"But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body...And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it" (1 Corinthians 12:18-20, 26-27). The Holy Spirit of God inspired the Apostle Paul to intentionally use this illustration. As Paul spoke about the connectivity of believers in Jesus Christ, he used the image of the human body. This was intentional and incredible. What a vivid picture is painted for us to better understand the body of Christ and how individual believers should be connected to one another.
I am understanding this more and more, albeit through tragedy and suffering. It amazes me the problems that arise with the body when just one member is "off." God placed each person in the body of Christ with a specific gift and purpose. Each believer is to utilize his or her spiritual gift for the common good of God's people. So often we want to use our gifts on ourselves. But this was not the Lord's desire. He placed each member in the body "just as He desired."
There is an interconnectivity between believers that is often overlooked or minimized these days. Were you to take a trip back to the first century church, it wouldn't take long for you to realize a marked difference between then and now. According to Acts 2, the believers spent time together daily. They studied the word of God; they ate meals together; they prayed together; they sold possessions and shared the resources together. In short, first century believers were connected daily with moments of separation. Today, most believers are separated daily with few moments of connection. An hour on Sunday at best and maybe two if Sunday night is more important than football (ouch!).
In speaking with Tyler Mount this past week, he and I were discussing why it is that student mission trips (or adult mission trips for that matter) and student camps are so life-changing and impacting. Why do students return so fueld up and ready for take off? Certainly I'd say the word of God being intently studied or the sharing of one's faith consistently carried out have a part. But I believe it comes back to Acts 2. During that period of time, the believers are together daily. Day in and day out, believers eat together, study together, pray together, laugh together, share together and even hurt together. Then they return only to go back to "life as usual" where the connection only occurs maybe 1 hour out of 168 in the week.
Now don't misunderstand me. I don't believe we ought to get into our "holy huddles" and focus inward to the neglect of the world to which we are called to be ambassadors. But let's face it. We were not meant to be Lone Ranger Christians. No man or woman is to be an island by itself facing the onslaught of the hurricane of ungodliness and worldliness.
Furthermore, our lack of conenction keeps us from truly living life together. We miss rejoicing with one another. We miss sharing life and eternal life with other believers who should know our joy in Jesus Christ. After all, as I once heard evangelist Jamey Ragle say, "Believers are the only people in all the world who have something to be happy about...but most look like they got baptized in pickle juice." And we miss loving each other in the good times and in the bad.
We miss hurting with one another. Micah's whole body hurts because one member hurts. The bilirubin level is elevated, the sodium level is low, the organs in the abdomen produce fluid because they know the liver is unhealthy. The blood clotting time is too slow because the protein which controls it is not processed properly in the liver. Every problem with Micah these days comes back to this: "This is a common problem with patients who have endstage liver disease" (quote from a doctor). Unfortunately, we often don't know when people hurt. Not only do they do a good cosmetic job of painting over the hurt and pain, but we don't make or take time to truly hurt with them. Guilty am I!
The body of Christ is designed to be the best knit people in all the world. Locally and universally, we are bound together in the Lord Jesus Christ. When we spend time together, we discover the beauty of the body of Christ. Tragically, you'll find many believers or so-called believers who find everything else more attractive and inviting than being with believers who are part of the family of God. Sports, the lake, televison, going to the mall, being with friends, sleeping, etc. all compete for time which could or should be spent with the local body.
So as it is, there are many local bodies (I realize there is but one body of Jesus Christ, but we gather in separate local bodies) who are missing parts. The members are AWOL for whatever reason. While some don't care, others just don't understand the how crucial it is for them to willingly and actively take their place--to serve and to share. And what would happen if the body (each individual member) began to think not of what they themselves could "get out of church," but rather what they were gifted with to contribute that it may build up others in Jesus Christ?
The Father is teaching me the importance of each member through Micah. His whole body suffers as a result of the health and function of one member. How many churches are struggling from the Christians who would rather insult others rather than involve themselves? How many churches are struggling because of those who want to act out of bitternes instead of be a blessing? Lord help us to be a people who values the body of Christ above the other things or activities in our lives and who esteem others better than ourselves.
Micah remains in the hospital. As I write, he is resting. It appears at this time that he will remain until at least tomorrow. We had hoped on Thursday that we could go home today. But the doctors continue to seek how to best mobilize the fluid and manage it until the time of transplant. His stomach has slightly gone down. There are so many concerns related with just this aspect of his current condition. I won't even begin to overwhelm you with details. Please continue to pray for his body and his health. It is of a truth that his whole body is being affected by the malfunction of the liver. I would also ask that you pray forward. Pray that the Lord will allow the transplant to come in His timing and to occur with little or no complications. The surgery itself is a huge things, as well as the recovery and first year.
As far as my screening for being a living donor, at this moment, I am a match. Let me explain what that means. It means I have the right blood type and the anatomy of my liver appears to be compatible. However, there have been cases in which the surgeon began the surgery on the living donor only to find an anatomical issue not detected in the screening process. This is rare, but possible.
This does NOT mean that the screening is complete. The process still involves a couple tests to insure my overall general health for such a procedure and operation. Furthermore, there is still the outlying possibility that a liver biopsy would be performed to rule out hemachromatosis.
Hopefully on Monday I can know better where the next step of screening is heading. Patience again confronts me. Oh how little of it I have. Nevertheless, God's timing is always perfect. I may not always know why he chose that time. Yet I know His timing is always perfect. Amen.
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