Are You Not Wanted?

“The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” 1 Corinthians 12:21-26 ESV

This is how the body of Christ, the church, is supposed to operate together. We are all supposed to care for one another. We are to include one another. All the body parts are necessary, and all should be included, not excluded. But if there are those among us who are living in deliberate and habitual sin, especially in sexual immorality, there needs to be actions taken to correct those situations before those people can be participants. And 1 Corinthians 5 gives us some instructions in how to deal with those types of situations.

But so many of these modern “churches” today are not operating according to the Scriptures, but according to the flesh. They are not followers of Christ but of man. For they have turned their gatherings into institutions (businesses) of man, and so they are marketing them to the ungodly of the world, and so they have altered the divine character and will of God/Christ, and of his gospel, and of his church, his body, to make them more acceptable and appealing to human flesh.

So, what is called “church,” at least here in America, is not necessarily the biblical gathering of true followers of Jesus Christ. And few, it seems, are following the biblical model for how to conduct the gatherings and the ministry of the body of Christ. For one man is not to do all the preaching and all the ministering while the rest of the body sits in chairs or pews and just listens. We are not to be spectators. We are to be participants. So there needs to be a place for each of us to do that ministering.

The Bible teaches that all of us are to teach and admonish and exhort one another so that none of us will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, and so that none of us are led astray by the teachings of humans in their deceitful scheming. And we are to carry one another’s burdens, and pray for one another, and minister to one another in words of encouragement, support, and even rebuke, when necessary, when a member of the body is falling back into sin and needs to be brought out of it to follow Christ.

[Romans 12:1-8; Romans 15:14; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:16; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]

Every body part is necessary, and every body part, who is walking with the Lord, and not in sin, needs to be included. But that is not how so many of these modern market-driven “churches” are operating, and sadly that seems to be the majority of what is being offered to us today in the way of “church gatherings.” Now, I know that there are people who have found biblical church gatherings, and that is awesome!! I am happy for you. But from my experience, most all have gone the way of the world and have turned their gatherings into businesses, and they don’t operate as the body of Christ.

And so if you are not on board with the altering of the character of God/Christ, his church, and the gospel of Christ, and if you still hold on to the teachings of Christ and of his NT apostles, and if you are seekers of truth and righteousness and of holy living and following the commands of God under the New Covenant, and you attend one of these market-driven “churches,” you may find yourselves excluded and being told to “go someplace else where you will be a better fit.”

But if our lives are sold out to Jesus Christ to serving him with our lives, we do not fit in with these market-driven “churches” (businesses of man) which are following after the teachings and the marketing schemes of human beings rather than following the teachings of Christ and of his NT apostles. So we are going to be out of place. And so we need to be where God can use us, and where we can be included in the body of Christ, and where we can use our spiritual gifts for the encouragement of the body of Christ.

But I am so thankful that the Lord does not exclude those of us who are serving him with our lives. I am so glad that he makes a way for us where other humans may shut us out. I am so glad that he opens doors that no man can shut and that he shuts doors that no man can open. I am so thankful that he includes me in his work of ministry and that he has given me a place where I can share with others what he teaches me each day from his word. For he gives greater honor to the parts that lack it. Amen!

But we, as the body of Christ, need to get back to being his biblical church where all the parts are working together to minister to one another, and to where we all have equal concern for one another. And if one of us suffers unjustly for the sake of our walks of faith in Jesus Christ, the others should come alongside us and suffer with us and encourage us so that we can all rejoice together in how God gives us grace and strength to make it through every trial. And this will only happen if we are all seeking the Lord Jesus.

Seek the Lord  

An Original Work / July 20, 2012

Based off Isaiah 55

“Come to Me all you who thirst; come to waters.

Listen to Me, and eat what’s good today,

And your soul will delight in richest of fare.

Give ear to Me, and you will live.

I have made an eternal covenant with you.

Wash in the blood of the Lamb.”

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him. 

Let the wicked forsake his way, in truth.

Let him turn to the Lord, and he will receive mercy.

Freely, God pardons him.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,”

declares the Lord, our God.

“My word that goes out of My mouth is truthful.

It will not return to Me unfulfilled.

My word will accomplish all that I desire,

And achieve the goal I intend.

You will go in joy and be led forth in peace.

The mountains will burst into song… before you, 

And all of the trees clap their hands.”

https://vimeo.com/379408296