Organs of Humanity

‘“* The members should have the same care one for another.’’ — 1 Cor. xii. 25.

Every member of the body is to be the instrument of the body. One man is as the eye of the corporate body, and it is his sacred function to look and watch in the interests of the body. Another man is as an ear, and it is his holy office to be alert and listening in the interests of the body. Every member is to be a social minister. No one’s personality is to be used as an instrument of selfishness, but as an organ of humanity.

Now it would seem as if the smaller circle is the realm of surest happiness and freedom. The wider the circle the larger will be the gathering ground of sorrows and cares! Might it not therefore be an act of worldly wisdom just to close our eyes and shut our ears, or exercise them only in the tiny area of our own affairs? ‘‘I want that widow well out of my ears, with her ailing and wailing!” Very well, just turn a deaf ear, and you make your escape. And that cry from Macedonia! How troublesome is this wail from the larger circle! And, if we heed it, it will probably lead to increased burdensomeness and fiercer persecution! The folk in Troas who do not hear the ery have the happier and easier lot! Very well, then, just close your ears, and very soon you will not hear the pathetic cry, and Macedonia will have ceased to exist. Surely, we have this way of escape! We can shut out the body and be at rest.

The reckoning is altogether false. In the smaller circle we may possibly find an ignoble ease. But ease is not peace. Ease is just the indolence of the beast; peace is the holy restfulness of the saint. Ease is the stupor born of perverted relations; peace is the harmony of right relations. Ease is the condition of degeneracy; peace is the condition of growth. Whenever my power is used as an instrument of ease and selfishness there is inevitable degradation, Everything shrinks in the smaller circle,

Organs of Humanity Bz

yes, even my capacity for the enjoyment which I am so anxious to retain. My receptivity shrinks. That is a terrible law. If I shut out my brother I am unable to retain myself. Dismiss him and I lose myself, for in dismissing him I dismiss the Lord Himself. ‘““Ye did it unto Me!” The purposed organ of humanity shrivels into a puny, selfish instrument which has no vital communion with the Lord.

The member is appointed for the service of the body. The larger circle is our purposed sphere and home. The cry from Macedonia may lead us into new distresses, but it will also lead us into newer wealth in human fellowships, and it will give us larger access into the unsearchable riches of Christ.