Four Commitments - Committed to the Body

Greetings Dear Reader,

A dear friend called me recently to tell me they were going to have surgery for cancer.  Apparently some cells have run amuck in his brain and formed a tumor.  He is sure that he will survive but he still will be having a hole drilled in his skull.  When cancer attacks the body it uses the body’s resources to cause an uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells.

In contrast, healthy cells are committed to the body.  They do their duty. Then burn out, and in most cases are replaced.  The sole mission of most cells is to support the whole; to insure that the body continues.  It is the whole not the self that defines a single cell’s mission.  It is the whole not the self that must define me as well.

If I am to follow Christ then I must resign my “self” and see the place I have in the body.  If I do not commit to the body then I become the cancer.  The only way to hope that my life can matter for Christ is if I accept my role within the body and pursue that always.  I see too often how when I focus on my own wants that I damage the body.  Such a focus results in my being impatient, unkind, and unloving.  I must daily abandon the self and embrace that I am called to follow Christ by giving to the whole. 

What is the whole?  For me it is anyone that comes across my path no matter in what manner he or she appears.  If it is someone that believes as I do then I must leave my interaction with them knowing that I treated them as family on an eternal level.  If they do not share my faith then I must be an example of the promise contained in the gospel.

 I find the world growing thin on hope.  In many ways Christians have created so much division in the body that the rest of the world sees the church as a very sickly body.  I cannot judge or condemn anyone else but I know that I must govern my own attitudes and actions so that I communicate relevance to those who know of my faith.  I must be committed to do whatever is necessary to heal and support the whole. 

Too many cancers exist in the injustices and condemnations embraced by the church.  The body can be healed but only if I and others determine to build toward unity and wholeness instead of acting selfish and autonomous.  I have seen deep hurts inflicted by people insisting that they wish to have autonomy.  When I do that no matter what my rationalization, I create a cancer in the body of Christ.  I damage those around me.  The only way the body functions is if the parts work toward the whole.  For my part I must be committed to this.  I must do this no matter what the cost.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."