Published by admin on 23 Mar 2018 at 12:34 pm
IF WE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST
If we are the Body of Christ, and He is our head, why is there so much disunity in the Body? Now we know our natural body has many functions, each interdependent upon the others. The Bible has somewhat to say about this in 1 Corinthians 12. The entire chapter is useful here, but for the lack of room, we will use verses 12-17. It would be good if you go back and read the whole chapter.
12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
14 For the body is not one member, but many.
15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?
18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.
19 And if they were all one member, where were the body?
20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.
21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:
23 And 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. note
24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked:
25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.
27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
Perhaps you could compare the function of the Body of Christ to a church pot luck dinner. One person brings the fried chicken, one the potato salad, another baked beans, another bread, another assorted vegetables, and another dessert. And all enjoy the variety as well as the fellowship, and have a complete meal. Sounds good, doesn’t it?
We’ll go a bit further with this illustration: Not picking on any denomination, mind you, just setting forth an example. We’ll say all the churches in town decide to have a pot luck dinner on a certain day. The Baptists all brought fried chicken and nothing else. Down the street, the Catholic church likewise has a pot luck, and EVERYONE brings potato salad, and nothing else. And the Pentecostal church all bring baked beans. The Assembly of God church, well they all brought bread. And the Methodist church had a feast on only assorted vegetables, while the Seventh Day Adventists all brought dessert.
Well, yes, they all had something to eat, and they all got full. Problem is, it was a very boring and incomplete meal. Think of the feast they all could have had if they had invited members of the other churches to come and share what they brought. But NO, they’re too busy telling their congregations that they alone have all the Truth of the Gospel, and separate themselves from the others. And so the whole church body suffers because they don’t draw from the gifts of the others. Thus we have a “church body” that lacks unity, and guess what it ALSO lacks? POWER!!
I’m not vain enough to believe my particular congregation has all the truth, all the gifts, and all the answers, because we DON’T. Now we have SOME of the truth, SOME of the gifts, and SOME of the answers, but we could all profit from what the OTHER churches know. All church denominations seem to “specialize” in some particular aspect of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Again, not coming against any, or ridiculing. The Baptists have the corner on salvations. The Catholics have it on praying. The Pentecostals specialize in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Assembly of God know how to raise money for missions, and the Seventh Day Adventists have keeping God’s Sabbath down pat. But WHY won’t they all get together and win the world for Christ Jesus? Just one simple thing: PRIDE. They all think they have it all together and need not the others. And the devil is laughing his butt off at us all. Why? Because we’re busy doing HIS work, not God’s.
You see, Satan is a divider and a thief. If he can keep the Body of Christ all divided against one another, no Kingdom of God work to any extent will be accomplished. While we are all sitting in our churches being smug thinking that WE are the true and only body of Christ, the truth is we are all deceiving ourselves. Now I’m not saying everything is all right in any particular denomination, but if we would all get together and submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit, we could, as you might put it, “EAT THE MEAT AND SPIT OUT THE BONES”.
One thing is certain: we are fast closing in on the end where there will be no more salvations, and the LORD will come to settle accounts. So many of the people of the world are unsaved. This is no time to be bickering among denominations while the devil brings HIS antichrist version of the Gospel to the world. The TRUE body of Christ indeed has many members and functions, but they will ALL be securely fastened to the HEAD, which is Christ Jesus of Nazareth, Y’shua Messiah. And they will ALL function as a unit, for every part is supplied with the SAME BLOOD of Christ Jesus, even as every part and organ of our human body differs in function, but the same blood feeds and supplies all.
For as long as we refuse to draw help from other church denominations, we all lose strength and effectiveness and thereby dishonor our Head, Christ Jesus.
Allow me to share a funny illustration. If I’m going out to evangelize, I will take a Jehovah’s Witness, a Baptist, a Pentecostal, and an Assembly of God person with me. The Jehovah’s Witness will knock on the door, the Baptist will get them saved, the Pentecostal will get them filled with the Holy Ghost, and the Assembly of God will take the offering, which will help me to further evangelize. Everyone has a part, and everyone wins by the teamwork of all.
So how about it? If we are the Body of Christ, shouldn’t we all connect to the Head so Christ Jesus can actually get some work done by ALL of us working together? Or will His hand just lay there flopping on the ground, trying to reach out, but no arm to stretch forth with, nor having any feet to get Him where He needs to go, nor eyes to see the way, nor a mouth to preach the Gospel with, nor ears to hear the cries of the lost and unsaved, nor a mind to put it all together? Let’s all work together and win the world to Jesus so we can go home with Him, ok?
Terry. g. warman on 24 Mar 2018 at 2:37 am #
Amen Brother