The Church - Disciples Who Grow and MultiplySample

The Church is the spiritual body of Jesus. It is through the Church that Jesus still works today and all its members have a unique role and function

REFLECTIONS:

Read Acts 9:5 and 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 and take some time to answer the following questions:

➤How could you explain what the body of Christ is?

➤What does this mean for your life and where do you think you belong?

When Paul persecutes the Church, Jesus asks him, “Why do you persecute me?” He alludes to the Church being His body and the inseparability of the two. The Church is the hands and feet of Christ on this earth; Christ is the head. If you were to see some feet sticking out under a curtain, you’d know there was someone behind it. It would never occur to you to think that the feet might be there without the rest of the body. Similarly, when we see the Church on earth, Jesus is not far away. He is with you wherever you go. The atmosphere or external circumstances should not influence you; instead, you – or, more accurately, Christ in you – should create a change in the atmosphere.

Jesus is the head of His body, the Church, and the Holy Spirit gives life to this body and leads and directs it. This also means that the world sees Christ through His body. For the body to work properly, each member of the body is important. All members are useful and necessary. Even a sore toe can cause the whole body to limp, which shows the importance of knowing how to take care of one other. We are responsible for encouraging one other. The parts of this body are not competing against each other; rather, we work together and support each other as one body, because together we are members of Christ’s body.

It might seem like I’m stating the obvious, but remember that everything you do, you do it using your body. For example, you don’t move just by thinking, and you’re not telepathic. You talk with your mouth and move with your legs. In the same way, Jesus chose not to do anything on this earth other than through His body, which is the Church. That is the basis of the partnership. Christ’s disciples are those who reflect Christ in their words and their deeds. This means that God intended the local Church to operate in an organic and united way, because disciples who are scattered and divided cannot represent the mighty arm of God, who came to save the lost. For God to answer our prayer and to stretch out His hand (cf. Acts 4:30), we must be the arm that He can stretch out, and we must come together to obey Him.

Paul says that we were baptized in one Spirit to form one body (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:13). Inhabited by the Holy Spirit, this body is the Church and is effective and active in doing the works of Christ on this earth.

That’s why God’s plan is that all the gifts of the Spirit and all the ministries should be present and manifest in every local church. Each person has different gifts and talents. Nothing is uniform in His body, because every single one of us is unique. The reason God put us together in a local fellowship is so we reflect who He is and act in unison, according to His desires.

We all have a specific role to play and we must take our place in this body. Nobody is superior to anyone else. We have different responsibilities and some people’s work is more visible than others’, but we all need one another. We can’t ignore anyone and we must learn to acknowledge and honour each person for who he or she is while learning to work together towards God’s purposes. It is our responsibility to take our place in what God planned for us when He created us. Don’t try to be someone else. It is important to understand that no position or role is more important than any other. Our roles are different and interdependent.

Take the time to come before God and submit to Him. If you have been jealous about a particular role in His body or have coveted a role, ask the Lord for forgiveness. Make a decision to take your place in His body and to respect and honour the other members of His body.

MY DECISION:

➤How this applies to my life:

➤My response to what I’ve learned:

➤ What you decide today will determine who and what you will become tomorrow!

Translation of an excerpt from Un disciple en marche by Luc Favre, published by Vie Victorieuse. All rights reserved.