In a letter to some people in Corinth, the author, Paul, used an analogy. The community of faith, he said, is like a human body. Many different parts are needed to make it fully functional and none of those are more important than any other. Knowing human nature, Paul included these words: “If the foot should say ‘Because I am not a hand, I am not part of the body,’ in spite of this it is still part of the body.”
I wonder how many wonderful souls feel excluded from God’s family because they don’t look or act or perform a certain way. At times I’ve struggled with that myself. The message to all of us is clear … We are indeed part of the body even if we think we don’t measure up. (Some will find it scandalous that people can belong without realizing it. A topic for another day.)
Feet, hands, eyes, ears, and hundreds of organs never seen are all equally vital in making up a body – a picture of spiritual community. And that’s true regardless of healthy differences and even unhealthy comparisons. In fact, in spite of them.