The Body of Christ

The Body of Christ

A lot of years ago now, I wrote a poem describing  the entire assembly of Christians past, present, and future.  The Bible calls that group the “body of Christ.”  Please excuse the lack of proper structure and meter.  I’m no poet.  Here’s part of that poem:

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.

 

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 church today

I see 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 others, His sense of humor

In the funny things they do.

 

If you’ve prayed a prayer like mine

On some dark and lonely night,

Just look around.  He’s wall to wall.

Behold the body of Christ.

 

The Body of Christ is not just a group of people with a common cause.  We are representatives of Christ to the world, whether individually or collectively.  We are His hands, His voice, His heart.

Just a few weeks ago I was challenged to prove the missionary organizations Christians support are actually doing what they claim.  I needed only to show him a copy of our church bulletin.  In it were announcements about people I knew headed to Brazil, the food bank we have for those who need a hand, the ministry to seniors, Operation Christmas Child, the Bible studies and prayer groups who meet to glorify God.  Our mission statement was there as well: to Win, Equip, and to Serve others.  In short, I showed Him the Body of Christ functioning as it should.

Billy Graham was once asked what it must be like to be at the head of the line to heaven.  He responded by saying there will be millions ahead of him we’ve never heard of who are praying earnestly, helping selflessly, and working silently day by day to further God’s kingdom.  We’re all different in our ministries (Rom. 12:4-8).  If you’re doing something you think is minor in God’s plan, remember, nothing goes unseen.  God doesn’t  grade on a curve but on obedience.  If you’re greeting, ushering, parking cars, sewing clothes for others in need, privately praying for the sick and homeless, sharing Christ with someone on an elevator, publically evangelizing, teaching a Sunday School class, or preaching from the pulpit, you are worshipping God.  You are showing the world the physical representation of His hand.  You are an important part of the body of Christ.  If you ever feel weak and alone in this, remember He has given us the greatest Helper and Comforter of all, God the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17).

 

Romans 12:4-8 (ESV)
⁴  For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function,
⁵  so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
⁶  Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;
⁷  if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching;
⁸  the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

 

John 14:16-17 (ESV)
¹⁶  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
¹⁷  even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.