| Bodies of Christ? |
| Bodies of Christ? |
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'Bodies' of Christ?? If you enjoy your Ephesians and Colossians, you probably enjoy the 'body of Christ' as being 'the church'. For great examples, read Eph 3:6, 4:4,12,16, and 5:23,30. You can find hints of 'the body' in other books (e.g. Rom 12:5, 1Co 12:27), but Eph/Col are just THE BEST. They move a good believer into a good church member. Why is this important? Well, the biggest problem for any group is trying to keep everyone going in the same direction. And the other is to discourage people from leaving (see Heb 10:25). A 'body' concept achieves both aims, and a 'Christ' body is 100% better (the former mainly in 1st Cor, and the latter in Eph/Col). Now, of course, the obvious question is this: "Just how many 'bodies' did Christ have?" The NT only mentions one, but how do you really KNOW? Here in the small town of Sedona, Arizona, Christ has about 15 bodies or so. In a large city, for sure, he has a LOT more. And if you leave the US, there's even more Christ bodies. Now, if you're a squirming de-non-i-na-tion-al Christian (there are quite a few), you're trying to figure HOW there's really only 'one' body, right? (If you're a Church of Christ-er, you don't have to squirm; wink-wink.) So, what do YOU do as a Christian? You're not too thrilled with those other 'bodies' of Christ. Plus, if you're a pastor/preacher, your problem is even worse. As you lead your flock, by definition, you're separating them from 'the body' (OK, they hired you to keep them separated! True.). You could rationalize that there's one body, but they're grouped separately. So, you have your arm'rs (Methodists), foot'rs(Baptists) and hand'rs (Episcopalians), with Christ as the head? I'm sure he appreciates THAT. Actually, pastors don't get too excited about all the 'bodies' of Christ. Can Christ hold THEM responsible, if everyone ELSE can't read the Bible? Du-uh. But as a believer, which 'body of Christ' should you join? One day I opened the Sedona phone book so I could pick ... I had already been to most of them. As I went down the alphabetic list, I remembered various features that each had. One by one, I drew a line through each, until there were no more body of Christs left. I thought 'Holy Yellow Pages', surely there's a body of Christ somewhere in here!! Then I remembered a small church in Nutrioso AZ, up in the mountains. I previously attended there during a camping trip. I didn't believe 'everything' they believed. But on the other hand, they really seemed to me to be the body of Christ. What was my intuitive (and unsupportable) critera? It hit me. They were pretty simple. They worshipped God, studied the Bible, and then shared lunch at Alpine's only restaurant. To me, that sounded just like the body of Christ. OKaaaay! Wait ... oh for goodness sakes. Nutrioso is almost 5 hours from here. Get up at 3am. Every week?? Let me see that Sedona phone book again! Extra Note: Actually I really suspect the Nutrioso Bible Church does most closely match what you find in the New Testament, though they probably don't really want my recommendation! But they are surely good Christians. |
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