THE BODY OF CHRIST (4 of 4)
(part
4 of a 4 part series)
“Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are
zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that
ye may excel to the edifying of the church.” (1 Corinthians 14:12).
“Let
all things be done unto edifying.” (1 Corinthians 14:26).
In
assembling together, the main goal of the Body of Christ is that all members may
receive strength, encouragement, hope, healing, forgiveness, knowledge, and all
other things that will build them up spiritually and equip them to fight the
good fight of faith. Whether it is 2 or
3 meeting together or several thousand, it is a time for the Holy Spirit, Who
is the Life-force of the Body, to flow in and through the various members,
anointing first this one, and then that one with something life-giving, so that
all may be edified. The Apostle Paul
wrote, “Let every one of us please his
neighbour for his good to edification.” (Romans 15:2). Can
you imagine what would be possible, and what God could accomplish, in a group
where every soul came together with the sole desire to bless and build up their
fellow believers as the Holy Spirit guided and empowered them? Anything could happen where each member was taught
and encouraged to be obedient to the still, small voice inside. Someone might preach or teach, another might
prophesy, someone else might sing, offer a prayer, or testify; but all would do
so by the direction of the Spirit. It is
then that the hidden needs are revealed and God - not man - is glorified in His
Church. By contrast, we see assemblies
where only the Pastor is free to minister and everyone else just listens - and
they expect him to be done before noon so they can get home, eat lunch, and
watch sports. If the Pastor is anointed,
he may reach a few needs, but it is not possible for him (being but one member
of the body) to perform every function of every other member of the body. That would be like my eye trying to do the
job of my hand, foot, leg, and arm. It
is very good at being an eye, but it is not designed to do anything but
that!
Many Christians have found enrichment by meeting in
small groups outside of their established churches. They find that the intimacy and openness that
they find meeting in a home is freeing and encourages people to share and grow. They may still enjoy the broad, corporate
worship of their church on Sunday morning, or they may just transition to “body
ministry” altogether and form solid new connections with others who are
likeminded. The thing that God desires
is to create a shift in our thinking. We
need to quit seeing “church” as a building, or as a small group of individuals
who assemble together exclusive of all other believers within a community. The Prophet Isaiah said, “Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My
footstool: where is the house that ye build unto Me? and where is the place of
My rest? For all those things hath Mine
hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will
I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My
word.” (Isaiah 66:1, 2). The Church
of Jesus Christ is His people. In any
given community, it is all of the true believers who abide within that
community. “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which
is in you, which ye have of God…?” (1 Corinthians 6:19; 3:16).
Our greatest opportunity to influence unbelievers happens
outside the church buildings. It is our
family, our co-workers, our barbers, hairdressers, grocery clerks, and bank
tellers whom we see on a regular basis that make up our harvest field, and our
fishing pond. In an independent poll
that asked Christians what the greatest influence was in their conversion,
between 75 – 90% said it was friends or relatives sharing the gospel with them
that brought them to Christ. The people
who comprise our sphere of influence are the ones who are most impacted by our
Christian witness. They have known us
before conversion, and they see us after.
Our lives become the message that gives credibility to our words. I was converted because of the witness of two
men in my life. One was an old friend
who had been born again and wonderfully transformed; and the other was a young
Christian who I worked with over one summer, carefully listening to his words
and watching his life. What they
demonstrated to me was compelling evidence that God was real and that Jesus
Christ saved sinners.
To some, “church” evokes an image of a building
with a steeple, a sanctuary lined with rows of pews or chairs, and a raised
platform on one end with a pulpit and perhaps musical instruments. To others, however, “church” is nothing more
than the people of God who are part of His Body. In the first instance, there can be hundreds
of thousands, even millions of “churches”; but in the second instance, there
can be only one.
In speaking about the power and authority that His
followers would have when they agree together in prayer, Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered
together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew
18:20). When God’s children meet, Jesus
Himself is present to manifest Himself among them through the power of His Holy
Spirit. “Church” therefore can happen
anywhere and with any number of people.
No wonder the early church would go from “house to house” sharing the good news of the Kingdom of
Heaven. This is where a lot of the real
evangelism was taking place!
The purpose of coming together should NEVER
be to form a new “church.” We humans
tend to think that because we have a better method, a better doctrine, or a
better formula for worship we can have a better outcome than everyone else. We want to slap a label on it and market it
to all the poor souls who don’t have it.
