August 17, 2020 is the day I will remember for as long as it takes for the knife wound to heal. Sunny and bright seemed naturally fitting on such a day. Normally Monday’s are perceived as mundane, only serves to get us to Tuesday, Tuesday to Wednesday, Wednesday to Thursday and Thursday to our most beloved day of the week. Friday!
Not that week. Monday August 17, 2020 was my mother-in-law’s birthday and the family readied for a 45-minute drive to bring her flowers in celebration.
Moments after we arrived, she asked if I could help her trim the flowers and put them in the vase. Now I know that flowers are her “thing”. As odd as it sounds, as our parents age, we don’t want to miss the opportunity to learn from them. At least I don’t want to miss out and here was an opportunity to learn how she trims the flowers.
She pulled out this toolbox from the pantry and handed me a knife with a curved blade. It was a flower knife. I normally use scissors. I should have asked for scissors…but then…I didn’t.
Her instructions were to trim the stems with the knife and immediately place the flower in the vase. Easy enough.
I grabbed three flowers, held the knife like a paring knife and began to make the cut. Slice! A few groans and grunts while refusing to release the pressure on my thumb that eventually led to a trip to emergency where the doctor glued it back together.
I quickly learned the things I do with my right thumb;
- Touch ID to unlock my cell phone
- Grip a tennis racket, golf club, dumbbell
- Steady the fishing rod and work the reel
- Helps to shuffle cards
- Assists in cracking an egg
- Handles a knife
- Open a water bottle and/or jar
Why am I sharing this?
Just as I didn’t want to waste an opportunity the learn, the Lord wastes nothing. He wastes no opportunity to turn an unfortunate event into a lesson.
He reminded me of 1 Corinthians 12:22-26.
“On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”
The wound on the tip of my thumb is .075% of my total height. So small and insignificant in size and function. After all, if I severed the tip of my thumb, I could adjust my life accordingly with little to no damage to my body or the rest of my life. It seems like a legitimate, rational way to deal with the damage and/or the loss until one day, it becomes reality.
The wound was deep. The wound felt raw for weeks. The wound was vulnerable to infection. As the wound continues to heal, the nerves are quite sensitive to touch, and my entire body feels it. My whole body, every part does what it can do to protect the thumb from circumstances that could result in further damage. The whole body is involved.
This is how God’s church is to function. The church, all the people, the different parts of the body are to be unified in purpose and live accordingly. Sadly, today as has been in days gone by, we see and experience jealousy within the body. We see and experience competition within the body. We see and experience division within the body.
Who wins when the church slices and dices its body? If we pay attention to Paul’s words, no one. The entire body suffers. All of these destructive behaviors are how the body lives wounded, trying to adjust with pain-killers, by limping, stitching or through a complete amputation.
Imagine for a moment a church, the body of Christ functioning as God designed. A place where every individual has equal concern for each other. A place where jealousy, competition or division are not allowed to influence the whole.
Imagine what it would be like for the Body of Christ, God’s church, to be restored to its original purpose. Recognize your part of the body and commit to take the appropriate steps to heal and influence your body to function God’s way.
May God give you the sight to see the opportunity, the courage to make the changes necessary to give new life to your church.
