Where is the Body?

For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. (Romans 12:4, 5)

It occurs to me that many of the problems that I observe within a church setting are caused because we are not believing something this verse is teaching. At the same time we try to use it to justify artificial distinctions that inflate our opinions of ourselves due to some office or position we may hold. Either way, we are failing to view ourselves and those around us through the eyes of heaven and instead are stuck in the same attitudes of discrimination as that used by the world, only using our own unique measurements of internal traditions.

One of the things that my heart looks for whenever I enter a church or come into a group of people who profess to be Christians is the attitudes and subtle messages given off by individuals about what they believe about the social structure they are in. This is often very different from the words they may be saying or the messages posted in bulletins or on the walls. What I really need to know is whether they are genuinely glad to welcome me and are willing to respect me as an equal fellow believer in the same God or are they more interested in seeing in me another potential subject to build their growing empire. These are not things generally talked about in the open and are even strongly denied sometimes, but I think many people know what I am referring to.

I am sad to say that most churches I enter do not have an atmosphere of real openness, compassion and personal interest in me as a person apart from my potential to swell their own membership roles, and some of them don't even have that much interest. I have attended some churches for many months and even years without ever being invited to join their membership (which given the atmosphere I am sort of glad they didn't). Some try to show me friendship and stay in touch, but underneath the external friendliness I get a strong sense that they are more interested in locking in my allegiance to their local group than they are in joining hearts in searching for God. This has long been a source of deep disappointment for me.

On the other hand I have recently been meeting a number of people in various circumstances that provide indications that they are themselves hungry for a deeper experience in knowing God and my heart gets very interested in knowing if they might join me and synchronize our mutual desires to know God better in some way. So far nothing very substantial has developed from these contacts but they give me hope that God is preparing many people to soon come together with honest and open hearts who are sincere in following His leading.

Because of these observations I am very reluctant to believe the labels that many of these various people or groups wear that sometimes conflict with what I am feeling in my relationships with them. I have an ever intensifying hunger to bond more closely to others who are honest and sincerely searching for truth and to know God much more intimately. I believe that these are the people that constitute the real body of Christ that is not evident as an organization. Of course there is no shortage of organizations and churches laying exclusive claim to being the only legitimate body recognized by God as His true people, but claims are easy to make and proof-text, but heart language is a far more accurate indicator of what is really going on in the spiritual realm.

What does all this have to do with many members in one body not having the same function? Maybe I am simply using this verse as a launching pad for one of my complaints. Or maybe it stimulated a deep hunger in my soul that is still looking for God's guidance and a personal need to remove much of the prejudice and narrowness of my lifelong thinking. I know most all of the arguments used to prevent people from associating with other people considered outside the approved body, but many of those arguments are now falling apart in the presence of the God who uses very different ways of viewing things.

When I read this text I wonder if the prejudices we employ to reject close connections with those outside our approved group are not exposed as an inner belief that everyone approved by God must look, act and believe in strict conformity to our carefully honed list of requirements. Some organizations have hammered out their systematic theology over many decades and are loath to allow any tampering with or careful and open reexamination of what the forefathers and highly educated experts have put together as pronouncements of final truth. This is not an attempt to discredit those who have invested many years trying to understand the Bible and share their findings with others. But the spirit of narrowness and bigotry that is becoming so prominent in the attitudes of many that I meet in most churches is a source of deep concern for me.

I have sensed that there is almost no difference between the attitude and spirit of the Pharisee's in Jesus' day and many who profess to have the truth today. They are so absolutely certain that they have a corner on the truth that they seem to believe they can look down on anyone who does not subscribe or adhere to their rigid ideas. They seem to become more and more hardened in their hearts and more and more determined to squeeze everyone into their carefully shaped mold or be discarded as outside of God's salvation. I am appalled at how many times I hear religious people condemn “outsiders” and sometimes even consider them destined for damnation if they are not willing to come under the control of their preferred church or swear allegiance to their own unique set of beliefs. This is not the Spirit of Jesus working here but another spirit that is anti-Christ. I struggle against this spirit inside of myself because I am so familiar with it, but I do not want to allow it dominance any longer.

