I really love certain sports. Some, I enjoy watching; some, I really enjoy playing; and some, I love doing either one. It’s not that I’m very good at sports (except for racquetball and jiu jitsu); in fact, I’m no better than average, and sometimes worse. It’s just that I love the contest, the “giving it everything I’ve got,” the physical and mental striving, and the fun of the sport in question.
When the Olympics come around, I have the TV on for hours each day. In between Olympics, I also watch other sporting events. Of course, it’s even better if my favorite team is playing. Then, I feel like I have a personal stake in the outcome.
For Super Bowl XLIX this year, however, I’m not a fan of either team that is playing. My team didn’t make it this year, so I don’t care much about the outcome of the Big Game. I plan on watching it, because I enjoy football and I want to see the commercials (and, well, I want an excuse to eat junk food), but I don’t really care who wins.
Many of my friends feel the same way. They don’t have a team in the game, either. Still others of my friends don’t care about the final score because they don’t care about football, or even about sports in general.
This perspective—not caring about the outcome because we’re not invested in the struggle taking place—is fine when we’re talking about football. But it becomes a problem when we’re talking about struggles that take place in real life.
Scripture tells us that we as Christians are all members of the same body, that is, the Body of Christ. It also says that the parts of the Body cannot say they don’t need each other or are not part of the Body. Like a physical body, if one part of the Body suffers or rejoices, all the parts suffer or rejoice with it.
The problem is that we don’t always apply this to our relationships. We look at the struggles of others, and we say, “Well, that doesn’t really affect me.” Or , “Wow, thank God I’m not going through that.”
If we truly realized how intimately connected we are, we’d be a lot more concerned about what is happening to members of our body. Because the truth is, no matter how unaffected we may feel, we are affected. Scripture says so.
When our Christian brothers and sisters around the world are tortured or even killed for their faith, we should take it personally, because it affects part of our body. When a friend is struggling with depression, discouragement, or loneliness, her struggle should matter to us, because she is part of us. When someone is mistreated, overwhelmed, sick, or at her wits’ end, we should treat her as we would treat our own body—because she is our body.
It’s sometimes difficult to know how to come alongside someone and support her. But instead of doing nothing, let’s ask God how to help. Sometimes, God may tell us to step in, in a physical, emotional, or financial sense. Other times, He may instruct us to work behind the scenes in prayer or in enlisting others to help, with no direct involvement ourselves. It’s up to Him how He wants to use us. But we need to make ourselves available for Him to use.
If the school nurse, daycare provider, or preschool teacher called from your child’s school saying your child had fallen on the playground and needed stitches, you’d take immediate action. Why? Because you love your child, and because your child is a part of you.
It should be the same with your Christian brothers and sisters. What happens to them should matter to you. Because they are a part of your body just as much as you are.
If you’re like me, and you sometimes get caught up in your own life and focus on yourself rather than on others, you need to ask God to help you not forget the rest of your body. Ask Him to show you how to be sensitive to others, even in the midst of whatever’s going on in with you. Because in caring for others, you’re caring for yourself as well.
1 Corinthians 12:26—If one part [of the body] suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.