Joni And Friends Daily Devotional 29 May 2024, Wesday Message
TOPIC: A “Kidney” Christian
“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.” – 1 Corinthians 12:22-24
Some time ago I forced myself to watch The Operation on the Learning Channel. They show real operations, with real blood and real sutures. I made myself watch because they were showing a kidney transplant, and I wanted to see what a good friend of mine, Mike Yuen, had to go through when he gave a kidney to his brother, Geoff. Mike made this big sacrifice because people can’t survive without a kidney.
You can live without your eyes, your ears, or use of your hands or legs. I know thousands of people who do. But here’s the irony: while most of us are convinced we could never survive without these up-front, kind-of-showy body parts (“Oh, Lord, I could never survive without my eyesight!”), we never consider the pancreas, kidney, or liver. Because we don’t see these hidden body parts, we quickly forget how critical they are to life.
There’s a parallel here to the body of Christ. As 1 Corinthians 12 says, a church can’t make it—the church can’t survive as the functioning body of Christ—without that weaker person, that needy family, that man or woman who isn’t up front. Without them, the church can’t be what it’s supposed to be. Hurting people give the rest of the body of Christ an opportunity to serve. And sacrificial service means there’s no time for division, factions, or rivalry.
You need your kidney. And your church needs a kidney kind of guy who may be homeless, helpless, handicapped, or hurting.
Do you have needs you should express to the church? Or should you meet the need of another member? Maybe you need to do both!
Sometimes, Father God, I get so caught up in the part I think I should play in the church that I don’t stop long enough to ask if I understand correctly. I’m listening to you now.
Joni Eareckson Tada is an American evangelical Christian author, radio host, artist, and founder of Joni and Friends, an organization “accelerating Christian ministry in the disability community”.