(The characters and events in this story are fictional. They are exaggerated for the sake of illustration.)
It’s 9:48, and everyone in the small church auditorium braces. The pastor even stumbles over the words in his prayer a little as he furtively glances at the back doors, waiting for them to swing open with a bang. But the doors don’t move. The moment passes. The pastor finishes his prayer and the service continues. But no one is thinking about the words as they sing the next hymn. Instead, a question burns in everyone’s mind. Where is Jimmy?
Everyone knows Jimmy. He’s always looking for a new friend, so he’s introduced himself to everyone at least twice and it’s impossible to miss his untidy appearance and boisterous laugh. He gets on most of the adults’ nerves, but the kids tend to love him. He’s always saying funny things and sometimes, he brings a bag of Hershey kisses or Tootsie pops to share with them. Oh, and the kids all love his dog.
Jimmy’s dog is just about the sweetest dog anyone at the church knows, but even though it’s been a few years, they still aren’t completely used to having a dog attending church every Sunday. She behaves well, for the most part. Though, every once in a while, she surprises one or two of the more buttoned-up members by wriggling under the pew and popping up next to them in the middle of the sermon.
Despite his unorthodox appearance and behavior, Jimmy has become a fixture. Some of the members of the church hardly notice his baggy jeans, faded t-shirt and patchy facial hair anymore, even though they stand in stark contrast with the clean-shaven faces and suits and ties worn by most of the men who show up on a Sunday morning.
But even after all this time, everything about Jimmy gets under Ethel Cabbot’s skin. He and his dog are often the subject of conversation at the Cabbot family dinner table. One week, Ethel will disgustedly recount how Jimmy laughed at a completely un-humorous moment in the sermon and distracted everyone from God’s Word. Another week, she will bemoan the bad example Jimmy is setting for the young people at the church with his unkempt wardrobe and slovenly ways. Another week, she will hardly be able to contain her horror at the fact that she heard Jimmy say g-o-s-h in front of the Pastor. It doesn’t help that every time Jimmy greets the Cabbots, he calls Ethel and her husband Mr. and Mrs. Cabbage. He always laughs maniacally at his own joke. They never do.
Jimmy comes up in conversation often at the monthly ladies’ tea and Ethel and her friends bemoan the way he is ruining the spirit of reverence.
Meanwhile, Jimmy is blissfully unaware of the whispered conversations and of Ethel’s animosity towards him and his shaggy side-kick. Week after week, Ethel sits primly in her place and winces as, right on cue, Jimmy slams the back doors of the church auditorium open, acts genuinely surprised to see that the service has already begun, then says in a loud whisper, “Sorry I’m late!” Week after week it’s the same.
Then, one Sunday afternoon, Ethel is in conversation with two friends in the church entryway. Jimmy passes them, sporting a goofy smile and waving vigorously. “Bye! See you guys later!” The ladies flash polite smiles and gently incline their heads. None of them acknowledge the presence of the dog, which is looking up at them, tongue lolling, tale wagging, panting loudly. Jimmy and his dog bustle out the front door and the ladies turn back to each other.
Ethel rolls her eyes, “I have to say it. I can’t believe the pastor doesn’t do something about him. Why just two weeks ago, that woman from down the street came to church and that dog tried to lick her hand. No wonder she hasn’t come back.”
Another woman pipes in, “I’m surprised that there hasn’t been some sort of policy put in place against animals being brought in to the church. I mean, I don’t have a problem with pets, but God’s house is no place for animals.”
There are nods all around.
“If I’m going to be perfectly honest,” Ethel says with pious conviction, “I think that Jimmy and that animal are going to be the death of this church. With that sort of foolishness going on, no one in our community is going to take us seriously.”
Ethel stops short. Her back is to the door, but she can tell someone is standing behind her. When she hears the panting of a dog, her heart sinks. She turns to find Jimmy. His eyes are glued to hers and the usual smile is gone. Instead, he looks shocked and hurt. There is no doubt that he heard every word she just said.
They make silent eye contact for three deeply uncomfortable seconds, then Jimmy drops his eyes, turns and shuffles back out the door. Ethel stares after him, a lump in her throat. The other ladies disperse and on the ride home from church, Ethel is uncharacteristically quiet.
