One of those strange little things I see occur in the eyes of a new believer is the musing about being in the Body of Christ. Saint Paul raises that issue in his First Epistle to the Corinthians 12.12-13: ‘The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.’ So what does it mean to be in the Body of Christ?

What I see happening in those eyes is this: an attempt to decide which part of the Body of Christ we’d prefer to be. It’s rather like visiting a Body of Christ Buffet at which we select which body part suits us best. Let your mind wander over the suggestion and you will see both the humor and the tragedy of that imagery.

What we most often overlook is the graphic description of the Body of which Jesus Christ is the HEAD! That means it is Jesus who decides each and every role for each and every part of his Body. The Head knows what each part can do and must do in order for the Body to operate at peak efficiency.

Therefore, Jesus releases his Holy Spirit into every part of his Body so that each part can do all that’s expected of it. Paul concludes: ‘For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks; slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.’ Each believer has a role to play, but no part tells the Head of the Body how to do his work. WE’RE IN THE BODY!