This is the second post of a series looking at the health of our churches. Read the first post if you haven’t already.

Just as every living thing is made of individual cells, our churches are made up of individual believers. Some simple organisms are made up of a single cell, but complex living things are composed of many types of cells that each have different functions in the body. Similarly, not all believers are the same, but each have a different and valuable role in the body of Christ.

There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. (1 Corinthians 12:4-11)

Because life occurs at the cellular level, an organism will become ill and possibly die if its cells are not functioning properly. In the same way, the health of the church is directly dependent on the health of its members. If there is spiritual sickness among us, that sickness will affect other members, and likely the entire congregation. “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” (1 Cor 12:26)

We must be vigilant that spiritual lethargy or sickness doesn’t grow in our hearts. Spirits of pride and bitterness can grow in the heart of an individual until a whole family is affected, and then the entire church. Many church splits have been caused by a few sick individuals who have infected others with their attitudes and beliefs. This lack of love between Christians has caused many of their children to leave the faith. But can you really blame them when they see how professing Christians treat each other?

Instead of hatred, envy, and pride, we must take on the attributes of Christ: service, humility, and love. We must look out for each other, not to catch someone else in a fault, but to lend a hand to help a brother or sister out of the mire they are trying to escape. Looking out for each other in this way cannot happen unless we have deep relationships that are safe and strong enough to allow sharing, encouraging, and admonishing.

These relationships take time. Finding this time isn’t easy, especially when our lives are often overly busy, and we spend too much time on our devices. But if we want strong believers who form a healthy body, we must make deeper relationships a priority.

Healthy churches will take care of their members to maintain the health and vitality of the body.

PS: In case you were wondering, the photo is an image of cancer cells.