the banana-bread-church
I cracked an egg, watching its yolk emerge and plop slipperily into my mixing bowl. And in such a simple task as mixing together the ingredients for banana bread, God nudged my heart with a reminder of what it means to be a member of the church.
"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ." ~ 1 Corinthians 12:12
The reminder? That being part of the church is like being an ingredient in a loaf of banana bread (respectfully). While being part of the church WAY better than banana bread, for the sake of the example, stick with me. :)
Christians are part of the universal church - and together, we make up Christ's bride. God created us for community, and he didn't intend for us to walk alone in our faith. That's why we have brothers and sisters with different abilities than we do; because the variety of skills and gifts we have create a beautiful result.
"For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body." If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?" ~ 1 Corinthians 12:14-17
All the individual ingredients in banana bread are added separately, but even the wet and the dry are eventually mixed together. Then they're baked into a loaf where they're no longer individual ingredients, but part of the whole. Chemical reactions take place and you'll never be able to (nor would you want to) separate out the egg, for example, from the rest of the loaf. It's a necessary ingredient to hold the whole loaf together. All the ingredients are essential for the final flavor, texture, and nutrition of the loaf. They're all added at the right times and in the right amounts.
But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another." ~ 1 Corinthians 12:18-25
Taking this analogy further, if this loaf burned, all the ingredients would be burned. If it's perfectly baked, the whole loaf will be delicious. This thought goes with the next part of the passage in 1 Corinthians:
"If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. ~ 1 Corinthians 12:26
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." ~ 1 Corinthians 12:27
So. God can nudge your heart with reminders of his truth when you're standing in the kitchen above a mixing bowl.
You are the body of Christ.
You're a member of it.
It's more than just you, and yet you're an essential ingredient in God's church.
So, may we be members of the church as effectively and fully as a teaspoon of baking soda is a part of a tasty piece of banana bread.
Happy Saturday!!
