belong

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many…

If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
(1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 17-20 NIV)

Much of the time, when we study the passage from 1 Corinthians 12 that talks about us being part of the body of Christ, we look at it with an individual application: Each individual brings their own unique contribution to the body of Christ. But recently Joe and I have discussed if the passage is applicable at a collective level, too: Each congregation of believers worships and lives out its faith a little differently based on the context of where it does ministry, its history and the gifts and personalities of its people, which means it collectively makes a unique contribution to the Kingdom. Continue reading →