Over the course of the afternoon, Ethel formulates her plan. Over and over in her head she rehearses her apology to Jimmy. Her words are careful. She wants to genuinely express her sorrow at offending him, but she doesn’t want to suggest that she didn’t actually mean what she said. Her apology ready, she makes plans to speak to him the next Sunday morning at church.
When “apology day” rolls around, Ethel feels distinctly uncomfortable as she prepares for church, but she swallows her nerves and steels her will. She needs to apologize. She is a good Christian and Christians make things right. As she and her husband arrive early for the Sunday morning service, Ethel Cabbot looks more prim and proper than ever.
But 9:48 comes and goes. The second hymn is sung, the sermon is preached, the closing prayer is offered, and still no Jimmy. After the service, the church members exchange quizzical glances. The ladies gossip about Jimmy’s absence at the monthly tea that Saturday, but no one really knows why he wasn’t there.
The next weekend, Ethel prepares for yet another Sunday. Once again, she is armed with her well-rehearsed apology, but she secretly wishes that Jimmy will be absent once again. She breathes a sigh of relief when Jimmy fails to make an entrance and as week follows week and Jimmy’s absence continues, Ethel begins to think differently about the whole episode. Maybe her words were just what Jimmy needed to realize the trouble he was causing for the church family. She doesn’t bear him any ill will of course, but maybe it’s all for the best.
After all, she no longer needs to feel ashamed when visitors come. She can focus on the service better now. She feels like a burden has been lifted. Jimmy’s absence can only be a good thing.
But despite secret sighs of relief, the members of the small church have a nagging feeling that things just aren’t quite right, like they’ve lost something they didn’t know they needed.
In his 1895 book The Structure of Man, a German scientist named Robert Wiedersheim coined a new biological term when he created a list of eighty-six “vestigial” organs in the human body. These organs, he claimed, were neither necessary nor even useful to humans, but were leftovers from the evolutionary process. He echoed Charles Darwin where in The Descent of Man he had claimed the existence of “useless organs” in the human body.
An article on answersingenesis.org mentions that Wiedersheim’s list includes “the parathyroid, pineal and pituitary glands, as well as the thymus, tonsils, adenoids, appendix, third molars, and valves in veins. All of these organs,” the article points out, “have been subsequently shown to have useful functions and indeed some have functions essential for life.”
Since the 1890s, scientists have shifted several times on their view of the concept of “vestigial” organs. The once-popular concept has fallen almost entirely out of favor as biologists have discovered the function of more and more of the organs once thought to be useless. Scientists are much more wary to claim that an organ has no function and much quicker to admit that we just have yet to discover its function.
In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul points a paradox in the way that we view our bodies.
“…those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.” (1 Corinthians 12:23-25)
The human body is an incredible thing. It all works together to keep everything ticking, but things start to go wrong when one part of that body is missing or not functioning properly. Interestingly, it’s those ugly internal organs that are hidden away below the surface that matter much more to the proper function of the body than the facial features to which we give so much attention. It’s all important, but you can live without a nose. You can’t live without a liver.
“For as the body is one,” Paul points out, “and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.” (1 Corinthians 12:12)
As he draws the parallel between the physical body and the church of Jesus Christ, Paul leans into the paradox. “much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:” (1 Corinthians 12:22) Even if they don’t look important, each organ serves a vital function.
That’s not just true of the parts of the human body. It’s also true of the members of the body of Christ. Whether or not we understand what part Jimmy has to play, if he is born again then he is a member of the body. Not only is he not useless. He is necessary. There are no vestigial organs in the body of Christ. Oh, and don’t forget that Ethel is part of the body too. No matter how loathsome a member might seem to us, we are all part of the same body. We don’t have to understand the function of every organ, but we can rejoice in the beautiful complexity of the body God has designed.
“But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.” (1 Corinthians 12:18)
Every part has a function, every member has a place. Jimmy might drive you crazy. Ethel might make you angry. Each member of the body by itself might be odd, even grotesque, but together they make something that is truly amazing. God can give us grace to see His body like He sees it: something where all the weird, crazy, redeemed sinners work together to make something beautiful.
Isn’t the body an amazing thing?
Read the article about organs once thought to be “vestigial”. (Answers in Genesis)
Exempla 