This is precisely why we have so many divisions among us today. The world doesn’t need another “church.” What the world needs is to see Jesus lifted
up in the lives of His people. What the
world needs is to see men and women (yes, and even children) who are living
what they say they believe in a passionate and dynamic way. When the world ceases to see the divisions,
backbiting, gossip, and slanders among Christians, and begins to see the love
and unity among them, then they will know that Jesus is alive and real. “By
this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to
another.” (John 13:35).
In the fourteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul
presents some very helpful guidelines for how to meet and worship God. The bulk of the chapter deals with the matter
of speaking in unknown tongues. Some of
you may be unfamiliar, or even uneasy, with this subject; but it was a very
common spiritual gift in Paul’s day.
Among other things, it was a way in which the Holy Spirit could
intercede through our spirit at times when we were at a loss to know how to
pray. Tongues were also a sign of
something supernatural to unbelievers (1 Corinthians 14:22). God used this gift on the day of Pentecost
when the Apostles and other disciples were assembled in the temple and the Holy
Spirit descended upon them from God (Acts 2:1-4). Believers very often received the gift of
tongues when they were baptized in water or had hands laid on them by the Apostles
(Acts 10:44-46; 19:6).
Paul did not have a problem with the practice of
speaking in tongues. He said, “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more
than ye all…” (1 Corinthians 14:18).
What Paul objected to was believers who spoke in tongues in the assembly
without being able to interpret the words that were spoken. Where there is no meaning given to the words,
there is no edification or benefit to the church. Paul said that he who speaks in an unknown
tongue is edifying himself only (v. 4). It would be better to reserve this for one’s
private prayer time unless he has the gift of interpretation, or there is one
present in the assembly who does. Paul’s
conclusion was, “…Yet in the church I had
rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach
others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.” (1 Corinthians
14:19).
Paul teaches that prophecy is much more valuable in
the assembly than the gift of tongues unless there is interpretation. In that case, it is on an equal footing with
prophecy because the church is edified. The
“Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the
Bible” defines prophecy as “speaking
forth by divine inspiration.” By
this definition prophecy may include anointed preaching, teaching, praise, exhortation,
prayer, or singing. The effect of such
divinely inspired utterance is that the secrets of people’s hearts are revealed and God is glorified (vs. 24, 25).
In verse 26 Paul asks the simple question, “How is it then, brethren?” He has stated what should not be taking place when we
gather together for worship, and now he is prepared to tell us what should
be. Just what is normal practice in the assemblies of God? He answers his own question immediately by
writing, “When ye come together, every
one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation,
hath an interpretation. Let all
things be done unto edifying.” (v. 26).
Every one of you has an opportunity to be used of God to edify the body at
large. Of course, in a very large
assembly it would be impractical for every person to share even a little,
although they would have the freedom to do so.
It is then that the members of the body must learn to be sensitive to
the prompting of the Spirit to know when, and if, they should speak. Once during a four day camp meeting I waited
a couple of days to share a message that I knew the Lord had put on my heart. I
would have shared it earlier, but there were so many others speaking that I
could not find the opportunity. When I
finally did get an opening, it was just the right moment for it to come out and
God got the glory. Paul says, “Let the prophets speak two or three, and
let the other judge.” (v. 29). Here
he offers a rule of thumb, not a hard, fast commandment: let two or three
speak. The intent is that if ten would
speak it would be too much to digest, but if only one speaks it may not be
enough to reach every need. Keep in mind
also that besides what is openly shared in a meeting, there is also a lot going
on under the surface. Different ones are
praying that the speakers speak as the oracles of God, and that their words
would reach the hearts of those that they are intended to touch. Some are interceding silently for those who
are present and unsaved or struggling in their walk. When we consider the Body of Christ, we often
think only of the outward members like the arms and legs, but we forget about
the essential inward members that are not seen, but are critical to the function
of the Body, like the heart, the lungs, and the other organs.
“If any thing be revealed to
another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all
may learn, and all may be comforted. And
the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but
of peace, as in all churches of the saints.” (1 Corinthians 14:30-33).
