What Does the Body Look Like?

We, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. (Romans 12:5)

I want to be sure to explore this verse with careful attention to the surrounding context, especially what has come previously. And what I see there is a lot of time spent talking about the differences between Jews and Gentiles and then the fact that from God's point of view they are all really in the same boat. (11:32)

Immediately following that Paul explodes in a gusher of praise and admiration for some of the incredible attributes of God that demand our attention and that reveal His extreme greatness above all of our petty arguments and theological discriminations. As he moves into this section about the body of Christ it must be considered always in view of the Head of that body which is described in 11:33-36, this section where Paul describes the greatness and superiority of God.

Chapter 12 (remember – no chapter breaks whatsoever in the original) begins to move beyond Paul's lengthy exposé on the problems between Jews and Gentiles and launches into finishing his letter by describing what the true body looks like and how it gets that way. I think is it very helpful to not read this section without being sure to start this chapter back at 11:33 so as to keep the head and the body together in our consideration. It is extremely crucial to the health and well-being of a human body to have its head properly connected to the body – that is quite obvious. But it has far often been too easy for religious people to forget that the same applies to the mystical body of Christ. If every part and cell of the body is not linked closely with the energy and instructions from the brain to coordinate the whole, then you are left at best with a vegetable simply being kept alive on life support systems but not useful for any other activities.

Likewise, if any part of the body is not closely intertwined and intimately connected in its proper place with the rest of the body but is severed from it somehow, then it will soon become lifeless and useless as well. The body itself may continue on and will heal the damage from the loss of that part, but the part itself, if not restored in a timely manner through careful surgical methods back to its proper place will soon die and no longer be a viable part of the body. It might become preserved in some way so that it looks like a body part, but its only usefulness after that point is for study and observation to learn important truths about staying connected to the only real source of life.

Paul is making a very solid case here for our need to view ourselves always in the context of our relationship to God as a part of the body, not as independent bodies without reference to anyone else. I am not referring here necessarily to being part of a human church or group that desires to wield control and manipulation over others in the name of the body of Christ. I discussed that last time and there are far too many examples of the abuse of this kind of thinking around to consider. Personally I believe the real body of Christ described here is not very evident at this point in time, at least in large and obvious ways, despite the claims of many. I believe that there are many people who are not now viewed as legitimate members of Christ's body are in fact being cultivated and nourished secretly in their hearts that will suddenly be moved into key positions when the body is quickly and more obviously assembled by the Master Designer and Coordinator, the Holy Spirit. These “dark horses” are presently in living in various places and circumstances that would shock and surprise many but are secret agents for God under His protection and guidance. But many – probably most – of those presently claiming to constitute Christ's body will be very surprised and insulted when they are found to not be connected to the right Head or be fit to integrate into the real body.

In fact, I believe that most of those unfit for the real body of Christ will not know for a long time that they are not part of the true body. Since their concept of the body is much more external in nature and they have carefully crafted and assembled themselves into what they view as the right body, they will feel scandalized at the emergence of the true body being assembled by the Holy Spirit himself and will accuse those who are part of it of being fanatical, of being too expressive and emotional and even of being too rigid and devoted in their absolute obedience and allegiance to their passionate Lover. What I am saying is that there is going to be more than just one body when the time of revelations comes on the earth. But only one body is going to be the true one led by the Holy Spirit who will act as the central nervous system bringing every particle of that body into harmony and synchronization with the Head and with each other.

All other bodies claiming to be the body of Christ will be depending to some extent on external measures to keep their bodies together and functioning. They will be doing everything possible to achieve the results described in the Bible that should be seen, but because they are trusting in alternative methods and principles and faulty bonds to bind the body together they will not realize until it is too late that the body they so fiercely defend and protect and promote is in fact, a counterfeit. They will be completely blind to this in their vehement defense of their theology and their determination to be saved by conformance to knowing the right things and performing the proper activities at the right times. They may indeed achieve unity with like-minded people and produce the results they were looking for; they may even feel a great sense of supernatural power endorsing their cause. But none of these outward accomplishments and inner confidence are the hallmarks of the true body of Christ.

From the words of one of the most respected leaders of my church I find these frightening words about this very situation. They are taken from a revelation received from God about this very condition that is fast taking place today. After describing essentially what I have just shared above I found these quoted words to be vital in unveiling the true depth of this deception over those who have long been worshiping Jesus and obeying His teachings:

I turned to look at the company who were still bowed before the throne; they did not know that Jesus had left it. Satan appeared to be by the throne, trying to carry on the work of God. I saw them look up to the throne, and pray, "Father, give us Thy Spirit." Satan would then breathe upon them an unholy influence; in it there was light and much power, but no sweet love, joy, and peace. Satan's object was to keep them deceived and to draw back and deceive God's children. {EW 56.1}

Love, joy and peace are the missing ingredients noted here. But equally interesting is the presence of increased light and much power. This is a perfect illustration of the danger of what can happen to us when we focus more on external religion instead of being diligent to have a real heart transformation that replaces our roots of bitterness and bigotry and spiritual stubbornness with sweet love, humility and peace. Love, joy and peace are all descriptions of heart conditions far more than intellectual accomplishments. These people did not realize that Satan had taken over in place of Jesus. They honestly believed they were still following the guidance of Jesus and were trusting that their views of truth were still valid and reliable.

