Christ’s Pattern for His Church (Part One)
The life of the body: Is the church an institution or a living organism?
I. God has a specific plan or pattern for the Body of Christ.
A. The church is a living organism composed of interdependent parts; the church is not an
institution. Those in union with Christ are also in union with one another. The living ‘body analogy’ for the church helps us understand the true organic nature of the church (1 Cor 12:12-13, 18). (Gary Inrig, Life in His Body, Wheaton: Harold Shaw Publishers, 1975, p. 30). The church is an organism of interdependent parts (12:22-25). What difference does that make in the way we ‘do church?’ It makes a world of difference! We know from history (and perhaps also from our own experiences) that the church tends to revert to an institution. In this lesson we will be examining how the gospel puts a check on that kind of declension.
The scriptural premise in this lesson is that our commitment to the gospel keeps the true organic nature of the church in view (and it keeps the true nature of the church central in our practice). By “organic” we mean that the church is a living body by virtue of its union with Christ. Believers are spiritually joined to Christ and to one another. By constantly emphasizing the reality of our union with Christ and one another in the Body, the gospel helps check the drift toward institutionalism. Only when we are saturated with the gospel will we be kept from the tendency to ‘redefine’ the church as an institutional structure made up merely of programs, activities, gifted individuals, and teachings.
B. The body of Christ is the corporate expression of the grace of Christ. The gifts in the body at
work are each a facet of Christ’s character reproduced and made visible (John MacArthur, The Body Dynamic, Victor, 1996, p. 101). The church must be saturated with the gospel in order to ‘be the gospel’. In Christ we have all we need for life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3). God intends that the local church be a corporate display of His glory and wisdom—that is His plan for the church. How often do we think about the nature of the church in this way? Our institutional thinking lets us settle for a concept of the church as ‘Christian culture’ instead (Eph 3:10-11; Jn 13:34-35; Jn 17:21-23) (Mark Dever and Paul Alexander, The Deliberate Church, Crossway Books, 2005, p. 26).
God’s character is known by both the truth of the gospel and by the church’s organic union with Christ as her members function in harmony—showing collectively the character of Christ. God bids His people to enter His plot; His story—to be part of the big picture to manifest His glory through a supernatural community animated by Christ (Lane/Tripp, How People Change, New Growth Press, 2006, pp. 93-94). The church is a medium of revelation—revealing the character of God. It does so ONLY when it incarnates the disposition of Jesus in our relationships. Only then will nations and angels behold in it the manifold wisdom of God (Eph 3:10ff.). Wooing, winsome, conquering grace is a function of the church manifesting the qualities of Christ her Head (Charles Jefferson, The Building of the Church, New York: Macmillan, 1913, p. 154).
C. The fellowship of the members of the body is proof of the divine power of Jesus—“that they
may be one” (Jn 17:21-23). According to Christ’s prayer to the Father in John chapter seventeen, the unity of the brethren is evidence to the world that Christ came from heaven. The Lord declares His ministry to be that of binding men together by indissoluble bonds (Jefferson, p. 48-52). The miracle of regeneration has made us “new creatures” made for true community (salvation in Christ has restored our ability to reflect the Creator—the sphere in which that takes place is relationships). We have something for which the world hungers—TRUE COMMUNITY. A group of individuals committed to one another where it is safe to know and be known—a place where you belong, are missed when absent, and where you make a significant contribution. (The world wants community, but not on Christ’s terms.)
Because of the grace of God there is no one on earth better equipped for true community than a
believer. Consider our equipping: true believers have died with Christ and are now
controlled by Christ’s love so as to no longer live for self but for Him who died and rose on their
behalf (2 Cor 5:14-15). They are alive in Christ and joined to Him in an immutable covenant of
love. They have the very righteousness of Christ imputed to their account (a new identity). They
are indwelt by God’s Holy Spirit who is eager to produce the fruit of the Spirit. Their
relationships with the brethren are held together supernaturally by Christ. They have the living
Word of God which spells out God’s will for their relationships. They can be endlessly generous
with forgiveness and acceptance because they have received both in infinite measure from Christ.
D. In order to understand the true nature of the church, we must grasp the fact that God the Father
through the Son has formed a new humanity (‘Christ in you’—see John 14:16-21 and Colossians 1:25-27). By union with Christ we are complete in Him (all the benefits of His Person belong to the believer). Our supernatural union with Christ also means that believers are supernaturally joined together into a social structure called the ‘Body of Christ.’ This is how Christ sees us—as His body on earth. This makes a world of difference in how His church is to function. Because by nature, the Church is a living organic body by virtue of union with Christ; our relationships among the brethren no longer exist for social reasons alone. a.) God intends that the relationships in the body exist for mutual edification. b.) God intends that collectively we are to manifest the character and disposition of Christ. c.) God intends that our body life (fellowship) as ‘true community’ reflect the very communal life of the Godhead (see John 17).
