For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – ad we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior members, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

1 Corinthians 12:12-27

Teamwork is essential in business and in life. Not every person is working with you. There will some who dictate, agitate, irritate, hesitate, vegistate, and devastate. The people that actually force you to work together however are those who can facilitate, cogitate, and meditate. They get people pulling together.

A one man show doesn’t get very far. But nowhere is this truth brought to a higher and more powerful fulfillment than in the body of Christ. The Scriptures teach that by God’s design all who are in Christ have been made dependent on one another. We cannot fulfill our high calling as members of the body of Christ until we begin to realize that we all have a vital part to play. We are family and we need each other. We have to ask God to help us overcome our stubborn pride. God has to teach us to cooperate – for our sake and for His sake.

Coming together is a start; keeping together is progress; working together is success.

Our Daily Bread – August 18, 2004