Have you had a glimpse of a person having health problems because of the presence of parasites in his/her body? Have you observed how does that person look like?

The common observation is that person looks pale, thin, and haggard. He or she appears sickly and lacks vitality.

Dictionary.com defines parasite as an organism that lives on or in an organism of another species, known as the host, from the body of which it obtains nutriment.

Bill Bright, the author of the book A Handbook for Christian Maturity, narrated a story about a passenger sitting next to him on a plane flight.  He mentioned that the passenger was very cordial and pleasant. In their conversation, Bill asked, “Where are you on your spiritual journey?”

The passenger replied, “I had my fill of the church when I was I young boy. Can you believe that I was forced to attend services three times a week? Every Sunday morning and evening and every Wednesday night. Years ago I determined that when I became an adult I would never attend church again as long as I live.”

“How would you like to live in a community where there was no church?” Bill inquired.

The passenger replied. “I wouldn’t like that.”

Looking him firmly in the eye, Bill said forcefully, “You are a parasite!”

The passenger immediately became flustered and said impatiently, “What do you mean by that?”

“Simple. You want all the benefits of the church without any of the responsibility.”

It is not uncommon to hear from church-goers that they don’t go to church anymore because they are not being blessed. They think the church is a place where they are entitled to get material and spiritual blessings according to their expectations and preferences. They forget the fact that the church is a congregation of genuine born-again Christ believers whose main objective in getting together is to glorify God by blessing other believers instead, similar to the human body parts that function co-operatively in strengthening the whole body.

1 Corinthians 12:27 says “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” By inference, this verse recognizes that only genuine born-again believers are the parts of Christ body that have genuine concern for the welfare of the body itself, no more, no less. Other organisms inside the church are not part of it but could be parasites that are weakening instead of strengthening the church.

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