Thursday February 12, 2015

Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-20

The church is often described as a body. This metaphor of the church as a body is a helpful illustration and has many implications. The body is a beautiful description because it has many parts but is totally united. The church, likewise, has many parts (people) but is unified and one in Christ. But it falls short in fully describing the church. If the church is just a body, then it could be the body of an insect or a slug or a sea anemone. But in fact in other parts of Scripture it’s called the body of Christ. It’s not the body part that is important but the entire phrase, the body of Christ. After Jesus physically ascended to heaven the church became the body of Christ. That means the Church is the physical representation of Christ on earth and is meant to be doing the work of Christ on earth in the physical absence of Jesus Christ. The world sees Christ through the Church!

And as we’ve already seen, the church is unified in Christ. Vv.12-13 highlight the unity of the body. It is a unit though it has many parts. The many parts form one body. We were all baptised into one body, the body of Christ and we were all given to drink from the one Spirit. These are precious words to the Corinthian church that was fractured and splintered. Factions were forming around the various leaders and the various gifts one had. Indeed, gifts may have been seen by them as a marker of one’s spirituality! Paul begins in verse 12 by emphasizing unity. In v14 he shows the diversity but in verse 20, returns again to the unity the body has in Christ.

This unity in Christ means that people cannot opt out of the body. Paul uses the example of a foot or an ear trying to opt out of the body because they are not hands or eyes. The body needs both hands and feet, ears and eyes. An ear wanting to be an eye cannot opt out of the body. Paul draws out the implication in v18. God has arranged the body, the church, the way He wants it and has given each person their gift and role. It’s better to humbly accept what God has given us and what he has made us then to seek to be something that we are not. Peace is lost as we strive to be someone or something else.

No matter how insignificant we think we may be, we can rest assured that God has made us as we are and has given us our gifts for the sake of the church and for His glory. We can rejoice and praise God in what and how God has made us. Even more so, we can be certain and confident that God has created us with a purpose. He has a role for us to play in the local church. He wants us to be actively involved in the local church, doing the work that He’s created in advance for us to be doing.

For so long the church has functioned according to the 30/70 rule. If the church at large continues to work along this line, as it has done for so long now, the community around the church will continue to see the church as an irrelevant, useless dinosaur that needs to be avoided at all costs. Under this model, the world will NOT see the body of Christ, the love of Christ nor the attraction of Christ. But if every believer in the church finds his/her spiritual gift and puts it to work, the world will indeed see the body of Christ and many will be drawn to it for salvation.

Prayer:

Use the day’s reading notes and Bible passage to pray meaningfully:

Adoration:

Confession:

Thanks:

Supplication:

· The church is the body of Christ on earth. Ask the Lord to work so powerfully that your church starts (or continues) to function as the body of Christ, growing holiness in the saints and bringing the kingdom message to the lost.

· Ask the Lord to bless your elders deeply and richly so that they can be a blessing to your church. Pray that God would use them powerfully in His kingdom work through and in your church.

 Discussion & Reflection

1. How would you describe the unity of the body of Christ together with its diversity?

2. What errors arise if we overemphasize the unity?

3. What errors arse if we overemphasize the diversity?

4. What difference can you personally make to the 30/70 rule seen in most churches?

5. What difference can your cell make?