In this context the scriptural commands to bear one another’s burdens; defer to one another; consider others as more important than yourself; accept one another; maintain unity; say the same thing (doctrinally)—make perfect sense.
In order for the church to reveal Christ, her glorious Head, she must live upon Him and live out her vital connection to Him AND live out her connection to the brethren. This is central to the mission of the church. Now, we live upon Christ by living upon His gospel. We live upon Christ by becoming saturated with the gospel and by allowing the gospel to be the mould into which our lives are ‘poured’—the gospel provides the shape of genuine Christianity. In applying the truths from this portion of the lesson, we ought to ask ourselves the following kinds of questions: How strong is my desire to get to know the brethren? Why is it often weak? Have I considered that my desire to know God parallels the desire to know my brethren?
II. The members of the body are vitally connected to Christ and to one another.
A. Justification by faith (righteousness from outside of us—the righteousness of Christ imputed to
us) is the basis for true community. Without justification, we could not know our brother— intimacy and transparency would be blocked by ego and by self-protection. But Christ opens the way to our brother. Christ opens up peace, love, acceptance, and service (Rom 15:1-7). Christ alone is the source of all unity (Eph 4:1-3); He is the ground and strength of our fellowship (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1954, pp. 23-24, 30, 39). Because Christ before God carries the status, worth, acceptance, favor, sonship, and standing of each believer; we can afford to ‘take the risks’ required to form close relationships with other believers. For in Christ, God treats us as if we had fulfilled perfect righteousness—He identifies His Name with ours—calling us His own children (1 Jn 3:1). If we truly believed this spiritual reality, just how much more would we pursue close relationships with the brethren?
B. The purpose of the church—“that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known
through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places” (Eph 3:10) demands two non-negotiable essentials: a.) that the individual members are connected to Christ, and, b.) that God’s blueprint be followed (Inrig, p. 11). Thus, in order to carry out God’s purpose for His church, we will have to take His blueprint seriously. The following kinds of questions can help us examine our philosophy of ministry so that it might be brought into alignment with Scripture: How does God’s purpose for the church absolutely rule out a ‘spectator’ role for believers? How can we prevent sending the message that church attendees are merely ‘consumers’ of spiritual commodities?
C. Our philosophy of ministry must be entirely shaped by Christ’s pattern for His church. The life
of the church is defined by the true nature of the church: a group of individuals who have life in Christ in common. The members are united together in the reality of the indwelling Spirit. The presence of the indwelling Spirit gives the church a supernatural dynamic which is unique among all human organizations (Robert Saucy, The Church in God’s Program, Chicago: Moody Press, 1972, pp. 21-22, 27). The term “members of one another” (Rom 12:5) implies interdependent cooperation among believers (Rom 12:5; Eph 4:25; 1 Cor 12:21-25). Christ, by His finished work for us, took the separation; the ‘dis-relatedness’ of our sin, and He gave us the right relatedness of true community in its place. In redemption He gave us, as a gift of grace, His own right-relatedness to the Holy Trinity (Lane/Tripp, pp. 79-80).
D. The church is a true community of people who are committed to doing spiritual good to
others (Dever and Alexander, p. 41). From the nature of the church revealed in Scripture flows the function of the church. It is time we ask the following kinds of questions: How can I be more deliberate in getting together with another person for the purpose of his or her spiritual good? Why does the individual believer experience an impoverished spirit when he or she discontinues mutual edification in his relationships in the body of Christ? We know the answer: we are created anew in Christ for supernatural relationships. If we neglect the pursuit of these relationships we rob ourselves and others of the appointed channel of transforming love and grace.
Growing believers ought to labor in love to more fully connect other believers to Christ. Mutual edification in the gospel is paramount for spiritual health (Rom 15:14). David Powlison comments that countless counseling crises occur because people don’t know how to get in touch with the living Lord Jesus (C. John Miller, Outgrowing the Ingrown Church, Zondervan, 1986, p. 169).
III. The corporate function of the body is gospel-driven and Christ-dependent.
A. True fellowship involves translating vertical fellowship with the Lord into horizontal
fellowship with the brethren (1 Cor 1:9-10) (MacArthur, p. 115). The body is only healthy when its members are in subjection to Christ its Head and are responding to His commands under the loving rule of His Word—only then is the church functioning properly (Saucy, p. 29).
