This past weekend I spoke at a Ladies Retreat in Wyoming.  The theme verse was Romans 12:5 "So we, being many, are members of the body of Christ, and every one members one of another."  We talked about the different systems in the body that must be healthy and working in unison to have an effective body.

The brain is  the control center of the body.  The pastor is like the brain.  The Central Nervous System is the coordinator of communication and behavior.  Sounds like the pastor's wife to me!  She relays messages about pain and illness and helps get out the word for reactions to these situations.  She gives instructions to organize programs and activities.

We talked about the skeletal system being made up of bones and cartilage.  These are designed to support and protect the vital organs where the life is.  The circulatory system is about moving or transporting.  We compared communication to moving and how good communication moves you along a happy path and poor communication moves you along a, well, bumpy path.

The digestive system shows a wonderful picture of reading and studying God's Word.  The Word in us makes us healthy.  I have coined a term that I call "anorexic Christianity."  People who suffer with anorexia eat just barely enough to survive and do not have a healthy life.  Many Christians just listen a little in church sometimes and think that is enough to make them spiritually healthy.  It takes personal study of the Word of God.

 And then, it was easy to talk about the Excretory System......yup, the poop.  If the health and nutrition of the Word of God goes into our hearts, then the waste of sin will be taken out of our lives.  If sin is allowed to build up in our lives, we become filled with toxins and are no longer profitable but poisonous.

All the parts must be working together in harmony to have a healthy  body.  A church is made up of all kinds of people who have all different kinds of talents and abilities.  We all need to have a check up and be sure we are doing our part to make the body of Christ healthy and effective.