• Embracing Our Place In the Body of Christ

    By: Kristen L. McNulty

    Reprint rights available on request. Email the author at kristenmcnulty@hotmail.com.

    In his powerful book, I am a Church Member, Thom Rainer wrote:

    "I am suggesting that congregations across America are weak because many of us church members have lost the biblical understanding of what it means to be a part of the body of Christ."


    A little later on in the book he then wrote:

    "So if we approach church membership from the perspective of entitlement, we have it upside down. You always ask first what you can do for your church."


    That said, I wanted to take a few minutes today to take a look at what the Bible has to say about the church and identify a few things that we should be doing on an ongoing basis. Because like Thom Rainer said, we always need to ask ourselves first what we can do for the church, not what the church should do for us.

    1. LOVE ON MEMBERS OF THE BODY


    First off, as members of the body of Christ we should be caring for and loving on other members of the body of Christ. Romans 12:9-10 teaches us:

    "Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other." Romans 12:9-10


    Practically this looks like keeping our eyes open to needs and then meeting them, whether the person is a member of our friend group or just someone we know from the church in passing. For example, if someone in your church has lost a loved one, go to the wake to express your condolences, send flowers or make a meal for the family, any act of love will do. As Romans 12 says a few verses later in verse 13:

    "When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality." Romans 12:13


    So meet needs. Invite people over. Prepare a room for someone who needs a place to stay. Practical acts of love for one another is what sets the church, the body of Christ, apart from any other organization found on this earth and identifies us as followers of Christ to the watching world. Like Jesus told us in John 13:35: "If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples"

    2. USE YOUR GIFTS


    Secondly, as a member of the body of Christ, we need to be using our gifts to serve the church and benefit the whole body. While the most visible members of the church might be the pastors or maybe those who lead worship on a Sunday morning, we all have an essential role within our churches. In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, the apostle Paul wrote:

    "There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other." 1 Corinthians 12:4-7


    These verses make it clear we each have different gifts and different functions within the church and we are all expected to use our gifts to help one another. Sitting passively on the sidelines isn't an option for any member of the body of Christ. We are expected to be active, pouring ourselves into service, using the gifting God has given each and every one of us.

    3. FOLLOW YOUR LEADERS


    Third, as members of the body of Christ we are supposed to follow our leaders. The church isn't an organization where everyone follows or everyone leads. No there are followers and then their are leaders, who are equipped by God and held to a pretty high standard (see 1 Timothy 3 or Titus 1).

    The concept of following our leaders is a hard one because the world tries to teach us that authority is restrictive and each one of us should do whatever feels right and truth is whatever we make it. That's a dangerous mindset to hold, especially as believers because if we approach the church with the attitude that we know what is best or we don't want to listen or follow anyone else, we are rejecting God's design for His church body. God has given leaders like pastors and elders to us for the express purpose of leading us, teaching us and equipping us. We aren't meant to lead and teach and equip ourselves. If we reject the role of our church leaders in our lives, we will shortchange our growth and also shortchange the body of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-15 tells us:

    "Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 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 4:11-15


    That said, the position of our elders and leaders in the church is something that we should respect and submit to. I get it, this is completely counter cultural, but it is biblical. We need to swallow our pride and embrace the eway God has structured the church. Our leaders are put in their roles for our benefit and they work so hard trying to help us all. While the world whispers the lie that we know better than anyone else, the Bible clearly teaches we don't. We need our leaders in our church to teach us, correct us and encourage us. That is something to be embraced, not rejected. Hebrews 12:17:

    "Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit." Hebrews 12:7


    While these are just three things we as members of the church body should be doing, the list doesn't stop there. For a short book that is like church membership 101, I highly recommend picking up Thom Rainer's book I am A Church Member. Closing with a quote from it:

    "Jesus said we must be last of all and servant of all. That doesn’t sound like all the church members we may know. Many church members demand their preferences, their desires, and the way they’ve always done it. But Jesus said we are to serve. Paul said it as well. After he became a Christian, the apostle declared, “I was made a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of His power” (Eph. 3:7). We will never find joy in church membership when we are constantly seeking things our way. But paradoxically, we will find the greatest joy when we choose to be last. That’s what Jesus meant when He said the last will be first. True joy means giving up our rights and preferences and serving everyone else."


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