But it is very easy to feel that a thrill of power inside of our hearts could be just what we were looking for as our heads receive fresh insights that make a great deal of sense to us and are greatly enlightening. Power is a wonderful substitute that seems to satisfy the longings of our hearts. It makes us feel important and influential and valuable. It gives us a sense of assurance and confirmation that we are right and it gives us boldness to assert our rightness on others.

Many believe that if they just keep focused on having light and searching for light by persistent pursuit of greater intellectual truth that they will be safe from deception. They discount or ignore the heart work that the true Spirit wants to do in them because it is too frightening and painful to have their emotions and memories and feelings exposed that is inevitable when this work by the Spirit is allowed to progress. They insist that there is no need to revisit the past because it is now behind them and is covered under the blood. In fact, it is not really behind them at all despite all their insistence and instead of being under the blood it is being held under the rug – held down firmly by suppression and determined denial.

Just because we have said some words of regret and asked forgiveness for things we have done or felt in the past does not mean that they are resolved and no longer affect our current behavior and attitudes. Far too many believers misunderstand and seriously underestimate the underlying power that their past still has to influence and trigger their emotions when they may least suspect it. They are baffled as to why they continue to struggle with urges and compulsions or reactions that are out of line with their profession and they work even harder to suppress and deny and pretend and believe harder so as to overcome these things in their life.

But being an overcomer does not mean successfully suppressing all the negative urges from within and keeping a secure lid on all our triggers so that we accomplish a measure of external perfection. Believing that claiming God's forgiveness and hiding under the blood of Jesus is all that is needed to be an overcomer is to fall short of the grace of God and allow the roots of bitterness to remain in our hearts. We may faithfully cut off every shoot that shows up in the soil of our hearts but until the roots are exposed and dealt with we will never know the joy of true freedom. This kind of thinking leads to a life of externally-focused religion (which is what nearly all religion today is) but lacks the true heart-transformation needed to knit us together in the bonds of sweet love, joy and peace.

The true body of Christ is bonded and knit together, not with the faulty, unstable glue of fear and conformity but with the heavenly super-adhesive of love, joy and peace. And we will only experience these things as we focus on the love, joy and peace in the character of God Himself. If we view God in any way as One we must be afraid of we are trying to bond ourselves with fear. But God has not given anyone the spirit of fear.

Fear comes from the enemy of God, Satan. The word Satan means accuser and that is very much what he delights to do. But he is also keen on camouflaging his techniques so that his religious bodies appear to be the one designed by God. He is eager to supply whatever element we are expecting to receive from our internal pictures of God and if we desire power he is more than ready to supply our needs. If we want more light to supplement our dependence on knowing “the truth” he will supply our desire. But when these things are received without the requisite atmosphere of the spirit of sweet love, humility, joy (intensely happy to be with each other) and inner peace as well as peace with each other, then we are deceived but have no idea that we are deceived.

The diabolical thing about deception is that a deceived person seldom has any clue that they themselves are deceived. It is always someone else that is deceived because they do not agree with our perspective. Therefore it is always impossible to escape deception by discovering it in ourselves. That revelation must come through light that enters into the heart much more than the head. The light that unmasks deception is the light of the sweet Spirit of Jesus, not primarily the light of intellectual truth. I am more and more convinced that God is far more focused on trying to communicate to our spirit than with our intellect. He does not ignore our intellect, but that is not the primary access point for the transformation needed to prepare us to function properly in this body of Christ.

Only those who are motivated by and give priority to sweet love, joy and peace coming from Jesus more than wanting increased light and power will be able to synchronize with the body of Christ and utilize their gifts to strengthen and nourish that body. We then will not desire to control others or force them to agree with us. We will allow God to synchronize and instruct and lead each person in the freedom and at the speed that He knows is best for them. We will also realize that we have our own blind spots and discrepancies in our own perceptions of truth and will remain open and willing to continually reexamine what we have assumed in the past. We will allow Jesus to be the leader for all of us instead of trying to convict and intimidate others into conforming to our narrow views of truth.

As we focus on the beauty and attractiveness and the real nature of God's glory and character, we will be transformed at the heart level and our hearts will burn more and more intensely with the same passion that throbs in the heart of the Father. And as we live this way we will find that our hearts will be attracted and knitted with everyone who shares our passion to know God more intimately and will share our own experience and insights without any sense of coercion or fear to poison our witness. We will find pleasure and joy in indulging in the servant-spirit of Jesus as we come into closer harmony with the spirit that permeates all the rest of heaven. This is entering into the joy of the Lord.

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