His Ambassador Blog

We’ve been looking at Romans 12 and the first 3 verses had to do a lot with the individual, how one should act, what one should do, the attitude that one should have in life and toward God, etc. With many of the next verses we are going to focus on the church as a whole, as a body. This week our verses are Romans 12:4-5 which reads as follows:

‘For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.’

I believe it’s important for us to first understand what the church even is. Biblically speaking the church is not a building or an organization. The church is the people of God. Ekklesia is a Greek word used in the New Testament, most often by Paul but Luke, the author of Acts, as well. It means, ‘called out ones’ or ‘congregation.’ Whenever Paul is referring to meeting with the church, he is not speaking of a specific building, but the body of believers. It’s important for us as believers today to understand the significance of being characterized as ‘the called-out ones.’ God has called us to be believers. The Father has reached out to each of us and through the Son, by the Spirit we have (hopefully) accepted the free gift of salvation. This means that we have been called to a life that is different than the life the world offers us. We are called to live by the Spirit which means that we live in obedience to God, guided by His holy word. The church is the body of believers, called out to do His will which is bring the good news to the uttermost parts of the earth.

Now that we have a grasp on what, or in more exact terms, who the church is, lets look at the organization of it and how it works. Firstly, the church is one body in Christ. This means that every believer in Jesus Christ, saved by grace through faith, and washed clean by the blood of the lamb is part of the church. There isn’t a specific denomination, it doesn’t matter where you come from, or what language you speak. There is one church and it belongs to Jesus. At the head of this church is Jesus. Ephesians 5:23 says, ‘For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.’ Oftentimes, especially in Revelation, Jesus is considered the Groom and the church is His bride. He is the ruler of us and the entire reason there is a church. The head, or the brain, controls the rest of the body. Like so, Christ rules over His church and leads them in the way of righteousness and holiness.

With Christ as the head that leaves us, the Children of God, to be the body. What Paul says about the body is that there are many parts, each serving different purposes. Our hands cannot smell like the nose can, and our feet cannot hear like our ears. Different parts of the body are created for different purposes. Likewise, believers in the body of Christ have different purposes, gifts, talents, and abilities. There may be some that do the same or similar things. Obviously, many pastors are needed in order to reach people all over the ever-growing world and there are other examples too.  But each person individually in the body of Christ brings something to the table.

When Paul says ‘individually members’ he tells us that there is individuality in Christ. When we accept Him into our hearts we don’t all become like one another in the sense that we lose our personalities and become a mindless group of people. Instead we are still able to keep our unique selves, in fact the things that make us who we are, are amplified when we are adopted into the family of God. The point is that each person in the church can bring something to the table. You and I each have a beautiful purpose and can be used by the Lord in different ways. There are different gifts given by the Holy Spirit which add to this uniqueness but we are going to look at those next week.

Having one body in Christ means that there must be unity in the body. If the members don’t work together, the body can’t function. Everyone needs to do their part and we all need to be unified on the core doctrines of the Christian faith. Being unified doesn’t mean that there will never be disagreements or roadblocks. But we should be living as one in Christ.

There are many aspects to how the church should behave, what our mission is, what the church should be doing, etc. Maybe we can look at this more in depth another time, but for now it’s important to remember that our brothers and sisters in Christ are just as much a part of the body as we are. We collectively make up the church and individually contribute to the work of the kingdom with the gifts given to us by God. It’s important to be connected to the church, the community of Christians so I’d like to encourage you to get involved if you’re not already. God can move through us so powerfully when we are all untied under one goal: to know Him and make Him known.