I have been subscribing to a 40 day devotional on Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his wisdom this
past month. The daily email comes to me from Bible Gateway and I have greatly valued it.

Today, there was this message from Bonhoeffer:

Every act of self-discipline by a Christian is also a service to the   community. Conversely, there is no sin in thought, word, or deed, no matter how personal or secret, that does not harm the whole community. When the cause of an illness gets into one’s body, whether or not anyone knows where it comes from, or in what member it has lodged, the body is made ill. This is the appropriate metaphor for the Christian community. Every member serves the whole body, contributing either to its health or to its ruin, for we are members of one body not only when we want to be, but in our whole existence. This is not a theory, but a spiritual reality that is often experienced in the Christian community with shocking clarity, sometimes destructively and sometimes beneficially.  —  Life Together

This connects to the scripture passage from Romans 12, which we often contemplate;

For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. Romans 12:4-5

I was left particularly contemplating this question:

What are the implications of Bonhoeffer’s assertion that, “we are members of one body not only when we want to be, but in our whole existence”?