Building Up the Body of Christ

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” (Ephesians 4:11-16 ESV)

We who believe in Jesus Christ with God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in him are all gifted of the Holy Spirit in various ways. Some have the gift of prophecy, others have the gift of service, still others have the gift of teaching or exhortation or generosity, or leading, and/or mercy. And then some have the gift of wisdom or knowledge or faith or gifts of healing or miracles or the discerning of spirits or speaking in tongues or the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually AS HE WILLS, for these are of God and not of human flesh.

(Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; Ephesians 4:11-16]

But not one of us is above another, except for those who are in positions of spiritual authority, but even there they are to be people who are humble in spirit, who are godly, and who lead by example, not by an iron fist. And we are all called of God, so in that sense we are all equal. Yes, we are gifted in different ways, and we each have our own specific “body part” (assignment from God) which we are to fulfill, by the Spirit, by faith in God. But that does not make one of us superior to the other. We just have different assignments, but it all comes from God, and not of our own doing.

So this has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not we have Bible college or seminary degrees or titles of importance in the eyes of other humans. And just because you have the title of pastor or deacon or elder or missionary or evangelist, it doesn’t make you better than anyone else. In fact, many who have such titles today are not even serving the Lord Jesus but their own appetites. For many of them are wolves in sheep’s clothing or they are hypocrites who are living double lives or they don’t even know the Lord Jesus, in truth, for they are still walking in sin in disobedience to God.

So, before you submit to the authority of another human calling himself (or herself) pastor or deacon or elder, etc., pray and seek the face of the Lord and make certain that the person you are submitting to is a man or a woman of God who fits the biblical qualifications for such a position, and who is following the Lord and not the flesh, and who is teaching the truth, and not the lies (altered truth), and is truly godly, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, and obedient to the Lord. And the Scriptures do teach that women are not to have authority over men, but there may be biblical exceptions.

The most important thing here to remember is that we are all parts of the same body and that we are to have equal concern, one for the other. And each one of us has a part that is necessary for the proper working of Christ’s body. And we should all be given opportunity to minister within the body of Christ in our specific areas of giftedness and in our assigned areas of God within the body. And not one of us should see ourselves as either better or less than all the other body parts. But we all must be walking in obedience to our Lord in holy living, and we must not be still walking in sin.

Also we should remember that the church is not a building called “church.” When we walk inside a building called “church,” we are NOT standing on holy ground, and we are not in “God’s house,” for his house, his temple, is in the human bodies, souls, and minds of those who believe in him and who are following Jesus with our lives and who are not walking in sin. We alone are the church, with Christ as our head, not church denominations, and not marketing books and schemes which tell us how to “draw in large crowds of people” from the world so that we can grow our “churches” (businesses).

So we don’t “go to church,” but we are the church, and we meet together with other believers in Christ anywhere at any time of day on any day of the week, for we now worship God “in spirit and in truth” and not on this mountain or that mountain. “Church” is who we are and how we are to function with one another, and we all are to participate in the body of Christ in ministering to one another. And all of us should be speaking the truth in love to one another, warning and cautioning one another against people who by human cunning and craftiness are deceiving the masses with their lies.

And we are all to be speaking the truth in love to one another so that we can all grow to maturity in Christ together, as one body, where each part does its work, and is allowed to do its work, too. So all of us, no matter our giftedness, should be teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, addressing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, exhorting one another every day so that none of us may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. And we are to be spurring one another to love and good works, encouraging one another all the more as we see the Day drawing near.

And if a brother or a sister in Christ is caught in sin, and is taken captive by sin, we who are walking with the Lord, and not in sin, should restore that person back to a right relationship with the Lord in a spirit of gentleness (reserved strength). But this is meekness, not weakness, for Jesus was meek, but he was not weak. And to restore is to put back in proper functioning order, and that can be a painful process, like resetting a bone that is out of joint. So this may engage “tough love” like Jesus had to do and Paul had to do when Jesus’ followers were headed in the wrong direction.

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:11-27; Php 2:1-8; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]  

So, just remember that we, the people of God, are the church, and we are to have equal concern for one another, and we are all to be ministers of God to  one another in helping each other to stay on course and to run the race God has marked out for us all to run. This is not the total responsibility of paid professionals. All of us are necessary to the proper working of Christ’s body, and we don’t have to be at one specific location at a particular time of day on a particular day in the week to do what we are called of God to do. We should be doing this every day, so that none of us is deceived by sin.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

As the Deer 

By Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water

 So my soul longeth after You

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield

 To You alone may my spirit yield

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70

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