Recently at our supper table, the conversation turned briefly to the question pondered by the strangely curious, “Can they do a brain transplant? And, is it then a brain transplant or body transplant?” Let’s face it, it’s our mind that makes us who we are. Our body is what others recognize as us. So, in reality, if I would donate my brain, the body that receives it would act just like I do(pity the thought, right?). The person would look like themselves, but act like me. They would love the people I have come to love. They would hate coffee and love chocolate….because I hate coffee and love chocolate. They would be a devoted fan of the Redskins and despise the Cowboys. And so on.
Now, we are the body of Christ. We received a mind transplant.(1 Cor. 2:16b) So, in reality people should see our body just like always, but our actions would be those of Whose mind we now have…Christ’s. Even more than that, we would love those things that He loves and hate those things that He hates. Because we have HIS mind, HIS heart.
Think about how the brain works. It cannot DO anything. It can only communicate to the body what to do and the body responds. Some of that communication occurs without our even thinking about it; it’s largely reflexive and involves no decision on our part. Some of it has been trained so we response instinctively, without really thinking, but it’s been trained that way. And, some of it involves us making a choice.
Sometimes a brain injury will render a person’s body completely unable to do what the mind tells it to do. Their mind is completely normal, active and communicating to the body. But the body is unable to respond. They are, as I’ve read described, trapped inside their own body. I read recently of one such young man. He spent several years with a normal brain, understanding all that was going on around him….thinking thoughts he wanted to communicate. But, to those observing, he was completely unresponsive to anything they did or said.
Sometimes I wonder if God is trapped inside His own body, thinking thoughts He wants to communicate…and because His body is unresponsive…the world doesn’t really know what God is thinking or feeling.
It’s heartbreaking for me to listen to people pour out stories of pain, neglect, and heartache, all the while wondering where God was….why didn’t He care….why didn’t He do something!! And I realize that’s largely because God is trapped inside His own body, wanting to do something, caring very much, always present….but because the body was following through…..it wasn’t communicated to the world. And to those observing, because the body they saw was unresponsive, they believed God was unresponsive.
I want to tell these people that He DOES care….He wants to be involved….He wants to do something….He IS with them. But, His body is unresponsive. Are people blaming God for not caring because His body is unresponsive to their needs? Are they angry at God for not being involved because His body is not involved? Are they seeing a body that is unresponsive, not realizing that God is responsive….but that He is trapped inside His own body?
The mind communicates to the body what to do, but the body needs to respond. It’s the same in the spiritual realm. God, the head, communicates His wishes, desires, and thoughts to the body and the body responds. Some of that communication occurs without our even thinking about it; it’s largely reflexive, involving no decision on our part. Some of it has been trained by the renewal of the mind so that it has become instinctive. Some of it involves us making a choice.
May the body of Christ be completely responsive to the will of Christ so that the world sees what He is really like…..so that the world knows HE cares because WE care….that HE is involved in their lives because WE are involved in their lives.
May the body of Christ awaken from its coma and respond to His thoughts and desires. Oh, that God would no longer be trapped inside His own body.