posted
What you are reading was taken from a Bible study on The Body. It's a tad long but it's worth the read. I thought it described what the church is from God's perspective and what the Body is and how we are to represent ourselves quite well.
This is how the one life of Jesus has become the one life of millions Are you saved? You say Yes Great!
You have the same one life that every other person has that is of Christ. We are all like stones That are separate That are held together by the Holy Spirit When we are baptized by the Spirit we become one in spirit and life We become part of the one Body of Christ The only basis of our fellowship is that we are one Body [We live in the one Spirit We do not gather on the basis of the fact that we all have the same nationality or race or gender or tradition or denomination Or ANY OTHER THING But... The fact that we are One Body who exists in One Spirit We have no true Spiritual Fellowship on any other basis What then is the purpose of our being assembled in such a manner? God obviously had a very clear well defined plan for the reasoning behind this order of things? Yes.... NIV 1 Cor 12:14-21 1 Corinthians 12:14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 1 Corinthians 12:15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 1 Corinthians 12:16 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 cease to be part of the body. 1 Corinthians 12:17 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? 1 Corinthians 12:18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 1 Corinthians 12:19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 1 Corinthians 12:20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 1 Corinthians 12:21 The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" NIV 1 Cor 12:28-30 "1 Corinthians 12:28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 1 Corinthians 12:29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 1 Corinthians 12:30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues [30]? Do all interpret? There are many different members Many kinds of gifts and ministries Just as your body needs all the parts you have It is the same with the Body of Christ There are no non valuable or non important parts Every one has a purpose It is impossible to have a useless part in the Body of Christ That by definition would mean that part of Christ is useless We know that is not true Every Brother and Sister has a function they have something to contribute They have a purpose and meaning We all need to understand these things For....We are not made with gifts and functions and a purpose in order to do nothing Things exist the way they do because we are supposed to use what giftings we have Listen closely again.... Any System that does not provide opportunity for ALL (as in each and every one) members to function is Not Something that is The Body Of Christ I do not care what people say or think That is what Gods Word says.... That we are all a part That we all have a purpose and function God did not design things so a few people could do all the serving Church is not a Business If some serve and others do not Or if those who serve shut down opportunity for those who are younger to also continue... You have an organization of some sort But it is not a Biblically defined Church If it does not function as it is supposed to function We need to be real clear about this NIV Rom 12:4-8 Romans 12:4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, Romans 12:5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Romans 12:6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. Romans 12:7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; Romans 12:8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. 1 Cor 12 teaches us that we all have giftings and a function. Romans 12 shows us that everyone who is gifted (which is all of us) MUST function according to what God has given them Some people would like to invent giftings different than those listed in the Word Beware of them Gods Word is the Standard Not the opinions of men No one should go beyond his purpose or function No one should take the place of another Example........... I heard a sermon once where the Pastor talked about how he had to reprimand his wife she had been picking up things and cleaning around the Church That in and of itself is not wrong But.... There were already many things she did and many people who were DOING NOTHING I learned that day what you will learn now Just because it needs to be done does not mean you are the one to do it There are many things we are capable of doing When we go beyond our function though and do that which God had designed for another to do and grow through....We rob them of the blessing And we build up pride from doing that which the Spirit did not lead us to do We are designed to serve together It is the responsibility of the Body to help each other to not neglect their function. The whole Body is in darkness if the eyes do not see It cannot go from one place to another if the feet do not walk Even if you think what God has given you is small and not of worth.... You need to know that is not true Even if it is so small it seems to be only one talent God still says to invest and use it (Matt 25:14-30) All it takes is a couple members among hundreds who neglect their function to cause real hindrance If only a few are laboring, That is not the Church If only a few are serving, That is not the Church Everyone who has the "Mina"........NIV Luke 19:20 "Then another servant came and