B. The body is lavishly supplied with all its needs for life, health, growth, and unity as it holds fast
to Christ, its Head (Col 2:19). The individual members of the body then function as channels of spiritual nutrition in relation to one another that the body might grow “with a growth that is from God” (Col 2:19) (Saucy, pp. 30-31).
We need a better understanding of the gospel in order to get closer to Christ. The church is weak on the present benefits of Christ’s work because the church is weak on the gospel. Only when the church is immersed in the gospel will she truly begin to see Christ as her ‘Source Person’ for all she needs (Lane/Tripp, pp. 4, 6, 13, 238-240).
C. We need an incisive awareness of the gospel’s implications for corporate life together—
the gospel must enjoy a central position in the church so as to govern the way the church functions. Then the church will gain traction. God concentrates His power in the gospel, so rather than thinking up new methodologies and programs; let us turn to the gospel for our oneness, walk, warfare, worship, worldview, witness, and wholeness (Dever and Alexander, pp. 21-22).
IV. Christ is building His church; He commands every member to build with Him.
A. To edify is to build up. We are commanded to please our fellow believer so as to “build him up”
(Rom 15:2). The fact that we are members one of another in a living organism is not grasped by most church members. Let all be done with a view to building up the body—we must be intentional and we must be always conscious of what Christ is building (Jefferson, p. 29).
B. Only a true disciple of the Lord can build the church. A true disciple is characterized by a
life spent in following Christ. “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matt 16:24). Christ is our example of obedience. His life was totally conformed to the will of His Father. Christ’s life was lived in the power of the Spirit. It was a life of unselfish service—of zeal, of expenditure, of self-control, of meekness, of kindness, faithfulness, and devotion (Gal 5:22-23). A disciple of Christ follows His example of obedience to the Father (Jn 15:8; 1 Pet 2:21-25).
Those who follow Christ gather with Him (Luke 11:23)—they are fishers of men (Matt 4:19). They take their “marching orders” from Christ—they have made Christ’s cause (the Father’s glory) their cause. They are zealous for good works (Titus 2:14). Their boldness for kingdom values is a result of following Christ. “Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John, and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were marveling, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).
C. True fellowship with the brethren is a vital means of grace; the Bible alone cannot make you
strong and bring you to maturity. God’s grace flows through social bonds—the brotherhood is the atmosphere in which the gospel truths blaze (Jefferson, pp. 70-72). Sanctification is a ‘group effort’—it requires the corporate dimension. Close fellowship with other believers saved by grace causes the gospel truths to “blaze” (by means of fervent love for one another; our close communion with one another; and our communal sacrifices for the advance of Christ’s kingdom).
D. In order to build up our brethren, we must be deliberate (Dever and Alexander, p. 37). Are you
deliberate about pursuing discipleship relationships? Are you deliberate in seeking to be mentored as well as to spiritually mentor? What decisions would you have to make in order to put yourself under the teaching of the mature; and seek to help those who are less mature than you are? Is building possible without making these decisions? The consumer-spectator-passive mindset cuts the nerve of being “others oriented.” God is calling His people to be outward oriented in order to bring each member to maturity and to draw the lost to Himself (2 Tim 2:2; Rom 15:14; Col 2:19; Eph 4:16ff.; Heb 10:22-25).
E. Believers are to bear one another’s burdens, to build up one another (pointing out evidences
of grace), and to encourage one another. We are to spur on our brethren to greater faithfulness (Dever and Alexander, 197-199). It is common to come to our church services without this edification mandate on our minds. In order for us to change, we will have to be more deliberate in our fellowship. Consider ways that you can you be more deliberate about spiritual conversations intended for the good of your brethren. What are some specific ways you can fulfill the command in Hebrews 10:24-25? “And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds” (10:24).
It is rare for church members to embrace the mentality set forth in Ephesians 4:12: the saints are to be equipped “for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.” Paul tells us in that passage that the members of Christ’s body are to do the work of service of building up the body. That means that church members are responsible for the major part of the transmission of the transforming Word of God to one another. This activity (the Word passing from member to member) is to be the normal function of the church! What would have to happen in order for our thinking to shift from the pulpit as the major source of the Word to our conversations with other believers as the major source of the Word?
V. The believer’s sanctification takes place within the context of the body of Christ.
A. The Christian community (the local church) is the context for change. Individual redemption is
played out in our relationships (Lane/Tripp, pp. 76-79). Are we in the habit of thinking about our relationships as the context for sanctifying change? Why or why not?
