The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

1 Corinthians 12-13

My college basketball team was awesome. (Sorry, folks - I’m not talking about Clemson!) Our college basketball FANS, however, were notoriously bad - myself included. Individually, we were perfectly nice, well-mannered young men and women - on our own outside of the arena. But in the throes of “mob mentality,” we became sort of an entity. Local papers regularly ran articles, editorials, and letters to the editor chronicling our antics. We chanted, yelled, booed, hissed, & threw things. We had a horrendous reputation that visiting teams dreaded and opponents did not welcome at away games.

As individuals, probably none of us would have at any time screamed rude epithets, hurled bananas (yes, that’s what I said) and quite frankly, by ourselves would have made a really boring *wave.* Alone I could do something, but I couldn’t make as much of an impact. But as a mob - one body - or as I say, an entity - we were making news, scaring children, and affecting people and the way they felt.

At one game in particular, two of the Special Olympics teams were scheduled to play basketball during halftime. Given the reputation of our rabid fans, school officials were nervous. Moms of Special Olympians were nervous. The halftime game started - and I felt a shift. This crowd of riled-up college hooligans began to watch the game - and really started getting into it. Rude screaming was replaced by shouts of genuine encouragement. Good plays were met with excited cheers, and fumbles with good-natured collective groans.

To this day I remember a letter to the local papers from a parent of one of the Special Olympians. The letter expressed her initial trepidation in allowing her child to participate - given what she’d heard about us. The letter went on to state how grateful she was to the body of college students - their enthusiasm, and the way her son felt - beaming - after that game. And she encouraged the community not to write off these fans because of the way we tended to come off - that we were really a bunch of people with decent hearts.

As a church - or, THE church - the world-wide body of believers in Christ, we are an entity, a mob, a physical body. Alone, individually, as Christians we can and should do something - as we are commanded- to make what impact we can where we are, amongst those around us. But we are “better together.” United as one, we can have a positive - or a negative effect rippling out from around us. Do we want to be written up in the papers as a poorly-behaved mass or as an enthusiastic, encouraging team? Do we want our visitors to dread coming? Do we want our visits (our “away games”) to be unwelcome? Notoriously bad or influential and genuine? Together we are stronger, united together.

What are we able to do on our own? How can we as individuals in our unique situation be influential - being a Christ-like example?
What are some of the ways your own uniqueness benefits the body? Why is that important?
Why do you think it is crucial to have both in your life - personal quiet alone-time with the Lord as well as the experience of authentic corporate worship?

This week, set aside some special time to pray for unity of the church body - both here and worldwide - that yourself, those around you, and Christians everywhere will truly, genuinely love one another and that we will all regularly worship together as one, lifting up His holy name.

Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor 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. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

1 Corinthians 14-27