For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12: 12-13

I started this thought on Sunday evening and forgot to complete it, so you missed a day of these musings on Monday.

On Friday we considered the gifts listed by Paul in Romans 12 and there is a reason each of us should we should make the most of what we have. If you are a true follower of Christ then you are connected to every other person who is trusting in and following Christ. That may seem obvious to you, but how many of us kind of get lost in our own little corner of the world from time to time and forget about the larger picture of Christianity?

Denominations sometimes get in the way. Social status. Ethnicity. Language. What else can be a barrier to the health of the one body of Christ?

Paul tells us that all of us are of the same standing, whether we are “Jews or Greeks, slaves or free.” I want to be careful here because many identify as “Christian” when there is no real commitment to Christ. With that in mind, American, Japanese, German, Iranian or Iraq – we form one body. Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Baptist or Methodist – true followers are part of one body. I think you get the idea.

And so when we read Paul’s words -“for as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another”(Romans 12:4).

What is your greatest spiritual gift? Are you using it to its fullest extent on behalf of those around you?