In recent days I have been prayerfully examining the purpose and mission of the church. This process has been centered on several key passages of Scripture directly dealing with the church. This is the second of at least three blog posts where I will begin to deal with these matters.
While reflecting upon 1 Corinthians 12-14 I have discovered some important truths about Christ’s church (body). Paul explains in 12:12-13 that everyone comes into the body of Christ the same way. We all enter the body through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. I believe this is true of both the universal and local church. To be a church member you must be regenerate (born again).
We learn from 12:14-19 that as a church we are one body made up of many members. The members within the body are uniquely gifted and designed to be different. God in His infinite wisdom seems to have placed and is placing each individual member in the body to accomplish His purpose for the church. Paul says God does this as He desires. His desires are rooted in bringing supreme glory to His Name and doing good for His people. Thinking about God’s purpose should take us back to Ephesians 3:10 where we discovered the church is to display the manifold wisdom of God. We best display this by individually imaging God with our unique gifts and different designs in the community called the church.
Problems often occur when we see others within the body, who think, look, and act differently than us and we automatically conclude they are wrong or sinful. This may be true at times, but the reality is God placed them in the body according to His desires and purposes. If we read carefully we learn in 12:24-26 that God placed individuals into the body with their uniqueness so that there would be “no division in the body, but the members may have the same care for one another.” What God has done to bring unity within the body we often use to divide.
To be unified as God desires and as He designed us to be, we must be driven by love. Chapter 13 is not speaking about a husband and wife relationship, but rather the relationships within the body of Christ. For us to be unified and fulfill God’s purposes for us we must first love the Lord and one another. “Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails!”
Paul encourages us in Chapter 14 when we gather together we are to do everything properly and in an orderly manner. Whatever is done in the gathering should be done for the glory of God and the edification of others. Four times in Chapter 14 we are told that as we gather we are to edify others (14:4,5,12,26). This means when we gather together, we are not coming primarily for our good, but to do good for others. Each of us are uniquely gifted by God to build up the body of Christ so that they may be able to more faithfully live their lives to bring glory to God and accomplish His mission.
To summarize we all become members through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. He uniquely gifts every member as He desires. Their uniqueness should not be a source of division, but rather something to be celebrated and a source of unity. We should love our brothers and sisters in Christ and be driven by that love. Because we have experience the love of God displayed in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ Jesus we should love one another. This kind of love for others leads us to gather regularly with the saints and seek to encourage and build them up.
To be continued…
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