A Comparison Between The Human Body And The Church

An analogy between the human body and the Church, also known as the Body of Christ, was first made in the Bible by the Apostle Paul. People might consider it exaggerated and obsolete, but the recent discoveries, which are due to the invention of the electronic microscope, only deepen and strengthen this analogy. The comparison will be made at two levels: being part of a body and specialization of the cells.

A way of differentiating living cells is by observing whether they are isolated and having an independent life course or they are only a part of an organism with total dependency to it. Amoeba, the primordial cell, belongs to the first category. She is a lonely cell, living on her own, moving wherever she wants to and what is most spectacular is that she does all by herself all the functions an entire body would do: breathing, digesting, reproducing. By contrast, there are the white cells, the leukocytes. The appearances would tell that they are not very different from the amoeba, because they have almost the same structure, the same color and they also wander alone in the blood, without hurrying looking as if they had no role in the body. But these appearances mean nothing when only a needle pierces the skin of the living body; it is like an alarm clock that begins to ring and all the white cells awake! They run together to the injured spot and working together they ingest the bacteria. For some of them this means death.

This is the point where the Amoeba and the White Cell totally differ: the amoeba runs from the danger expressing by this her own will while the white cell runs into the danger in order to save the whole body, even if this means total sacrifice and a loss of independence. There are though some cells inside the body which choose to live on their own; these cells become parasites or cancer cells. This is exactly what happens with people. On one hand there are people who decide to walk their life journey alone, making their own decisions, living only to satisfy themselves and running away when things get harsh for the others. On the other hand there are those who realize life only makes sense when they submit to God and by this they become part of His body, with Jesus Christ being the Head. From that point on, they live in order to please God and bring joy to their new brothers. They are like an army in a war, fighting together and sacrificing one for the other.

A second level of comparison could be the specialization of cells. Because they are many, each of them has a special role. They don't have to do all the processes needed in the body and what's more important, they are not allowed to. The optic cells cannot move through the blood because they are needed to stay in a specific spot. Unlike them, the Amoeba has all the freedom to move in her environment. At a first glance, it might seem that the Amoeba has an exciting life while the optic cells live a monotonous life. The objective truth tells the exact opposite. By self sacrifice, the body cells can take part at the "community miracle". The Amoeba can only perceive light but the eye can perceive colors and forms and in collaboration with the neural cells they can rejoice by seeing a familiar face or a spectacular landscape. This is another analogy to the body of Christ. When one is alone and sees a splendor he needs someone to share with and if he doesn't find someone the joy vanishes soon. But Christ intended the body to be one in all, in joy, in sorrow, in needs, in wishes and plans, bound together with the strong love of His, which is everlasting.

In conclusion, the cells in the body have lots of differences and these can be anatomical, structural or functional. But this diversity of cells only leads to the wonder of the human body. The women's egg cell matches perfectly the sperm cell further leading to other different cells, such as neurons, leukocytes, red cells, muscle cells, bone cells, altogether forming a new baby and a new home for a soul. The same is with the Church. Even though it is made of vast range of people they all work together as one, bringing glory and joy to the one who created them, Almighty God.