Body Life
August 29th, 2010 Posted in Dr. Howard E. Dial | No Comments »In 1972 the words “body life” sprang into widespread use as a description of the church operating on the principles of Ephesians 4. Spiritual gifts and how they work moved into the center of evangelical life. This wasn’t because the Bible is silent about the way congregations should function. The New Testament epistles are filled with instruction, exhortation, and commands for local churches to live out unity and diversity. The body of Christ is made up of believers who have been gifted by the Holy Spirit to serve and build up one another in the faith. There is no Christian who has not been gifted.
The best way to grasp the significance of what it means to be vitally connected to other believers in Jesus Christ is to track the “one-another” passages in the New Testament. There are thirty-one of these how-to-treat-one-another. We will look at seven of them. They tell us what life in the faith community should be like.
We are members of one another (1 Cor. 12:20; Rom. 12:5). The idea here is that believers are interdependent. We need one another in order to be built up in the faith. When we were saved we did not become shipwrecked, as it were, on some uninhabited island (saved but all alone). Christ’s people are connected to one another and cannot grow effectively in isolation from one another. Each of us profits from what the other members in the body of Christ contribute by their ministry of the gifts and graces of the Spirit. Are you involved in the life of this church or are you disconnected from fellow believers? The question here is not, “Do you attend church on Sunday?” If you do, that’s good. But there is more to it than that. How are you serving others Sunday to Sunday? In our culture “finding oneself” is seen as a soul journey of peeling back the layers of who I am. According to Scripture Christians finds themselves by knowing God and being members one of another in the body of Christ (Rom. 12:5).
We are to love one another (Rom. 12:10; 1 Jn. 3:11). Over eighteen times this kind of one-anothering appears in the New Testament, more than any of the others. If the church is to function like it ought to, it must be a place where Christians love one another. It is part of the family tie. It is called brotherly love. We have a common Father, common Son, and common Holy Spirit. We share a common spiritual life in Christ. This is the basic concept of fellowship. We share something. The evidence to the non-Christian that Christ is real to us is our love for one another (Jn. 13:34). Body life is a church life where we are laying down our lives for one another. Love looks around and takes notice of people. It looks for ways to be helpful, kind, and encouraging. Love sacrifices one’s time for the joy of teaching a class of four and five year olds. Love responds in measurable ways to those in need. One of the plagues on modern congregational life is church-hopping. Love for one another doesn’t run away from people because of personality clashes. When offenses occur love seeks reconciliation.
We are to honor one another (Rom. 12:10). Eugene Peterson in the “Message” paraphrases this, “practice playing second fiddle.” A vibrant body life is occurring when we take the lead in expressing appreciation for the life and work of fellow believers. We know what honors day is like at the end of the school year. It is a time when credit is given to whom credit is due. When we are primarily interested in promoting ourselves, our ideas, and our opinions things are going to turn ugly. Being considerate of the views and opinions of others even when we disagree with them is one way of honoring one another. Do we listen when others are talking? Do we express appreciation for the service of others? Parents and children should honor one another. Speak with a respectful tone of voice. If your child forgets and leaves his Bible on the playground respond by attacking the problem not the child. When the blood of biblical truth is flowing through the veins of body life there will be gracious recognition of what others are doing for Christ’s sake.
Dr. Howard E. Dial
Berachah Bible Church