October 3, 2020 REALIZING THE NEED
Ephesians 4:11-13 “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelist, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 12:7,25 “But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” “that there should be no division in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.”
Our tendency to be individualist works against living as members of the body of Christ, the church. Individualist is defined as “a person who is independent and self-reliant.” In our culture, the trait of being an individualist is admired and is promoted as the way to be. (Do not misunderstand, there is virtue in being one that takes responsibility for himself or herself, but that is not what today’s subject is about.) The individualist mentality was alive and well before the advent of the personal computer and cell phones, but the arrival of the hand held computer technology has led to an even more individualistic culture. (I’m not down on computers-I’m using one to write this blog.) The Information Technology has brought with it many benefits, but it has also had a detrimental effect that no one expected. With that background, let us get to the subject for today. The term ‘body life’ refers to how believers are to live in relation to each other, and ‘church’ refers to the body of Christ which is made up of all who trust Jesus as Savior and Lord. God designed it in such a way that believers need each other; He never intended for believers to be isolated or non-involved in His church. (It’s another subject, but all too often, the church as we know it today is not the church we see in the New Testament. It’s important to ask God to direct us to a local church where body life is experienced.) As a believer, we are not complete in and of ourselves; we need the input and the interaction of other members of the body of Christ. This is true even though the body is made up of imperfect people who sometimes do and say wrong things; body life can be messy. However, even in the midst of imperfect people, we can experience body life as God designed. In fact, the need for body life is highlighted by the fact that we are not all perfected in the faith. When we live isolated lives, and not participate in body life, we can drift from the Lord and miss the blessings of input and encouragement from other members of the body that would keep us on tract in our maturing in the faith. We are complete in Christ, but our completeness finds expression in the body of Christ. The fact is that no one has it all-together spiritually; what one member lacks, another supplies. The scriptures teach that the body of Christ working together presents a clearer picture of Christ to the world. For this reason, we must not ignore our call to be a participating member of the body of Christ, the church. It may sound legalistic to some, but we must choose, whether we ‘feel’ like it or not, to be present when the body assembles together. (I’m not saying that we have to be at the church every time the doors open; there are times when we cannot attend-you get my point.) So, know this; you and I are needed in the body to give as well as to receive. The church is not a country club nor a place for perfect people, but it is a place where we find encouragement, edification, and fellowship. The body functioning together is to be a picture of Christ to the world. God loves family and the local church is our extended family.
1 Corinthians 12:26-27 “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all members rejoice with it. Now you are Christ’s body, an individually members of it.”
Blessing,
Buddy
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