Last night we had friends over and we were talking about different church based activities and as always that is encouraging. One of the things that I heard from the Lord during our conversation was the need for us to embrace a more Kingdom based perspective about church (Body of Christ).
For so many years the majority of us (in the Western Church) have grown up in a denominational and congregational model. We think of Church as the congregation that we belong to and where we invest our time and energy. While that is helpful in a relational sense, I don't think that is the way the Church is meant to function.
Several years ago the Lord spent some time expanding my mindset about Church (Body of Christ) and it was quite enlightening to me. I was unaware of many of the mindsets I had embraced, that essentially limited my understanding and thus my experience. A long time ago when the Lord moved us out of the Catholic Church into a non-denominational church, the Lord challenged me to think of the Church as His Body of Christ present on the earth. He said, "why do you limit yourself to man-made boundaries? What do I see when I look at the earth? Do I see many of my Bodies, or just one?" That question really changed the way I viewed the Church, and enabled me to step into the freedom of following Him without worrying about boundaries or denominational or congregational lines.
While I strongly believe in the local congregation, as an expression of the larger Body of Christ, I have come to realize that the Lord doesn't limit Himself by congregational or denominational lines, and neither should I! He is at work in the universal, worldwide Body of Christ, in every expression of it, and every embodiment of it. I think Paul's writing are most helpful in giving us working language to understand the Body of Christ. Here are some verses from 1 Corinthians 12:12-20 NIV:
[12] "Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. [13] For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body---whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free---and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. [14] Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
[15] Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. [16] And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. [17] If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? [18] But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. [19] If they were all one part, where would the body be? [20] As it is, there are many parts, but one body."
Firstly, the theme that stands out to me is that we are all one body! What that effectively means is we cannot accomplish our purpose without every other part connected together! Last night we were sharing about different things we were engaged in within the city, and I was aware of the fact that most of things others were doing I had absolutely no knowledge of!
I think one of the mistakes we make as congregational focused individuals is thinking that our congregation, no matter how big or small can accomplish our purpose on our own! We think we can fulfill our mission without relationships with our other local congregations in the city! We think that we have the right plan, the right strategy and are the place God's favor is resting. In other words we embrace spiritual pride in a way that is self-limiting. I say self-limiting as that is simply the truth, if we are One Body, than I am incapable of succeeding without the rest of the Body.
Paul laid the foundation of the verses above, with these - 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 NIV:
[7] "Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. [8] To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, [9] to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, [10] to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. [11] All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines."
We tend to read these verses as pertaining to the spiritual gifts, but we seem to miss the main point, found in verse 7, these are given for the common good! In other words for everyone else's benefit! We need the giftings found in our fellow churches, in the people of the Body of Christ! It is for our own good!! If we limit our interactions and relationships, we miss out on good things that would be helpful to us!
We need to stop thinking we are "it" and start realizing we are "part", an important part, but not the end-all-be-all. We need one another and I can't think of any other way for us to move forward other than building relationships! We need one another, we need each other, we need the gifts that the Lord has distributed, for He has placed part exactly as He wanted them to be!
This is absolutely going to require humility on our parts! We are going to need to lay down our agendas and opinions and learn to embrace one another. I am reminded of Paul's encouragement found in his letter to the Church of Philippi. However before quoting it, I felt encouraged to read it as if I am part of the greater Body of Christ, as if I am thinking for my congregation, and my encouragement for you is to do the same. Here are the verses - Philippians 2:1-7 NIV:
[1] "Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, [2] then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. [3] Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, [4] not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. [5] In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
[6] Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
[7] rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness."
What if we embraced these words as a local congregation? What if we valued other congregations above ourselves? What if we looked to the interests of the other congregations, learned to serve them in humility? What if we learned to lay down our agendas, our "vision" and embraced a common sharing of the Spirit, with tenderness and compassion rather than pride? What if really embraced the congregations around us and were for them?
Man, my spirit just jumped inside me as I wrote those words! Can you imagine how different our view of the Church would be? Can you imagine celebrating each other's congregations and ministries? What if the Body of Christ in our city embraced one another in this way? Wow, I think the impact would be monumental!
Oh Lord, Help us! We are Your One Body and we don't know how to live that out!
We need Your help and guidance! We need each other, for that is Your plan!
Amen and Amen!
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