Heart for the House DevotionalSample

Day 4: The Body

Thought: Read. Think. Pray. Live.

“Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:27)

 

The Church is not an institution. It is a movement. It is dynamic, organic, real, imperfect, revolutionary and ever-shifting. Through our broken humanity, it supernaturally shines Christ’s piercing light into every cultural moment and situation. For this reason, Paul compares God’s people with a body. The Church is meant to be flexible and on the move, while also encouraging us that we all have different and valuable roles to play. 

 Crucially, a body is not functional unless it operates in unity with itself. One of the key distinctives of the Church is meant to be its unity. So often, this is sadly not the case. But just imagine for a moment. Imagine a movement of people obsessed more with what united them than what divided them. Imagine a community so focused on the headship of Christ that it found itself internally harmonised. Imagine a Church so symphonically defined by God’s love and forgiveness that the world could not help but stop and take notice. This is the power of a unified body.

 In today’s cultural moment, living the Way of Jesus will stand out in sharp contrast to the world around us. We can become givers in a world of takers, truthful in a world of lies, loving in a world of violence and cruelty.  Quite simply: we can be transformed, together. Transformation is a community process made up of repentance, obedience and the unifying and powerful work of the Spirit. We need each other and cannot do this journey alone. What does it mean for you to play your part in this?

 The image of a unified body confronts our Western culture of individualism. The Church  radically defines love as unconditional, sacrificial and servant-hearted. It submits our own wills and desires to the needs of other people. It calls us to humble repentance. It encourages the use of spiritual gifts to serve the community rather than promote ourselves. It paints a picture of a glorious, others-focused community basking in Christ’s love and light. Can you see it?

“The Church is not a religious community of worshippers of Christ but is Christ himself who has taken form among people.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Prayer and Application

A heart of servanthood is fundamental to a unified community. Ask yourself the simple question today: How can I serve someone in my world? Commit a random act of kindness.

 Pray: Jesus, just as you prayed earnestly for unity amongst your people (John 17:21), so I pray the same. Show me how to live in unity with my Christian brothers and sisters. Help me to resist individualism and live with an “others first” mentality.