One Mission, One Body.

Somedays are easier than others, but lately, the light on the other end of the tunnel has been feeling further and further away. One of the things that I have consistently and personally grappled with God over is why he allows so much suffering and division to take place in our lives. Often, it is difficult to believe in and worship a God who would let this level of suffering happen. It becomes increasingly difficult to believe in him when the people who make up the body of Christ showcase non-Christian behavior, yet say they do all things in Christ's name. If the latter is true, it makes sense why so many people have fallen away, or ended up in abusive churches, communities, or relationships. I have met all of the above. I have met the wounded and broken looking for a place of love and belonging. I have met the ones who are clamoring for a place to find their identity and their voice yet find themselves silenced even more than they did in the secular world. I have met the ones who are silently burdened with pain because they are embarrassed or scared to express themselves. Ultimately, they are afraid they will be condemned or judged. While others are afraid to appear like they are “complaining” or that they are not “believing enough” in God. I have met the ones who were looking for a healthy community and found themselves lonelier than when they were in their own solitude. I have met the ones who call out the “evil spirits” in people but forget to call out the gold. I have met the ones who manipulate the strong ones to carry out their agenda for power and money while sucking people dry of their energy and giftings. This is not to belittle or condemn the church, but rather to call the church up and out. We, as the body of Christ, can do better and be better. We are failing miserably to be true examples of Christ’s light, and I believe we must urgently make changes in our own lives to turn around the trajectory of the health of the church.

To remedy this pressing issue will take time. To begin to heal the body of Christ and to lessen the burden we each feel in our humanness, we must learn this truth. The truth is, we must bear each other’s burdens as though they were our own. We must become conscious brothers and sisters who recognize when one of us is hurting we all hurt. When one of us is missing, we are all missing. We must showcase Christ’s nature by not only recognizing but doing and being like him every day- not when others are watching, or because we feel like it, but because it is an honor and privilege to do so. When you see someone sitting alone, sit with them. When you see someone in pain, tend to them with compassion. When you hear one of them crying, dry their tears. When you see one of them winning the race, cheer them on. When you hear your brothers and sisters speaking, listen. When they are quiet; listen for their whisper. We must become in tune with the church body to the point we recognize how the body is operating as if it were our own physical body. A new level of intimacy is necessary for the body of Christ to survive the new levels of warfare we are going to face in the coming days. The body of Christ is made up of many parts, similar to a human body. We have preachers, teachers, apostles, prophets, and evangelists. Each of these are important with specific functions. We also have people who are intercessors, who are seers in the spirit, who support financially, who

participate in there faith but work everyday jobs, have families, and a life outside of church.

Therefore, to heal we need to see that no part is more important than another. The head no longer thinks that it is superior to the heart. The heart no longer believes it feels deeper than the arms or the legs. The arms and the legs no longer think that they do more than the ears and the eyes. The ears and the eyes no longer believe that they are the only senses we have in the body of Christ. We cannot operate until we recognize the importance of every part of the body. We cannot operate effectively until each part is loved, acknowledged, and tended to as God so designed. I truly weep for a day that I will have the joy of partaking in a healthy community that loves and looks like Christ. We are truly one body, with one mission. Any person who tells you about a mission other than this is falling away from the truth. The mission of the body of Christ is to love. Until then, we will continue to sit here in the dark, waiting for the body of Christ to awaken to its call- to love in Word, to love in Action, to love in the name of Christ.