The Church as a Body
Friday, November 06, 2009
There are several places in the Bible where the church is compared to a body. In this analogy, the individual members of the church are like various body parts - eyes, hands, feet, etc. The idea is that just as a body needs each part to function well for optimal health, the church needs each member to function well for optimal health. As we grow to spiritual maturity, we help build up the church as a whole. Here are a couple of passages that express this image:
12 For as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free — and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 14 So the body is not one part but many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” in spite of this it still belongs to the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” in spite of this it still belongs to the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But now God has placed the parts, each one of them, in the body just as He wanted. 19 And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? 20 Now there are many parts, yet one body. (1 Corinthians 12.12-20, Holman Christian Standard translation of the BIble)
Speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head — Christ. From Him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part. (Ephesians 4.15-16, Holman Christian Standard translation of the Bible)
I don’t think this is intended to be a guilt trip. It’s not saying, “If the church is struggling, blame the members. If everyone would get their act together, things would be great!” It’s also not saying that there’s no room in the church for hurting people, for broken people. There’s plenty of room in the church for those in need of healing and comfort - just like we take care of our physical ailments when a body part if hurting.
The point of these texts is to say that there is a place for everyone in the church. There are no first and second class Christians. No one person is more valuable than another. This body image says that we all need each other. A friend of mine is fond of saying, “No one of us has it all together, but when we’re together, we have it all.”
There’s a place for you at The Well. No matter what body part you are, or how healthy or unhealthy you are, there’s a place for you at The Well.
Peace,
Matt