Unity
Using the analogy of the human body, there are some diseases that can
spread infection throughout the body of Christ. The mind can become
swollen with pride. The heart can grow cold and indifferent because of
sin. The digestive system can get clogged by sterile theory and
unapplied theology, so the body can't digest what needs to be turned
into energy or eliminate what needs to be released. When that occurs
we start to fight among ourselves or we lose our equilibrium and find
Sometimes a dreaded thing occurs in the body-a mutiny-resulting in a
A tumor is called benign if its effect is fairly localized and it
stays within membrane boundaries. But the most traumatizing condition
in the body occurs when disloyal cells defy inhibition. They multiply
without any checks on growth, spreading rapidly throughout the body,
choking out normal cells. White cells, armed against foreign invaders,
will not attack the body's own mutinous cells. Physicians fear no
other malfunction more deeply: it is called cancer. For still
mysterious reasons, these cells-and they may be cells from the brain,
liver, kidney, bone, blood, skin, or other tissues-grow wild, out of
control. Each is a healthy, functioning cell, but disloyal, no longer
acting in regard for the rest of the body.
Even the white cells, the dependable palace guard, can destroy the
body through rebellion. Sometimes they recklessly reproduce, clogging
the bloodstream, overloading the lymph system, strangling the body's
normal functions-such is leukemia.
Because I am a surgeon and not a prophet, I tremble to make the
analogy between cancer in the physical body and mutiny in the
spiritual body of Christ. But I must. In His warnings to the church,
Jesus Christ showed no concern about the shocks and bruises His Body
would meet from external forces. "The gates of hell shall not prevail
against my church," He said flatly (Matthew 16:18). He moved easily,
unthreatened, among sinners and criminals. But He cried out against
the kind of disloyalty that comes from within.
--Paul Brand and Philip Yancey, Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
For salvation call 1-888-NEED-HIM or 1-888-633-3446.
t Michael t
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