Virtually Paul

True Christian Community: The Church as a body

October 27, 2006 on 10:16 pm | In Church, Community, Preaching, Theology |

The concept of the unity that needs to be present in Christian community is best illustrated by the metaphorical use of the Greek word soma (body) in the New Testament, intertwined with references to the church. In “the body”, everyone has a vital role:

1 Corinthians 12:14-20 (NIV)Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

This reminds us of the interdependent connectedness that is necessary for real Christian community. Everyone has a place here as part of it. You have a God-given role to play in the community, if you choose it. But why? What has God got in mind for us as we’re thrown together into this mix? What have we been placed into communities to do? Ephesians 4, has our answer. We are called to be part of a body where Christ is the head - a body that is growing into maturity.

Ephesians 4:11-16 (NRSV)
The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knitted together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

To experience true Christian community, we must first know Christ and then grow in that knowledge. What happens if we don’t grow in our knowledge of Christ? As richly as Paul’s “body” metaphor tells of our interconnectedness when the parts of the body are not working together
it also exposes our vulnerability.

When I was in high school I had this problem with my knees called Osgood-Schlatters disease. Have a look at the site. Basically, due to different muscles, tendons and bones growing at different rates, there’s a tendon that can start to pull away from the bone below the knee. It absolutely kills. You can’t run because the impact just sends pain shooting up your leg. If you do try to run, it starts hurting when you walk. Because parts of my body weren’t working together properly, my whole body was in a lot of pain. In 1 Corinthians, Paul explains that:

1 Corinthians 12:25-26
there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.