Journal Exercise: The Body of Christ

My discernment journal exercise this week posed the following question:

Think about the body of Christ. Which part of the body are you?

My first reaction to this question is drawn from a memory of a class I took with a very learned, very holy professor. He said that "we as Christians are all part of the body of Christ." Some of us just tend to act like the less desirable parts." He continued by stating that he feels extremely fortunate to be in the body of Christ, and that he would do so even if he had to be the toejam!

I think my professor's answer demonstrated two key point in our attitude on the body of Christ. First, though we are all part of the body of Christ, we do not always live in that reality. The second is that we are fortunate that in his mercy, Jesus has joined us to his body, to himself in an intimate and personal way.

To answer the question directly I do not consider myself to be something akin to the big toe of the body of Christ. Follow me on this one. The big toe is not vital to the body to breathe, or pump blood, or think. Instead, the big toe is necessary to move with quickness and urgency in any direction. It is a person's big toe that allows them to run, to change directions, to move forward with a sense of mission.

When I think of my place in the body of Christ, I think of the role that Christ is calling me to serve. He knows that I am not the lifeblood of the Church nor its most important member. But perhaps I can be the mechanism that helps the Church move forward, change directions for the better and be the support for others in their path.

My desire in being a part of the body of the Christ is not attain glory for myself or to be prominent. Rather, it is realize that my importance is tied only to the glory I give to God and Christ Jesus.

Too often, many Christians desire to be the heart or mind of the Church, or even its right hand of power. But these are vain pursuits that lead to our own desire for glory rather than the building up of the life of the Church, of every body part great and small.

A priest is like a big toe. Who would have thought? I think that every priest who is humble and lives to serve others would agree that they may not be the most important part of the body of Christ but that without them the Church could not move forward, change directions, or have great urgency in fulfilling the call to love God with all our hearts and love our neighbors as ourselves.