THE BODY OF CHRIST (3 of 4)

(part 3 of a 4 part series)

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6). 

The Body of Christ is not a physical organization any more than the Kingdom of God is a physical kingdom.  Jesus said, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:20, 21).  You cannot point to anything in this world and say, “This is the Kingdom of God.”  It is invisible to the eyes of man, but very real in the hearts of believers.  The Jews of Jesus’ day thought that their earthly nation was the Kingdom of God and that when Messiah was come He would overthrow the oppression and occupation of the Romans forever.  They also thought that the temple in Jerusalem was the ultimate house of God.  They were wrong on both counts.  God allowed both their nation and their temple to be lost to them for a time because they refused to obey Him, and insisted on doing things their own way. 

The Church of Jesus Christ, which is His body on earth, is invisible and organic in nature.  It cannot be defined by names or labels that men may post over their doors.  Neither can it be restricted to four walls or confined to a list of members.  It is not exclusive to any denomination, synod, doctrine, or mission statement.  It embraces all who have been born again and exercise faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Man’s best efforts to organize and define the Body of Christ have only served to divide, isolate, and weaken it. 

The Body of Christ is not dependant on man’s natural strength, wisdom, or abilities to make it into an effective institution.  God does not need natural leaders to whip the Church into shape for Him.  What He is looking for are individuals who are willing to listen to His voice, and follow His lead.  “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.”  (2 Chronicles 16:9).  The government of the Church has always been, and will always be, on Christ’s capable shoulders.  Jesus first and most important command was, “Follow Me.”

One day Jesus was teaching by Lake Gennesaret.  Because the people were pressing in upon Him to hear His words, He asked some fishermen who were washing their nets by the shore to push out a little from land so that He could teach out of the ship.  When Jesus had finished teaching, He told the fishermen to launch out where the water was deep and cast in their nets to catch some fish.  They protested somewhat saying that they had been fishing all night and had come up empty, but they obeyed the Lord just the same.  When they did, they caught so many fish in their net that it began to tear.  They then called to their partners in another ship to come and help them.  They were all astonished by the event; but one of the fisherman, Peter, was so humbled that he fell down on his knees before the Lord.  Jesus told them, “Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.” (Luke 4:10).   

This story illustrates how the Body of Christ is to function.  Without the Lord’s direction, man can toil endlessly and yet produce no positive results.  When the Lord speaks, however, and man obeys the Lord’s direction, something miraculous always happens.  It doesn’t matter whether one has fished the same waters for years with no result; at the Lord’s direction, there are more fish than one boat can handle!  This is when walls begin to break down and we call for the help of our brothers in other ships.  Instead of dividing the Body, we find that God’s children are drawn together in true fellowship.  This is the formula that we must learn to follow if we are to be successful fishers of men.  Peter and his partners weren’t clapping themselves on the back either, telling each other what great fishermen they were – no, they were humbled by this experience and gave the glory to the Lord.  If we would see real revival in our land, this is the formula that will open the windows of heaven. 

I cannot overstate the negative impact that man, with all his programs and agendas, has had on the Church of Jesus Christ since it was first formed after Jesus’ resurrection.  Man’s ideas have divided the Body of Christ and muddied the truth of the Kingdom of God to the point that they are almost unrecognizable to contemporary believers.  The Prophet Jeremiah foretold these days when he said, “Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.” (Jeremiah 12:10).  The fault for the sad state of the Church today rests squarely on the shoulders of the shepherds, or pastors.  It is their responsibility to be watchmen over the Body of Christ, and to sound an alarm when the wolf or the thief appears to steal, kill, and destroy.  It is their job to promote and preserve harmony and unity in the Body as much as is possible.  Chapters 34 of Ezekiel and 23 of Jeremiah provide a scathing rebuke to the shepherds and their methods.  God reserves some of His anger for the sheep also, making it clear that they are not blameless either.  Listen to some of the statements that God makes regarding the pastor/shepherds of Israel and convince me that they do not prophetically apply to the Church today: 

“For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.”  (Jeremiah 10:21). 

“Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture! saith the LORD.  Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed My people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away…” (Jeremiah 23:1, 2).   

“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?”  (Ezekiel 34:2). 

“The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.  And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.” (Ezekiel 34:4, 5).

“And as for you, O My flock, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats.  Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet?  And as for My flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.   Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.  Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad; therefore will I save My flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle.” (Ezekiel 34:17-22).

“And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” (Jeremiah 3:15). 

  

Jeremiah said also, “Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.  For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” (Jeremiah 2:12, 13).  Jesus is that Fountain of Living Waters.  What He speaks to His Church is fresh, relevant, and alive.  It is like a cool, refreshing breeze on a hot summer day, and like a cold drink of  water to one who has been wandering in the desert.  God says, “My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: because I will publish the name of the LORD...” (Deuteronomy 32:2, 3).  Man, however, has replaced the Living Water with cisterns full of stale, stagnant water.  What they minster is not fresh from the Fountain, but dead and lifeless.  What’s more, these cisterns are broken, letting the water keep leaking out and being lost. 

It is important that we go back to the pattern of the early Church in order to understand just how far we have fallen and what we must do to restore what has been lost.  In the first century, the Church was not defined by buildings and denominations; it was defined by geographic location only.  There was a Church of Ephesus, a Church of Corinth, a Church of Rome, etc.  In any one location, there was only one local church, not dozens.  The believers met largely in homes, and even in the open air.   In Jerusalem, they also met in the temple where there was more room, “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.” (Act 2:46).  “Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.” (1 Corinthians 16:19).  “Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house.” (Colossians 4:15).  “And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy house.” (Philemon 1:2).  The picture that we see in scripture is that the believers were constantly seeking fellowship with one another, gathering in small groups in homes and also finding larger venues where they could meet together for mutual learning and support.  There were no schisms in the Church, but they considered themselves all one body, and each local body was just a small reflection of the universal Body of Christ.  Believers could travel from one location to another and find the same fellowship there that they experienced in their own city.  The Church worked together in one accord: if one member rejoiced, they all rejoiced with that member; and if one member grieved, they all grieved together.

The leaders of the first century were sensitive to the moving of the Spirit, understanding that the work of the ministry was the job of the collective body and not just some individual.  They encouraged and nurtured the members of the body to stretch their faith and learn to exercise their spiritual gifts.  The term Pastor/Shepherd was more of a job description than it was a title.  They were acutely aware that they were not the head of the church, but Jesus was; and they were just one of the many members of the body. 

There was normally a plurality of shepherds or elders in every locality where a church had been planted.  Usually these were ordained by the Apostle who had done the planting to begin with (Titus 1:5; Acts 14:23).  These men were chosen by God from within the church and had a burden to care for His people.  David is an excellent example of true leadership.  David did not choose to be a leader, he just was.  When the Prophet Samuel came to anoint the new King of Israel from among the sons of Jesse, David was not even called to the party.  Jesse’s other sons were tall, comely, and warrior material.  They looked like kings.  God spoke to Samuel, however, and said, “…the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7).  Man does not choose his own ministry – God bestows gifts and ministries on whom He chooses and anoints them for His work.

These elders were the ones who were given the oversight of the church and handled the governing of the local body.  Unlike today, where the elders are under a pastor, these elders each had their own unique gifts and ministries.  Over the centuries, man has established a whole hierarchy of offices in the church that did not exist in the beginning.  According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, the term elder was “…of those who in separate cities managed public affairs and administered justice among the Christians, those who presided over the assemblies (or churches); the NT uses the term bishop, overseers, pastors, elders, and presbyters interchangeably (Acts 20:17,28 Ephesians 4:11 Titus 1:5,7 1Peter 5:1-4 etc.)”.  Some of these early elders were apostles, while some had the ministry of teacher, others were prophets, or evangelists; but they were all co-equal and they governed the local body together.  This provided the checks and balances necessary to prevent one man from vaunting himself over the flock, or leading them into error. 

