Joints and Bones

“Joined and knit together by what every joint supplies.”
– Ephesians 4:16 –

I know some brothers who would make splendid people if everyone else were dead, for they are very loving and friendly toward themselves. They would be just the sort of folk to become hermits—shut them up in a cave with a bucket of water and a loaf of bread, and all their virtues would shine out.

They have taken the motto that our Scottish friends associate with the thistle—“No­body can touch me and go unpunished.” No matter who comes near them, they are always on their guard. They are sure that people mean them no good, so they repel their advances at once.

When we get people like that into a Christian church, it is very awkward for the rest of the members. It is as if we had bones in our body without any joints. They grate against each other and constantly wear each other out when they come into contact.

Now, dear friend, if you are in a church, do try to make yourself as bearable as possible. Keep your own oddities, if they are worth keeping, but do not impose them on others and make yourself obnoxious. And do not be offended by everybody or even anybody if you can help it.

In this wondrously complex body of Christ, we need to be jointed all over so that we may in our various relationships be to others just what Christ would have us to be.

From Spurgeon on Unity, pp. 58–59