HEALTHY CHURCH: Understanding the Body
An Essential Church understands just how important every member of their body is according to I Corinthians 12. Before we get there, let’s first look at John 15:8. This is one of the many placesin the Scriptures where Jesus points out what it means to be one of His disciples. “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” Disciples are supposed to bear fruit, and that is done byimpacting other people’s lives for His eternal purposes.Discipleship is not just about your own personal relationship with God. That is a huge part of it, but you must be growing in order to help grow others around you.
Every member of the body is given a spiritual gift. It is furnished by God in order to help you and others, such as your spouse, children, grandchildren, friends and your church family, grow. There is no real, exhaustive list of spiritual gifts in the Bible with the New Testament giving us lists in six different places. No list is the same, and no list by itself contains all 22 gifts mentioned. The pinnacle of discipleship is not the work occurring inside you but the sanctification process that leads you to serve God by serving people. I Corinthians 12:14 says, “For the body is not one member, but many.”
An important part of being a member of a local body of believers is discovering how God made, wired, gifted and equipped you. Psalm 139:14 states, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Ephesians 2:10 tells us that after salvation, we are His workmanship. God creates us and then recreates us as He begins to work on us through the process of sanctification. The craftsman designs the ax, but then it needs to be continually sharpened to fulfill its created purpose. Romans 12:18 says, “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.”
A Fuller Theological study discovered that 87% of the body of Christ do not know what body part they are. Can you imagine what it would be like if 87% of your physical body did not know its purpose? That could cripple you or handicap you severely. That is the entire argument of I Corinthians 12, where the hand can’t say to the eye, “Hey, I don’t need you!” and the eye can’t say to the hand, “I don’t need you either!”; but instead, each part knows its purpose. Paul’s favorite analogy of the church is a body. How does your physical body take care of the needs of one of its parts? Through other members of the body.
In the same way, when God wants to care for His body, He uses other members of the body. That means, when people disconnect from the body, they cut themselves off from God’s power, purpose and pruning. The first step is to be connected to a local church body. It is very clear in Scripture that we’re supposed to be a part of a local expression of His church, and there is no plan B. It has been stated that, “God didn’t save you to sanitize you and set you on His sanctified shelf; he saved you to send you into service!” Some never discover the joy of being used by God in the lives of others by serving them.
The connection to the body of Christ should be more than just recharging your spiritual batteries in order to continue living a self-focused life. Every member of the body should be asking, “What role am I supposed to be playing in this body? How can I serve others?” After connecting to a church body, begin the process of discovering your spiritual gift, but be careful to not overcomplicate that process. Start by determining your affinity. What are you passionate about? What needs are you drawn to? What kind of ministry satisfies your soul? The principle behind that is that design reveals your destiny.
How you are made points to what you were created and gifted by God to do. In discerning your spiritual gifting, you should now look at your abilities. Every member of the body has a spiritual gift, and no one has all of the gifts. One pastor stated, “God did not make anyone an omnicompetent one-person ministry machine. Why do we insist on everybody being good at everything?” He made us and then placed us as part of a body and gave each one of us a specific role. You serve your church best when you devote yourself to your passion coupled with God-given abilities while asking, what can I do to help?
The last natural part of this process is affirmation. Where do people see God using you the most? God places you in a church to help reveal your blind spots. You can be blind to gifts you didn’t even realize you have, but others see them in you and affirm them. They also see and realize the things you think you are gifted in but are not. The body around you can see your blind spots and help you discover God’s sweet spot. Spiritual gift tests can be helpful, but the best method of determining how you fit into the body of Christ is by affinity, ability, and affirmation. Serve God by serving others and your gifting will become evident.
In John 15:11, Jesus tells us, “…that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full.” Being connected to a local church body while fulfilling God’s purpose in that body is where fulfillment and joy kick in. Bearing fruit and much fruit for Christ strengthens your spiritual, emotional and mental health. The best way to solve the problems in your life is to have something bigger than your problems by serving God and others. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1).
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Larry Barker
Director of Church Planting and Church Health Larry Barker submits a weekly column titled, Healthy Church Solutions, designed to strengthen and encourage the local church.
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