- the image of the community of disciples as a human BODY
(Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12; and all through Ephesians)...and each member having
a vital role to play, even though the roles are diverse. However, Christian
teaching takes the imagery farther than Aesop's fable in its identification of
the HEAD of the Body with JESUS. Through His Headship, the whole body is
"fitted and held together by what EVERY joint supplies, according to the proper
working of EACH INDIVIDUAL PART" (Eph. 4:16). And what is the result of each
part properly working? It's "the growth of the body for the building up of
itself in love" (Eph. 4:16).
2 Principles at Work in Order for the
Body to Function Properly:
1) Each individual member must RECEIVE
his direction from the Head, which is Jesus.
2) Each individual member must
CONTRIBUTE his work if the Body is to thrive and grow.
To His Glory,
Caleb
