We're in each other

The video I posted yesterday - Peter Frampton's song, "I'm in You" - is to me a beautiful love song. I've heard the song at least three times in the past few weeks on a popular local radio station that plays music from the 70's and 80's. Watching the video really, really touched me - in several ways - and that's why I decided to post a link to it.

Kind of like the love story in Song of Solomon, I see this song as both a wonderful romance story between a husband and wife and as an allegory of the love between God and His Bride, the church. I'm guessing that's not at all what was intended with the writing of the song, but that's what I got out of it! I'm not afraid to admit this... I had tears streaming down my face during one particular viewing of the video. It was a very worshipful, thankful, loving moment.

But I also captured one more picture in my mind when I watched the video that I most likely would not have seen if not for Frampton's live performance and the way he interacted with the audience. I know I wouldn't have seen this if I didn't have a huge heart for the church of God.

In the video, when Frampton sings "I'm in you, you're in me," he turns around in a circle and motions back and forth between himself and the audience. Does he have in mind a picture of the body of Christ? I highly doubt it! But nevertheless to me his actions represent the truth of the body of Christ. I really see the body of Christ as many members who make up one whole body, as Paul talks about in Romans 12 and 1 Cor 12, and I think it's vital that we see each other this way.

Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. (Rom 12:4-5 NIV)

The NKJV words it this way: "and individually members of one another."

Whoever you are out there in the body of Christ, I am a member of the same body as you. We are members of Christ and we are members of one another. We're in Christ and we're in each other. In John 15, Jesus talked about abiding in Him as a branch abides in the vine. Well, all the branches abide in the same vine and all are members of the same vine. We not only have an abiding relationship with Christ, we have an abiding relationship with each other. It's impossible for the body of Christ to exist without all the members!

We've all got different functions in this body. A heart does something different than a finger or a kidney or a knee joint, but they're all members of the same body. And each member receives nutrients and information on its identity and on what to do from the same head. In the body of Christ, we all have very diverse functions, but all the functions work together to make the body as a whole work properly!

We are in Christ and we are in each other.