If We are the Body

There is a song by Casting Crowns called "We are the Body" that is really a great song that I think should be speaking to a lot of us right now. The song is really a challenge for every Christian to be more Christ-like. Here are the the very powerful lyrics:

It's crowded in worship today
As she slips in
Trying to fade into the faces
The girls' teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
Farther than they know
CHORUS
But if we are the Body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way
There is a way
A traveler is far away from home
He sheds his coat
And quietly sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgmental glances tells him that his chances
Are better out on the road
CHORUS
Jesus paid much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the Body of Christ
CHORUS

Jesus did pay much too high a price for us treat one another any other way than he has called us to. We are to be the body of Christ. A body only works if all parts are working together. There's no such thing as an exclusive body part. I mean, your right foot isn't just going to decide it doesn't like your left foot one day. But let's say hypothetically it did. The body would no longer be one. You might have your right foot trying to go one direction and your left foot trying to go the other. Obviously if this were to happen, you would go nowhere. I think this is just like the Body of Christ. He calls us to be one. And if we decide to form exclusive groups with one another, we are no longer being one, thus going nowhere.

I think that often times at churches we treat people like outcasts for no apparent reason. These can be newcomers, members, or really just anyone. Maybe its just because we don't know them, and as humans we are all guilty of judging by first glance. As wrong as it is we all do it, we do it without even realizing it. Or maybe its because we heard gossip about a particular person that shows up. But ya know, none of that really matters. It doesn't matter what we look like, or what people have heard about us. There is no reason to turn people away. Church should be a place where everyone feels welcome. Furthermore our homes (and lives), as Christians, should be places where everyone feels welcome. Especially now as adults. We are no longer in high school, where we are trying to be "cool" (or popular) by only associating with certain people. You know sometimes I think we are more accepted by our non-Christian friends/co-workers than by our church family. I think that's why the church and Christians often get a bad name.

As Christians, we have a higher standard we have to live up to. We aren't perfect, so of course we are going to mess up, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. We shouldn't be getting together with our cliques and gossiping about others, and refusing certain people into our groups. This isn't how we should represent God. We are all guilty of doing it. I think women are worse than men when it comes to this kind of thing. Why we are like this I don't know. I hate it myself. I hate when I see that I'm doing that. It just really makes me mad. You know, God would never turn anyone away. And as His body, we should welcome people with open arms - whether we know them or not, whether they are popular or not, whether they seem to have it all together or seem to be broken. We should go out of our way to include others, just as Christ would do. We should be there for one another, encouraging one another, loving one another, just as Christ loves us.

We are the body of Christ and we are representing Him.