I believe that the real body of Christ is vastly different in its composition today than anyone might possibly imagine. This is primarily because man looks on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart. Therefore man tends to segregate according to intellectual assent and profession and outward conformity whereas God is measuring the spirits of men and weighing the motives of the heart that oftentimes is impossible to discern when not in close communion with His Spirit. The more sure we become of our airtight arguments and logic the more prejudiced we become towards many whom God may view as more legitimate children than most of those professing to follow Him in “truth”.

The differences of function in the true body of Christ I suspect may be far vastly different and greater than the simplistic, artificial notions we have typically used to talk about this subject. We usually limit our discussion to the few descriptions listed in the next few verses and then believe that anything not listed here is suspect at best and likely is not a very valid or useful gift for the body. In addition, we tend to view these gifts through the distorted lenses of the world's value system and so turn them into arguments about hierarchy and power and control within the church. We give lip service to the servant/leadership model taught by Jesus but we do not embrace it with our hearts and thus deny the real power – ... holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. (2 Timothy 3:5)

I am afraid that many of the people trying to honestly serve God in many churches are severely restricted in their ability to utilize their true gifts because churches generally have such narrow views of what acceptable and legitimate gifts really are. Therefore most people are forced into predefined molds created by some committee long ago who gave them a label and job description that must be filled each year by new committees to keep up appearances. This may keep the status quo firmly in place and give the appearance of unity, but the body of Christ is stifled and suffocated as wonderful gifts go unused, unrecognized and millions lose out on the blessings they could be enjoying.

I have seen a surge in programs and formulas designed to identity and bring out into the open people's spiritual gifts. I believe this may be a real source for encouragement and breathes life into the stifling narrowness of many church organizations. But most of these programs still rely on definitions that use external measurements and predefined roles that the person might potentially fill within a rigid structure. I still do not see very much of the real creativity and spontaneity that I believe will be manifest when the true body of Christ emerges under the direct influence and coordinated guidance of the Holy Spirit and the glory of God will fill the whole earth.

I guess what I am saying is that I think it is time for believers who are hungry for fresh revelations of God to be willing to think outside the box and allow God to stimulate the natural and abundant gifts He has placed in the hearts of His children without trying to regulate and control them using human and external dictates and definitions. External religion strongly inhibits and sometimes prohibits the outworkings and expressions that will occur when the real Holy Spirit is allowed to take charge. I am not referring to false emotions unleashed and the sanctioning of chaos in the name of Spirit manifestations. I am talking about allowing our hearts to be filled with the passion of God's heart while living in the humility of Jesus so crucial to effective ministry.

Conformity according to verse 2 is the method recognized and utilized by the world. It is the attempt to force our symptoms to align with the results expected from conversion in hopes that the heart will then come into line and love will somehow take root. Transformation is something that must take place initially on the inside at the heart level and must be a work performed by the Holy Spirit as we allow our minds to be renewed by God and by exposure to His Word, which is another way of saying we must think outside the box. We have far too many boxes into which we demand God must restrict Himself if we are to acknowledge His workings. But God is far too big to fit inside any of our boxes and we must learn to discard our restrictive boxes and give God freedom to lead and move His body as He desires instead of imposing our human controls to perpetuate our selfish agendas.

What does this all mean for my life right now? Am I just venting about my own discontent and spouting off to the wind? Maybe so, only time will tell I suppose. But I do know that I have a desire inside that I believe was implanted and is encouraged by God to somehow find my place in His real body. So far I have not seen a place to connect with up to this point. I am not willing to just play the games of church and pretend spirituality; I want the real thing and nothing less. I am listening with my spirit to sense other kindred spirits who are willing to synchronize in their passion to know God and I desire to connect with them as we join our minds and hearts to know and experience God more deeply together. I have to trust God to lead me to these people and to establish communication and bonds with them. My connecting skills are very crippled and so I have to trust God to do most of that work and teach me His ways in His time and connect me with His true body the way He designs it to be.

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