One of the biggest reasons why is that relationships make us vulnerable—they reveal character. Relationships involve risk—we risk being offended and offending. The community is a mirror—our self-absorption shows up. Community is the very thing we need to move us out of self-centeredness. The corporate body is needed to make me like Christ (Lane/Tripp, pp. 83-86).
B. We need the body of Christ in order to make us like Christ. Sanctification is a ‘group effort’.
There is substantial change in individuals within the community of faith as the gospel is applied to friends and family. When the gospel is applied to our relationships and to our affections, it pulls us above our preoccupation with personal happiness to enjoy God’s blessings in Christ and to share those blessings with others (Lane/Tripp, p. 251).
Spiritual maturity is a mutual process achieved by interdependent ministry in the body. We are gifted by God for the common good (1 Cor 12:7). This is not a matter of terminology— the issue at hand turns upon the very nature of the church (Inrig, p. 45). Our fellow believers are agents of our change. God’s plan for our maturity operates through human instruments (MacArthur, p. 73). Several years ago I was introduced to a Christian man who had plumbed the depths during a period of severe backsliding. He has used drugs and experienced homelessness. As I spoke with after the morning church service, he shared something profound with me. “One of the many things God has taught me through my time of rebellion is this: you cannot love pleasure and God at the same time; the love of pleasure will kill your love for God.” Here this disheveled man in front of me was declaring a scriptural principle which stuck with me. He was not afraid to prayerfully speak the Word into my life even though I was a pastor and he was a struggling, returning believer.
This is where we sometimes get ‘crossed up’—we imagine that permission to speak the Word into the lives of others depends upon talent, giftedness, or earned degrees. Biblically that is not the case. Mutual edification between all believers is to be the norm. What kind of attitude is needed if we are to be willing to learn from each other that we might grow together into full maturity in Christ?
VI. Each believer is a steward of God’s grace for the purpose of building with Christ.
A. Believers are stewards of God’s grace. Each Christian has been given a spiritual gift which is to
be employed in serving the body (1 Peter 4:7-11). The unity of the body depends upon a deep and practical appreciation of the diversity of gifts in the body (1 Cor 12:14-31). This depth of appreciation also means that we are willing to be on the receiving end as others exercise their gifts.
B. New Testament metaphors help us understand the nature and function of the church. The church
is a “Temple made up of living stones” (Eph 2:19-22; 1 Pet 2:4-10). “Living stones being built together” clearly communicates the communal nature of the church. Each stone is fitted for close contact and a perfect fit in relation to the other stones in the building—each niche is filled and each stone is adequately fitted for it by “the measure of Christ’s gift” (Eph 4:7) (Saucy, p. 35). The living stones are “framed together in the Lord” into an abode or habitation of God (Eph 2:21)). The Greek word for ‘fitted’ or ‘framed’ together is meant to describe the whole elaborate process of preparing the surfaces of the stones by cutting, rubbing, testing, and setting (Reinecker/Rogers, Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament, Zondervan, 1976, p. 527). As in any masonry building of cut stones, the quality of the building is judged by the closeness of the stones to one another. The fewer gaps, the greater is the quality. In this analogy the church is built of members in close communion with each other by reason of the Spirit’s work of placing them strategically in the body (1 Cor 12:18).
Each believer is a temple individually (1 Cor 6:19), and collectively. The living stones comprise a royal and holy priesthood (1 Pet 2:9). The believer’s primary sacrifice is himself (Rom 12:1-2; Heb 13:15-16; Phil 2:17). We cannot truthfully offer sacrifices to God without also serving our fellow brother, sharing our goods, and building up the community (Saucy, pp. 35-42, 95). The very essence of worship is giving ourselves back to God without reservation. Therefore, it is vital to worship that the believer find his or her place of service in the body of Christ.
The church is a body with Christ as its Head (Eph 4:7-16). The members of Christ’s body are to operate in an interdependent manner (vv. 11-15). Each individual member is to make a contribution to the growth of the body into maturity (vv. 15-16). We need to rethink our sanctification—it is tied to the contributions we make to the maturity of the body. This takes us back to intentionality: we are to relate to one another in a caring, encouraging, and edifying way for the intent of their spiritual good. Mutual edification has as its great goal the spiritual maturity of each member. But, it is a growth and maturity that is both individual and corporate (Eph 4:11-13). Teaching, serving, admonishing, and discipling are the appointed means of this spiritual growth (Rom 15:14; Col 1:28-29). Genuine ministry is slavery to Christ and to one another lived out in our corporate life (Saucy, p. 131).