Scriptural Series: A Body under attack
Some days ago, I had a revelation of the body of Christ. I was praying for the church when this verse below came into my mind:
Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. — Matthew 16:17–18 (NLT)
For context, Jesus was asking his disciples who they thought He was. And Peter said:
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” — Matthew 16:16 (NLT)
That led to the statement that Jesus would build his church on “this rock”. Now the interpretation of that verse can mean a lot of things but I am more focused on the last part of the verse, i.e., “and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” He was referring to the fact that the powers of hell will not be able to conquer the church. This statement was fascinating to me because it is an absolute statement. Nothing can conquer the church.
But then, who or what is the church? Let’s turn to Paul.
For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church — Ephesians 5:23 (NLT)
And we are members of his body. — Ephesians 5:30 (NLT)
Paul clarifies that the church is the body of Christ, and WE are the body of Christ. Who are the “we”? Well, those were the people Paul was writing to:
This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am writing to God’s holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus. — Ephesians 1:1 (NLT)
Paul was writing, first of all, to the saints in Ephesus and, by extension, to all saints. That means any saint or believer, regardless of denomination, is part of the body of Christ.
This assertion from Paul opened my eyes to some critical points and placed them in context.
- Christ loves the body unconditionally and passionately
For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her — Ephesians 5:25 (NLT)
- Christ is washing and cleaning his body
to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. — Ephesians 5:26 (NLT)
- Christ is nourishing his body
No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. — Ephesians 5:30 (NLT)
Why were these points vital? To understand these points, I had a look at my own body. I put in the effort to take care of it by eating well, cleaning it, exercising so that the individual parts can function well together and caring for it when it is hurting. Then it hit me; that is the same thing Christ does for his body!
Also, I realised that when a part of my body is hurting and can’t function optimally, it doesn’t affect only one part; it often affects the whole body. For example, your whole body can’t sleep if you have a toothache or an untreated broken leg; your whole body will be in pain with every little movement. Then it hit me again!
Christ feels the hurt and the brokenness of the body.
No pain in the body is localised. It affects the whole body. And when the body is suffering, Christ is suffering. The head can’t detach from the body at times of inconvenience and reattach at times of convenience. The head experiences everything the body experiences.
Then I also realised the damage that disunity and criticisms between saints cause in the body. Imagine your arm is punching your broken leg because it is broken instead of trying to help in the healing process. Or imagine your arm hitting your stomach because the internal organs aren’t fulfilling their responsibilities. Think about this for a while and then imagine how this maps to us saints accusing, criticising, insulting and fighting one another because we disagree on a minor point (or because we are from different denominations) while forgetting who unites us, i.e., Christ.
Of course, this realisation doesn’t mean allowing sin or wrong doctrines to fester in the body, but how would you treat a wound or broken bone? You would care for it. That is the role of saints for one another. We should care for the body, especially the body parts we see go astray. How can we do that?
First of all, talk to the head! The head, i.e. Christ, knows best how to care for His body.
Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord’s help, they will stand and receive his approval. — Romans 14:4 (NLT)
The entire chapter of Romans 14 is quite fascinating, and I encourage you to read it. In the last part of the verse above, can you see something? “And with the Lord’s help, they will stand and receive his approval.” That means Christ can (and will) heal his own body! Your criticism or arguments won’t. So, talk to the head first and then listen to what he asks you to do.
Furthermore, when you pray for the body, your heart towards the body changes, and you lose the judgemental attitude after realising how you have been saved and kept by grace.
The change of heart would also help you in the final step, i.e., speaking the truth in love or correcting the erring body part in love.
Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. — Ephesians 4:15 (NLT)
Now, why is this revelation vital? Imagine an Olympic runner trying to compete with a broken leg. Or a wrestler with a stiff back. Yeah, you can see the impossibility of that situation. Disunity, criticisms, and fighting impede the body’s primary mission, i.e., showing and telling the world about Christ.
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. — Matthew 28:19
The constant attack of each part on the other may be why we are still waiting to see as many results as we desire.
No power in hell can conquer the church, but we (the saints) can slow down or impede the mission!
Therefore, I have decided to love the church. Anything that affects the global church affects me. It is my body in pain. I love Christ. Therefore, I love the body, and consequently, I must care for the body. I can’t bear seeing Christ in pain. And if I can’t, I must do my part to care for His body. I love the body of Christ!
You can not love Christ and be indifferent to or harm his body.
