“…so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.”

In 1794 Stewart Kyd wrote,  “The Treatise on the Law of Corporations”.  He wrote, “[A corporation is] a collection of many individuals united in one body, under a special denomination, having perpetual succession under and artificial form, and vested, by policy of the law, with the capacity of acting, in several respects, as an individual.”  To fully understand the impact that this treatise had, you have to realize that before this, there were no corporations.  Up until that time all work was done by individuals under the power of government or the power of the church.  But, after this, the beginning of what we know today as normal (and often quite powerful…sometimes far more than government or religious institutions), we expect to work within corporations (large and small) to earn our living.  Embedded within the definition is the uniting of individuals into one body, what we today would consider to be engagement, alignment and loyalty.  What we do know is that nothing in the definition makes this unity automatic and that we must work hard, even harder than ever, to allow the individual to find those uniting elements that make us want to work as one.

Paul wrote of the kingdom of God as a collection of body parts that cannot function properly and wholly without each other. When we act out on our own, separating ourselves from the rest of the body, we are not only severing our ability to contribute but also constraining the potential of the whole.  God calls us to be part of His body not only on Sunday, but every day and in every situation.  In our work lives we work hard to be a part of the team.  In our faith, we can work just as hard to be a productive part of His team.

Reference: Romans 12:5 (New Living Translation)