Today in 7th grade life science I shared the following passage.  It is written by Phillip Yancey and Dr. Paul Brand in the book In the Likeness of God.  This is a new way to think about Paul's analogy of the church body to our body, now that we understand the complexity of the human body in a way Paul could not have.  

The body is one unit, though it is made up of many cells, and though all its cells are many, they form one body... If the white cell should say, because I am not a brain cell, I do not belong to the body, it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.  And if the muscle cell should say to the optic nerve cell, because I am not an optic nerve, I do not belong to the body, it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.  If the whole body were an optic nerve cell, where would be the ability to walk?  If the whole body were an auditory nerve, where would be the sense of sight?  But in fact God has arranged the cells in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.  If all cells were the same, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many cells, but one body.

That analogy conveys a more precise meaning to me because though a hand or foot or ear cannot have a life separate from the body, a cell does have that potential.  It can be part of the body as a loyalist, or it can cling to its own life.  Some cells do chose to live in the body, sharing its benefits while maintaining complete independence -- they become parasites or cancer cells.

Are we seeking to live out the role God has given us in the body of Christ, are we trying to live a life apart from the body, or are we parasite,s getting the benefit of the body without serving the body?