Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:
4For, just as we have many members in one body, and all the members do not have the same function, 5thus we the many are one body in Christ and, as to each, members of one another..
Well. These last few weeks have been so explosive, I don’t even know where to start. So, as I seem to be doing a lot lately, I’ll just blunder in and see what spills out,
Where to begin? Here is the biggee: Jesus’ church is not first and foremost an organization. It is an organism. His church has to be organized, but it is far, far more than that -- or it is not His church. We are literally His body and He is our Head. That is the infinite difference between us and the Butterfly Collector’s Club (or the Rotary Club, or the local Library’s Book Club, or any other group, business, organization, or whatever gathering of human beings who join together to share some common interest).
We, His church are an organism. We are His body and He is our Head. How we organize ourselves may be, to a large extent, our own choice(s), but, in a real church, it will and must all be done deliberately and entirely under our Head. From Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things! It’s all about Jesus. To lose our connection with Him is to become nothing but that headless body, flopping and bouncing around, but accomplishing nothing of eternal value.
This relationship with Jesus is what totally separates us from all those other “clubs.” As I’ve related before, from very early in my Christian life, I looked around at what was going on in my “church” and thought to myself, “I don’t think what’s going on here is what’s going on in the Bible.” The problem was, I couldn’t put my finger on what was wrong. Being a new Christian and wanting to be a part of this “Jesus” thing, I just went along.
However, that sense of emptiness and confusion never left me. Here we were having our meetings, planning all these activities, setting up committees, raising money, contributing to worthy causes. We were in some cases, VERY organized (and VERY busy). But what was the difference between us and any other club? I could see very clearly that “church” in America, at least as far as I had ever (and have ever) seen is sadly nothing more than that – just another club. It was a place where we all gathered to “play church.” It was a seemingly very honorable, admirable, and worthwhile club – after all, we talked about Jesus and the Bible and may have kept VERY busy doing seemingly spiritual things, but I could see it was nothing more than a Sunday morning religious club. To me, something was terribly (and fatally) missing.
Now it is SO clear to me. There may be a “church” on every corner, but an organization called a church may or may not be THE CHURCH. The Church is the body of Christ. It is a gathering of Jesus-people – people who love Jesus and, because of that (and specifically because of that) love and value each other. In an organization, the truth is, only performers are welcome. In an organization, people who are struggling are really just a nuisance. As the Bible says, in the body of Christ, as in any organic body, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it” (I Cor. 12:26). Unlike any other club, what ties together the Church is first and foremost love for Jesus and love for each other.
When a church is truly a Body of Christ (and ideally), what matters to each member of that body is what the Head thinks. The Head leads the body. When it is just an organization, it should be no surprise that everyone has their own ideas of what we should or shouldn’t do, what is or is not “success,” etc. And some alpha personalities will sooner or later be more than happy to turn it all into just one more big “church fight.” What is missing in the “church” that is only an organization? Love. The Head. The Prince of Peace. The Mighty Warrior and the Gentle Shepherd. The Lion and the Lamb. Jesus.
Now I may just ramble my jumbled thoughts, but I want to ask, what is the key here? If things aren’t right, what needs to change? The answer is me. This is heart business. I can sit in my pew and be mentally a part of an organization or I can deliberately fill my head and heart with Jesus. Last Sunday, our pastor urged the congregation to “do a 180.” “Look around you,” he urged, “These are your fellow believers.” He was so right. These other people (at least some of them) are really believers, real fellow Jesus-people, and just like at work, I treasure them just for that reason. If they love Jesus, that makes them precious to me.
My next thought personally is that I am VERY thankful for our church. When I did my 180, there are a LOT of people who are very obviously Jesus-people. There are probably more in this church than the grand total of all the Jesus-people I’ve ever attended church with. Each one is precious to me, as again and again and again, I see Jesus in them. I know they are imperfect and flawed – but they are Jesus-people. What a privilege. What a joy to gather together with Jesus-lovers and worship with them! That was probably the most pleasant Sunday morning I’ve known in all my Christian life.
But then what’s going on? It’s all about my heart. What do I choose to see? Am I looking through the eyes of Jesus or my own? He is my Head. He commanded me (among “us”) to “love one another.” For me to do less then is actually to sin. To do less is to have lost connection with my Head! That is not a problem with the church – it’s a problem with me!
This is actually a lesson I learned early in my marriage. One day I was driving down the road mad as a hornet at my poor Joanie over what was probably some trifle. As my young, impetuous self angrily fumed and muttered, the Lord reminded me clearly that He says, “Husbands, love your wives.” …Love. It occurred to me that, no matter what she may or may not have done, if I’m doing anything less than loving her, I’m sinning! I myself am not doing the very thing Jesus (my Head) told me to do. And if I’m sinning, who needs to change first?
As usual with the Lord, the entire encounter probably took about one tenth of a second. Seeing my sin and instantly receiving the grace to repent, my heart was also instantly filled again with love for her. Suddenly whatever was that trifle no longer mattered at all to me. Why should I care? I love that girl! Second only to Jesus Himself, she is the greatest treasure of my whole life!
So it is with my church. If I’m seeing it as an organization, what (or who!) needs to change first? Me. What I’m “seeing” is my own heart problem. It is sad that it has taken me nearly fifty years to figure this out, but then, my heart is content knowing “It is God who works in me to will and do according to His good purpose” (Phil. 2:13), and He actually “predestined me to be conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29). This is one of the reasons He saved me to start with – to fix me! Whether He takes a few days or a lifetime to do His amazing grace work, who cares really? Of Him and through Him and to Him are all things! And even if I’ve been badly misled, who cares? Maybe they really “meant it for evil.” “God meant it for good!” (Gen. 50:20).
So here I sit in His presence. Our Pastor often describes God’s work as a “What’s next?” So, Lord, my Head, what’s next?
One of the first “nexts” is always to keep studying. The Lord has a LOT more to say in Romans 12, and I need to hear it all. So…off we go!
No comments:
Post a Comment