said, `Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. Should realize the handkerchief is for wiping off the sweat from your brow Not for wrapping up what one has to offer and instead not using it Only when everyone rises up to serve and function as One do we have what Gods Word defines as the Church The Church is a place of Judgement It is supposed to judge and cast out sin Not tolerate it The Church is the Body of Our LORD The Church is the Body of Christ I won't repeat this...IT IS NOT A BUILDING! Its Mission then is to.... Express this Body and manifest the oneness of it to the World The Church does not need to wait until it is in Heaven before it can show and experience oneness How many Christians in the early years , the times of the first century , do you figure choose to not Go to Church? What was man beginning to proclaim was the church? How many do you suppose formed many local Church Bodies in towns? How many created traditions and used them to separate from others of the Body? The all went, All the time, If you were a Christian you understood where your place is That place is with the rest of the Body The real Church is One. Not one like the World defines oneness It is One Body The Body of Our Lord And everyone in it has a purpose A function A value A reason for being part of it We are to get together to pray, break bread (where possible), encourage one another [and show the world who our LORD is by the mere fact that we gather and get along as one NIV John 17:21-23 John 17:21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. John 17:22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: John 17:23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. That is the Truth That is Gods Word God does not desire.... Baptists Pentecostal Catholics Lutherans Methodists Wesleyans
He did not create many Bodies God never intended for there to be so much self attack on his body He intended that we would be one Regardless of tradition Non Essential Doctrine and all the other things we all consume ourselves with.
Open your eyes Look at events like the March for Jesus Where the true body comes together and renounces for a time their self made differences Look at the result The only choice we can make is our own We can choose to function as we were created Or we can hide away what we have been given We can go to organized chaos where there is no sense of purpose Or we can go to be with those who are truly Christ's Body We can join the world in condoning and accepting sin such as Homosexuality and Female Authority structures, and vast other man made rules that are placing the world in the church Or we can follow the Word And be one with those who are truly the Body of Christ. We can read our Bible and learn to grow and hear what God has to say Or we can hear the opinions of others as our instruction Search as I might......I cannot find in scripture anything at all that says.... There is more than One True Church or that there is any non valuable non functioning part of Christ’s Body Let us then be encouraged to function together Like God created us so the world would see what the Body of Christ truly looks like.
Have a SON filled day!
passionateforchrist
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I agree with your passion and I agreethat we are all apart of a larger body of christ. However, what about preachers? What about Deacons? If God didn't intend for there to be church congregations why would he write about them? Also, you spoke of fractions in the church body Baptists... Methodists.... i wonder where the fractions came from? If we all have one Holy Spirit then there would be no fractions would there? Let's stop for a moment, we have fractions because we're human and we make mistakes. When in a congregation doctrine is written out as a brief summary of that churches interpetation of the bible and what they believe it says.
Now back to the paper.Since we are all human and God speaks to each of us differently isn't possible "Home Churches" can act as a machine, producing more and more fractions?
posted
Yes, there is just one body which includes every saved person in the world. But that Body will never be gathered together until the Lord comes!
Yes, there are preachers (evangelists) whose function for the benefit of the body is to go to new territories where the Gospel is unknown and proclaim it to the lost. "Deacons" is an untranslated word from the Greek DIAKONOS. It simply means "servant". Every Christian is to be a servant! It is NOT an OFFICE! There are many discussions in the church today about whether or not women can be "in office". That is never a scriptural issue! Not even MEN ARE TO BE IN OFFICE!!!! Being an elder or a servant is simply doing a work, setting an example of godliness! It is never an authouritative official position of authourity over others!!!!! The N.T. model for leadership is given by the Lord Jesus, Himself in Luke 22:24-27. Those who will lead N.T. churches must follow the model of slaves and little children! Neither has any authority, nor does either tell anybody what to do!!!! But both can have tremendous influence on others by a godly example of a life poured out in humble service to others.
Notice too that slaves and little children are Never paid!!! Their service, if patterned after their Master, will be motivated by love and not by sordid gain. See II Cor.5:14,15 and I Peter 5:1-6
Trust these few thought might be of encouragement, challenge and help to many!
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