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by Keith Moore
 
I sometimes say that my left foot has very little direct fellowship with my right ear. In some positions, they may be a little closer together than in other positions, but unless I become a contortionist and tie my body into a knot, there's no way my left foot and my right ear can touch each other directly.

However, my right hand has direct fellowship with my right ear all the time. With my right hand I can wash my ear, scratch it, rub it - do whatever I need to do to minister to it by directly touching it. Although my hand and my ear have very different functions in my body, they have been designed to have a direct relationship with one another. But my left foot, though it's also an important part of my body, doesn't have a direct relationship with my right ear.

I use this humorous illustration to remind us of something we tend to forget - the Body of Christ is exactly like the human body. And as members of that Body, we are all joined together in God-ordained relationships.

No Unnecessary Parts
The important word in that last sentence is God-ordained. The Bible says the Lord has set every member in the Body as it has pleased Him. According to Ephesians 4:15-16, we are to "grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love."

Another translation says, "we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love".

In other words, the Body of Christ - the Church - is just like the human body. Even in its fallen condition the human body is a marvel. It is "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Ps. 139:14). And the Body of Christ is like the natural body. It, too, is fearfully and wonderfully made." It's perfect. The parts are perfect. God made no superfluous or unnecessary parts, and He has fitted the parts (that is, us) together or joined them together exactly as He wills.

God has chosen to place every member in the Body as it has pleased Him. We don't choose what Body part we are. We don't choose where we fit in the Body. Those parts that are connected to each other are destined to be connected to each other.

We don't choose which parts of the Body we have direct relationships with and which ones we have only indirect relationships with. God has made those decision. But when the Body is working properly, all parts work together, help each other and minister to each other so there is an increase or a building up of the whole Body.

Relationship is Important
It's vital that we understand how the Body of Christ works. The most important thing in your life is your relationship with God. After that is your relationship with people - your family, your friends and loved ones - and beyond them, your relationships with other members of the Body of Christ.

We must understand the proper ordering and working of our relationships within the Body of Christ because of the effect relationship has on our prosperity. That's right. Relationship is inseparable from prosperity. Remember, the Bible says that proper functioning in each individual part "causes the growth (or increase) of the body for the building up of itself in love" (Eph. 4:16).

You see, God has a plan for the multiplication of the Body's resources. He wants to develop individual members of the Body to the point where they can make a substantial contribution and then link them together. Scripture says one will chase a thousand, but two will put 10,000 to flight (Deut. 32:30).

Individually, each of us can only do so much, no matter how great our faith is or how much wealth we have. But by linking together with other individuals and groups within the Body of Christ, we have all the spiritual and financial strength we need to win the world for Christ.

God-joined vs. Man-joined
Let me illustrate from the Scriptures how important right relationships are to our spiritual and financial prosperity. First of all, relationships fall into two basic categories: God-joined and man-joined.

For instance, 1 Samuel 10:26 says that when Saul went home after being anointed king, "there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched." From that day on, these men were Saul's constant companions and supporters. God made a place in their hearts for Saul and a place in Saul's heart for them, and there was a divine joining.

But the Bible also gives examples of man-joined relationships. And these man-joined relationships often got people into trouble. Remember the prodigal son? When he had spent all his money, "he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country ... (who) sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him" (Luke 15:15-16).

The young man got into trouble because he joined himself in a relationship which was not God's will for him. He lost all his money and nearly starved to death before he went back to the family and the relationships God had put him in. This story illustrates the principle that if, on your own initiative, you choose to break loose from someone or some group God has joined you to, you can become impoverished in short order.

Don't Unhook
The story of Abram and Lot illustrates this principle perfectly in Genesis 13. Abram and Lot were so wealthy that there wasn't enough grazing land for all their flocks and herds, and the competition for grass and water was causing strife between them.

Abram was rich because God had blessed him as He had promised. But Lot was rich because Abram had adopted him when Lot's father died, and had treated him as part of his own family. In other words, Abram was rich because he was walking in covenant relationship with God, and Lot was prosperous because of his relationship with Abram. He was a partaker of Abram's blessing just as the New Testament says we are partakers of the blessings of Abram (Abraham) when we are in Christ (Gal. 3:14, 29).

Unfortunately, the prosperity of Abram and Lot caused strife within the family. And Abram realized that as a godly man he had to be totally intolerant of strife. Abram decided that he and Lot would have to separate, and generously gave Lot the choice of which part of the country he would live in. He said to Lot, "You take the part you want, and I'll take the other part."

Now, this should have been the moment when Lot remembered where he came from. He should have remembered that he was an orphan and, except for Abram's generosity, he wouldn't even have a home, much less flocks and herds and wealth of all kinds. He should have honored his father-son relationship he had with his uncle. He should have honored his elder and told Abram, "No, Father, except for the Lord and you, I'd have nothing. Therefore, you be the one to choose. If you want me to stay with you, we'll get rid of some of this stuff. Or if we do need to separate, you make the choice of which land you want."

But Lot didn't do that, did he? He chose for himself what looked to him to be the best land. He chose to separate from his relationship with Abram and joined himself and his family to a city of men who were sinners before the Lord. And although Lot didn't know it, he ruined his life and the lives of his family at the moment he made that choice.

Because he chose wealth over his relationship with Abram - the relationship that was the source of his blessing - he eventually lost everything, including his wife, and ended up living in fear and poverty in a cave in the mountains (Gen. 19). All because he didn't understand the inseparable connection between prosperity and God-joined relationships. He chose to leave a relationship God had put him in without asking God's permission, and without considering whether leaving was part of God's plan for his life or not.

Going AWOL
Lot got into trouble because he did what a lot of Christians do - he went AWOL. That's the military term for absent without leave. In its simplest form, it means leaving your assigned station without official permission.

If you're in the military, and get sent to a base in Alaska in the wintertime, you can't just say, "Hey, I don't like the climate here. They aren't treating me right up here. Don't we have bases in Hawaii? Man, I'm out of here! I'm going to a base in Hawaii. I can serve my country down there just as well as I can here."

No, actually you can't. Because if you leave without permission, you're considered AWOL. In the natural, any soldier who leaves without permission would be court-martialed. But there is judgment on the spiritual, too, and if Jesus really is your Lord and the Captain of your salvation, you don't get to decide where you're stationed. You don't get to decide when you work and when you quit. Where you go to church, whether you stay in a church or change churches, when you hook up with a ministry or unhook from a ministry is not your choice.

Remember, God places every member in the Body as it pleases Him. God has joined people together in relationships and people have prospered in those relationships because they were in the right place at the right time for the plan of God to work for the increase of the entire Body. So, if you want to prosper, don't leave without permission. Stay hooked up with God and with the relationships He has put you in. learn to "endure hardness, as a good soldier" (2 Tim. 2:3), and let God tell you when to stay and when to go.