If We are the Body...

Have you heard the song If We are the Body?

This song has always touched me.  It's not that I don't think the body never helps, never teaches, never reaches...but I worry that we get it wrong more often than we think we do.  Pride is never pretty.  But it's even less attractive from those that should know better.

May I never become complacent and settle for my own poor behavior.  May I never become boastful in something that has nothing to do with me.  May I never think that I have it figured out...or that there is a 'right' way to do ministry or a 'right' way to reach people or a 'right' way to deliver the gospel.

I think of the girl mentioned in the first verse.
What happens when this girl enters our youth groups...our bible study...our congregation?

The man in the second verse.
Does he feel welcome?  If he isn't dressed right...doesn't "fit in"...is he treated with the same welcome?


We don't get to pick and choose who comes.
And when we think we do.  Shame on us.

We don't get to send people away that don't fit in or act right.
And when we think we do.  Have mercy on us.

When I hear this song I usually cry.

I cry because I know that girl.
I cry because I know that traveller.

And I cry because I never want to get in His way with my agenda.  And I grieve for times I know I have.

My life would be nothing without Him.
I can't even imagine where I would be without Him.
How painful and sorrowful life would be without the hope of the cross!
I can't even imagine how I would handle heartache without His peace!

To think that I might hinder that relationship for someone else in anyway...it drives me to stay close to Him and remember that He is God and I am not.  I want to share His love and truth with others so that they might know the freedom that comes from following fast after Christ.  It's not about how they act.  What they wear.  What they say.  What they look like or even if they follow all of the "rules".  It's not about me.  It's only about Him.

That's what I got today.