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Church
Is the Body of Christ
At a meeting of the
American Psychological Association
Jack Lipton
a psychologist at Union
College
and R. Scott Builione
a graduate student at Columbia University
presented their findings on how members of the various sections of 11 major
symphony orchestra perceived each other. The percussionists were viewed as
insensitive
unintelligent
and hard-of-hearing
yet fun-loving. String players
were seen as arrogant
stuffy
and unathletic. The orchestra members
overwhelmingly chose "loud" as the primary adjective to describe the
brass players. Woodwind players seemed to be held in the highest esteem
described as quiet and meticulous
though a bit egotistical. Interesting
findings
to say the least! With such widely divergent personalities and
perceptions
how could an orchestra ever come together to make such wonderful
music? The answer is simple: regardless of how those musicians view each other
they subordinate their feelings and biases to the leadership of the conductor.
Under his guidance
they play beautiful music.
Today in the Word
June 22
1992.
"The society into
which the Christian is called is not a collective but a Body. It is in fact
that Body of which the family unit is an image on the natural level. "If
anyone came to it with the misconception that the Church was a massing together
of persons as if they were pennies or chips
he would be corrected at the
threshold by the discovery that the Head of this Body is utterly unlike its
inferior members -- they share no divinity with Him except by analogy. "We
are summoned at the outset to combine as creatures with our Creator
as mortals
with immortal
as redeemed sinners with sinless Redeemer. "His presence
the interaction between Him and us
must always be the overwhelmingly dominant
factor in the life we are to lead within the body; and any conception of
Christian fellowship which does not mean primarily fellowship with Him is out
of order."
From Transposition and
Other Addresses; used by permission of William Collins Sons and Co.
Ltd.
in Daily Walk
May 18
1992.
Only kings
editors
and
people with tapeworm have the right to use the editorial "we."
Mark Twain.
In March of 1981
President Reagan was shot by John Hinckley
Jr.
and was hospitalized for
several weeks. Although Reagan was the nation's chief executive
his
hospitalization had little impact on the nation's activity. Government
continued on. On the other hand
suppose the garbage collectors in this country
went on strike
as they did not long ago in Philadelphia. That city was not
only in a literal mess
the pile of decaying trash quickly became a health
hazard. A three-week nationwide strike would paralyze the country. Who is more
important--the President or a garbage collector? In the body of Christ
seemingly insignificant ones are urgently needed. As Paul reminds us
"The
head cannot say to the feet
'I don't need you!' On the contrary
those parts
of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable" (I Cor. 12:21-22).
David Parsons.
Remember putting your face
above a headless frame painted to represent a muscle man
a clown
or even a
bathing beauty? Many of us have had our pictures taken this way
and the photos
are humorous because the head doesn't fit the body. If we could picture Christ
as the head of our local body of believers
would the world laugh at the
misfit? Or would they stand in awe of a human body so closely related to a
divine head?
Dan Bernard.