What Paul is teaching here is that we need to be very courteous to one
another when we minister by the Spirit to one another. One person should not monopolize all of the
time during a meeting. One should say
what the Lord has put on his heart and then hold his peace so that someone else
who has a word may speak also. Learning
to be sensitive to the Spirit takes some discernment; and we don’t perfect it
all at once. It comes by loving,
respecting, and honoring one another in the Lord. If one brother is sharing an inspired word,
it would be insensitive for another brother to interrupt him and launch into
another word or teaching. God will not
interrupt Himself! Doing this may indeed
quench the moving of the Spirit in the meeting.
Just because a person has something anointed to say is not an indication
that it is alright to walk on someone else who also has something anointed to
say. This is confusion, and God is not
the author of confusion. The spirits of
the prophets are subject to the prophets. This means that the Spirit of God is
not going to grab you, shake you like a rag doll, and cause you to blurt out
some divine pronouncement. The Holy
Spirit will speak to your spirit, and then it is up to you to look for the
right moment to share what He has placed on your heart. Scripture says that your gift will make room
for you and even bring you before great men (Proverbs 18:16). “Having then gifts differing according to the
grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the
proportion of faith; or ministry, let us wait on our ministering:
or he that teacheth, on teaching; or he that exhorteth, on exhortation...”
(Romans 12:6-8). Waiting on our ministering
is a valuable lesson for every child of God to learn. Paul’s final words in this chapter are, “Let all things be done decently and in
order.” (v. 40).
It is essential that in
any regular assembly of believers there be leadership. As was already stated before, there should
ideally be a plurality of elders in any group whose job it is to take the
oversight of the flock. These should
never lord it over the other sheep, but quietly set an example of godliness for
the believers to follow. They should
always be willing to teach others and to be gentle in their approach to all
men. They need to be solidly grounded in
the Word of God so that they will have an answer for the questions and
situations that arise. They should also
fulfill the qualifications of elders as spelled out in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus
1. Just as a shepherd watches over the
sheep placed in his charge, the elders should be watchful over God’s flock,
looking out for wolves and other dangers.
He should be able to lead them to pastures where they may feed and
streams where they may drink. God’s
shepherds must be willing to abide with the sheep as well, becoming as one of
them, so that they will learn to trust him at all times.
I would like to say
something regarding the ministry of women.
Paul makes some bold statements about women being silent in the churches
toward the end of 1 Corinthians 14. What
I believe on the subject is based, not on the commandment of the Lord, but by
personal observation and by permission of the Lord.
I believe that God anoints
and uses the women in His Body just as surely as He uses men. There are only two areas where there appears
to be an exception to that statement.
The one is where a woman would usurp the authority of a man, “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to
usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” (1 Timothy 2:12). Just as God has set the man to be the head of
his family (1 Corinthians 11:3), he has also set man to be leaders of the
church. I know that this may rankle many
a lady who has witnessed the abdication of men from their God given roles. Where they have left a vacuum, the women have
stepped in to fill it. I fully
understand this from a practical standpoint, but it is still turning God’s
perfect plan upside down, and is therefore not the solution. As men get more serious with God, He will
rebuke and chasten them so as to bring them into line with His plan.
I think for the present
dispensation we must look to the story of Barak and Deborah in the fourth
chapter of Judges. Deborah was a
prophetess and a mother of Israel who spoke the word of the Lord to Barak
concerning the king of Canaan and his host.
Barak was reluctant to go to battle unless Deborah would go with
him. She agreed to do this, but said
that Barak would lose the honor of the victory in the end, and a woman would be
the one to slay the enemy captain.
Similarly, I see that there are many Deborahs and mothers of Israel
today who are standing in the gap and being mightily used of God.
The second area that I see
where women (and men too) should take care is speaking needlessly in the
meetings. It is not necessary for us to
speak just to fill a time of silence.
Sometimes we just need to let the meeting “breathe” a little so that God
can speak to individuals who may have something important to share but are a
little timid. Perhaps God is dealing
with someone to confess their faults so that they may be released in the
Spirit. We need to know when to be
silent just as much as we need to know when to speak up.
If you have never
considered it before, I think that you will find it liberating to realize that
you are the Church, the Body of Christ on earth, and the temple of the Holy
Spirit. It may feel like letting go of
the side of the pool the first time you decide to swim across, but the Lord is
right there to guide and instruct you.
Take baby steps and see how it feels.
The Lord will fill your heart with joy as you learn to hear His voice
and follow His leading.
“The LORD hath done great things for us;
whereof we are glad.” (Psalms 126:3).
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