Ephesians Devotionals
Bob Morris
Each is Critical to the Whole (Ephesians 4:16)
From [Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
In the previous verse (15) we saw that the way we grow as the body of Christ is lovingly to become truth to each other. Now Paul makes the point that while Christ as head of the body is responsible for the overall growth of the body, growth depends on each one of us playing our part. An ancient Jewish proverb says, “All Israel are responsible for one another”. So it is with Christians.
If any part fails to do its work, the body as a whole suffers. The most glaring piece of any jigsaw puzzle is the last missing piece, which mars the unfinished work out of all proportion to the hundreds of other pieces which have fitted in as designed.
Dr. Paul Brand, who pioneered reconstructive surgery for leprosy patients, described the awe he felt when he first attempted to repair a clawed hand:
In medical school I had listened with amazement as Illingworth Law, the hydraulics expert, explained the complex engineering behind hand movements. Now, seeking ways to repair damaged hands, I studied those processes with an increasing sense of awe. ‘In the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God’s existence,’ said Isaac Newton. A single hand movement can involve as many as fifty muscles working together in concert. Even more impressive, the powerful and delicate movements of fingers are purely the result of transferred force. There are no muscles in the fingers (otherwise they would enlarge to a bulky and unwieldy size); tendons transfer strength from the muscles in the forearm. (The Gift of Pain, page 107)
The physical body is a wonderful picture of the church in its complexity. But even more impressive is how each part works with every other part to hold the body together and promote growth. In another place Paul tells us that not only is Christ the head of the church, but in him all things hold together (Col. 1:17). Here he implies that in the church we all have a part in holding things together, as we all love one another and do our part.
It is for this reason that the standard for service in the church is faithfulness rather than importance. Fingers are critical to body life, but fingers can’t function apart from the invisible tendons. Our church recently honoured the “unsung heroes” of the congregation – those people who constantly worked behind the scenes but who were critical to making things happen, but were seldom seen. Tendons deserve honor and loving concern as much as fingers do.
God has put the body together, giving greater honour to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other (1 Cor. 12: 24-5).
Transfer this principle to the global church. Does our understanding of “the whole body” extend internationally? Doing so brings into perspective the need for churches to complement one another’s gifts internationally and cross-culturally. Some parts of the church have ample human resources but little finance. Parts of the worldwide body of Christ are well-supplied with evangelists but would seem to be short of pastors-teachers. There is a variety of understandings of God and his ways in the church because of different pilgrimages. They must be shared. As we each contribute our part, the whole worldwide body of Christ grows and builds itself up in love.
Lord Jesus, Lord of the Church, teach us daily our responsibility to your people at home and beyond so that together we can in all things grow and bear fruit.
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