I was talking today with my Physician’s Assistant about the relationship between several different health issues.  It seems as though, for men, sleep apnea, low testosterone, susceptibility to prostate cancer (whether genetic or otherwise), and low bone density are all interrelated.  Problems with one will affect all of the others.

For example, sleep apnea (when one stops breathing while sleeping) causes low oxygen levels in the blood, and as a result to all the cells within the body.  The result is then lower function of the organs, which leads to low testosterone, fatigue, poor sexual function, low energy levels, poor calcification of the bones (leading to osteoporosis and low bone density), and an increased risk of prostate cancer.  These problems can then lead to other health-related issues as well.

You can see where this is going, right?  Like a dysfunctional family, when one part of the body is not fulfilling its purpose and maintaining its responsibility to the rest of the body, it can lead to poor functioning within the organism as a whole.

I think it’s like this within the body of Christ as well.  Paul specifically targeted this idea in I Corinthians 12:26-27:

And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.

In the human body every member has its place and use. So it is in the body of Christ.

As Matthew Henry put it:

We should do the duties of our own place, and not murmur, or quarrel with others. All the members of the body are useful and necessary to each other. Nor is there a member of the body of Christ, but may and ought to be useful to fellow-members. As in the natural body of man, the members should be closely united by the strongest bonds of love; the good of the whole should be the object of all. All Christians are dependent one upon another; each is to expect and receive help from the rest. Let us then have more of the spirit of union….

So, how do we achieve unity? How can we encourage one another to use our gifts and talents for the Lord and His church?