This was truly a ministry of the body, and it depended on each member to contribute to the ministry as the Lord would lead them.  “But speaking the truth in love, [we] may grow up into Him [Jesus] in all things, which is the head, even Christ: from Whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” (Ephesians 4:15, 16).  “That which every joint supplieth” is an important concept.  It is so descriptive of the harmonic function of the different elements of the body, both external and internal, seen and unseen.   Many Pastors think that they are practicing body ministry when they try to assign everyone a role in the church, or if they call on a brother to share a word from time to time.  This is nothing more than man rule and is the work of the flesh, not the Spirit.  A wise shepherd may recognize the gifts that members of the Body possess, but he will never try to direct those gifts – that is the job of the Holy Spirit.

The responsibilities of the elders were simple enough: care for the church like a shepherd would care for his sheep.  Peter admonished the elders to, “Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.” (1 Peter 5:2, 3).  The Apostle Paul also warned the elders of enemies that would slip into the church after he was imprisoned in Rome, saying, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood.  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.  Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” (Acts 20:28-30).

The early Church did not concern itself with numbers, collecting members like we collect Facebook “friends.”  Only those who were truly born again and had walked away from their past lifestyles were added to the Church.  The Spirit working through the believers was so present and so revealing that anyone who was not sincere was quickly exposed and didn’t dare continue with the Church.  Too many congregations today are simply dens of thieves and whitewashed sepulchers where the unrighteous and the spiritually dead can comfortably hide and never be noticed.  This is a sad commentary to be sure, but one that we see all around.  Many congregations have died spiritually.  If you are part of one of those, the Lord may call you out.  If so, do not be afraid; He will guide you to where you will find real love and fellowship.  It may not look or feel like what you’re used to, but the Spirit will witness with your spirit if it’s where He wants you to be.  When I was younger, and before I was saved, I was part of a very dead church.  The Pastor did not believe in the virgin birth or in many of the miracles of the Bible.  His sermons were dry and lifeless, and the services were ritualistic and monotonous.  When I came of age, I rebelled against religion altogether thinking that I had seen all there was to Christianity.  I had to go outside the “church” to find Christ.  I was saved in the manager’s office of a smorgasbord restaurant by a man who was not a pastor or preacher, but merely a servant of the Lord.  He was a member of the true Church of Jesus Christ.  That office where I found Christ became the most glorious sanctuary that I had ever been in. 

The solution is not to form another church or establish another denomination.  This would just be perpetuating the problem that has existed for centuries.  The answer is in the Word of God.  Believers have become lazy with regard to studying the Bible.  In the 14^th and 15^th centuries the Bible wasn’t available to the common man because the only copies that existed were written in Latin (which only the scholars knew how to read).  This made men dependant on what the clergy told them the Bible said, which was not always accurate.  It was a marvelous thing when the Word was finally translated into the common languages and printed in mass quantities.  Now people could read it for themselves.  Today there is an abundance of Bibles to be had and read, and yet modern Christians have chosen to put them on the shelves and trust what they are told.  We are told to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling and to press toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ.  We cannot do either if we don’t really know what God is asking of us.  Furthermore, it is by the promises that God has given us in His Word that we are made partakers of the divine nature.  Like natural food is to the body, so is the Word of God to our spiritual man.  Without it we languish and die.  The Prophet Amos told of a time when there would be a famine, not of the words of the Lord, but of hearing the words of the Lord (Amos 8:11, 12).  We are certainly in that time. 

Besides getting back to the Word of God, another thing we can do is begin to break down the walls of division between ourselves and other believers.  Seek for those outside your sphere that you can build bridges with.  Endeavor to establish the unity of the spirit in a bond of peace.  Worry more about where you agree and less about where you don’t.  Nurture a mutual atmosphere of trust in which the release of the Spirit is possible between you and other believers.  Then you can minister the truth to one another in love.  Find avenues of ministry where you work, where you shop, and yes, where you worship.  Here’s a word of warning, however, from the Lord: “Marvel not, My brethren, if the world hate you.” (1John 3:13).  Like turning on a very bright light in a room where someone has been sitting in the dark for a while, people may be annoyed at you if they would prefer to continue in the darkness.  “But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” (John 3:21).