Until I experience occasional pain in my back, I do not give it much thought. But when I do experience pain, it affects my whole body. It’s been years since I experienced a kidney stone and let me say that I do not look forward to another episode.

One of the guys at the gym recently described his attempts to ease his back pain. Doctors told him to have surgery on his knees and that would alleviate his pain. Nope. Later he had his hip replaced. Did his back feel better? Nope. Now he is trying a new set of exercises to strengthen his core. Will it help? Time will tell.

The point is the same that Paul made to the church in Corinth –

“The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together” (1 Corinthians 12: 22-26).

Whether it is a backache or a kidney stone or something else, we don’t often consider how critical it is that our body functions well until something breaks down.

Our physical bodies are a picture of how we function as followers of Christ. If one of us suffers, we all suffer together. If one of us receive honor, we should all rejoice together.

Think about that when someone attempts to divide us – from the outside or within.