1 Cor. 12:12-20 (ESV) For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
Gal. 5:22-23 (ESV) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
These passages of Scripture speak of the unity of the church, the body of Christ. Together we show each other and the world Christ in a very physical sense. Elsewhere in the passage, Paul gets into instruction about spiritual gifts and how they edify the church itself, but I’d like to talk about how the body of Christ is also displayed before the world. There are traits, fruit, I see in the church which give us and the world a glimpse of the God we serve.
A lot of years ago, we belonged to a Southern Baptist church in California, and there was a share night, a sort of talent show. Some members of the congregation sang songs, one gentleman whistled all four stanzas of Amazing Grace, some recited Scripture from memory, and I had written a pretty poorly constructed poem to express my relationship with God, His church, and me.
I recited the poem at a men’s group this past week, and they thought it was significant enough to ask for written copies. Being me, it occurred to me I could do this by sharing it here to see if it might help some of the readers of this blog better understand Christ and His church, and it would give a written record of the poem for those who asked. Please remember this was written to be given to a group within a church sanctuary setting:
When I was a boy
I asked God to show Himself to me,
Not in a spiritual sense
Something tangible I could see.
He didn’t appear to me that night.
He wouldn’t show Himself.
So, just to show Him who’s the boss,
I put His book back on its shelf.
As the years went by,
His book came down.
Now I know Him as my Lord.
But He never forgot my prayer.
He remembered every word.
As I look around the room,
I see some very dear friends of mine
Who show me through their lives and loves
God’s qualities divine.
In some I see the joy of God:
His patience and His kindness.
While others share His love in Truth
To cure the World’s blindness.
With some, it’s His authority that comes bursting through.
With other, His sense of humor in the funny things they do.
So if you ever prayed a prayer like that
On some dark and lonely night,
Just look around.
He’s wall-to-wall.
Behold the body of Christ.
Why is this important?
Although the gifts of the Holy Spirit are most certainly awesome, wonderful, supernatural, and even necessary for the health of the church, the fruit that display God’s joy, love, and compassion come every day nearly unnoticed through the people who make up His body. This fruit is important for the world to see. People can better discern Christ in us because He lives in us, lives through us, and exhibits His person by us. It is through us they see the body of Christ.
Believers Armed and Dangerous 