A Thankful Body
By Dr. Chris Seiple on 02 November 2009
Several weeks back, the priest in our church had begun his sermon by telling the sheep of his flock how much he loved them. Suddenly a young woman collapsed. Someone immediately called 911 as the congregation quickly produced an emergency medical technician (EMT) and a doctor to serve the young woman. The ambulance arrived and our priest accompanied her to the hospital, where she made a full recovery.
As we watched and prayed over this unfolding situation, it was impossible to escape this simple conclusion: here was a microcosm of exactly what the Church universal is supposed to be.
The pastor shepherds the followers of Christ, feeding His sheep (as Jesus commanded Peter in John 21: 15-18). In providing practical words of wisdom from the pulpit—and in creating a context where congregation members can teach according to their gifts—members are equipped to be in relationship with the Word of God, and to each other.
Imperative to this process are the relationships—and their inherent call to accountability—that the Church must foster: with God, His teaching through the Bible, and with each other. This process is also known as discipleship. Through discipleship, members are renewed and restored, daily transformed through a daily and intentional decision to follow Christ in community (Romans 12:2).
In other words, the Church, under the spiritual leadership of its local shepherd, is where followers of Christ go to submit to God and one another, unafraid to discern, speak, and hear the "truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15). The Church is thus a place where that free and unearned gift—the grace of God—can "train" the followers of Christ to "renounce impiety and worldly passions," as they learn to "live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and Godly" (Titus 2:11-12). Through discipleship, the sheep of Jesus' flock are fed, growing in "wisdom and stature" (Luke 2:52) as a result.
But this is only the beginning. For the Church is merely the practice run for living out the faith in a real and hurting world. Just as that EMT and doctor did their job by responding to the needs of the young woman who had collapsed, the followers of Christ are to respond to the needs of those around them, through the vocations God has given them.
Applying our faith in our daily lives and various "secular" vocations will not always feel comfortable—for ourselves or others. We've all experienced some kind of offense by those who wear their religion on their sleeves—usually from our own faith traditions!
Yet, they are the exception. In learning to serve in their local church, followers of Christ learn to serve as the Church: practically, and quietly. James encourages love as an action verb: "I will show you my faith by what I do" (James 2:18). And Jesus teaches that when serving others, "do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your [service] may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you" (Matthew 6:3-4).
If this is His command, then the followers of Christ have no choice but to eschew credit and to serve practically according to the passions and skills given them. God gave us individual gifts and interests for a reason. To ignore them not only insults a sovereign God, but limits how the body of Christ—the Church—might serve a hurting world through the synergistic combination and application of those gifts.
In serving others outside the Church—from within our community to outside our country—we inevitably begin to understand our total dependence on Him, learning that life is merely one opportunity after another to demonstrate the love of Christ.
This is a difficult lesson. Christians can sometimes think that following Christ means proving a "successful" Christian life by converting people to Christianity, or trying to transform culture into a more moralistic place. Christ calls us foremost to obedience.
This is the organizing principle of the Church: that we must submit because He first submitted (Matthew 26: 39, 42), and therefore we must love because He first loved us. It is this lesson that we must constantly learn and internalize at church. Only then will our church become the Church, that is, His practical hands serving a hurting world.
With this perspective and practice, consequently, some wonderful things begin to happen. By serving others, and often by suffering with them, we position ourselves to more fully experience the mystery of Christ's crucified love for us. As we serve those made in His image (no matter their beliefs), we become more in His image. As we do, our transformed lives begin to transform others, even our culture.
In this season of Thanksgiving, give thanks for the freedom to gather in the Name of Him who would not break a bruised reed (Isaiah 42:3). Give thanks for the Holy Scriptures and the freedom to study and learn from them in community led by your pastor and lay leaders. And give thanks for the freedom to live out the teachings of Christ in your community and outside your country—places that are hurting and desperate, places that are waiting to be surrounded and served by followers of Christ according to their submission and vocation.
Last updated 02 November 2009