But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head-Christ. From Him the whole body, fitted together by every supporting ligament, supports the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.   Ephesians 4:15-16 HCSB

Have you ever had one part of your body that is not working properly cause the rest of the body to malfunction as well. I have never broken any bones, but I have suffered with migraine headaches for many years. I have also been unfortunate enough to have the flu several times in my life. Both of these conditions tend to cause the entire body to become dysfunctional.

In the case of a migraine, it’s not just a headache. It is accompanied by dizziness, nausea, sensitivity to light and sound, and the inability to think straight. I have even had times when I found it hard to speak. I think that may be because of the effect that it has on my thought process, but it is scary none the less. If you know me, then you know that for me to be unable to speak is scary. With the flu you have headache, chills, fever, nausea, and your body aches all over. You can’t get comfortable, you can’t sleep, it’s awful.

Now while the many neurologists I have seen over the years have been unable to pinpoint a specific cause for my migraines, I have been able to identify triggers. These triggers cause a migraine when I either omit something that my body needs or put something in there that it doesn’t need. Lack of sleep, dehydration, and failing to eat all cause me to get a migraine. Eating chocolate and drinking alcohol cause me to get a migraine.

The church is the body in which Christ is the head. We are all individual parts. We all have specific talents and jobs to do. If you are not attending church, you are like a leg or a kidney just thrown on the ground and not being used as God intended. If you are attending church and have a gift but you are not using it, you are like a limb or a body part that is in place, but is not working. This means that other body parts are being overworked to pick up your slack.

Now if you are attending church and maybe even working in the church, but causing strife, you are like the migraine or the flu. If you are causing dissension and strife, you are affecting the other parts of the body in a negative way. You could cause the whole system to malfunction.

Here in south Louisiana it hardly feels like fall, the temperatures remain high, but we know that cold and flu season is upon us. This is a good time to load up on vitamin C and zinc to protect yourself. If you are a Christian that doesn’t want to be a body part that malfunctions, then ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit that you might walk in love. Ask God to help you to bring unity both within your church and those churches in your community.

If one of your arms was fighting the other, people would think something was seriously wrong with you, right? But yet Christians war with each other and churches oppose each other and people think they are doing the right thing. It boggles the mind.

If you are not in church, then you are not where you are supposed to be. Become an active, functioning part of the body of Christ. If you are in church then be sure that you are functioning properly. Also be sure that you are not fighting against other members or other churches. No good can come of this and quite frankly it’s kind of like one arm fighting the other, it just doesn’t make sense. If we live by God’s word, there is no confusion. Right is right and wrong is wrong. It’s when we begin to make up our own rules that we get into trouble.

In these end times, Christians must band together as a healthy functioning body. We must remember that Christ is the head. Our pastor should not be the head of our church, our deacons should not be the head of our church, our administrative staff should not be the head of our church. Christ should be the head of our church body. With Christ as our head and all body parts in place and functioning properly there is nothing we can’t do (Philippians 4:13).

Have a great day!