Epiphany 12 When the Body Is the Body

[HKHaugan]

Epiphany 12 When the Body Is the Body

Three extremely important themes make up the context for individual gifts to operate properly in context, the Holy Spirit, God’s love and interdependence. They energize the Body. Scripture is very clear on these three points as you read Paul’s cushioning passages surrounding his teaching on gifts. Observe how Paul directs his calling to the individual heart and to the collective hearts as a Body ‘belonging to one another.’ It means total dependence on God the Holy Spirit, the willingness to love one another as God loves and to see one another in terms of their giftedness and not their personality, their spiritual nature not their occupation, their personal spiritual value not their intellectual ability or talents.

One of the great historic blunders we have made is to shift all focus to institutional forms and its leaders instead of seeking direction directly from God through His Word. The Body of Christ is all about the Lord Jesus, who He is, what He did, where He went, His mission, and why. Get those things across and the Lord does the rest. We spend too much time looking for great leaders and maintaining traditional structures that keep us comfortable believing they will ‘get the job done.’ The Word shows us that leadership is always pointing to the Lord and what His Word says about Him. Leaders are a part of the Body and their positions are supposed to be filled with those whose gifts are committed and submitted to the guidance of the Holy Spirit to serve the Body, not run it.

Our prime biblical example is Paul who was a pastor, teacher, missionary, apostle and evangelist, all gifts of the Holy Spirit. In his first years as a Christian he was discipled by gifted brothers and saw himself learning and depending on the Body as he went. His example is one for us all. But we are not to be Paul. He is an example. We are to be what God has gifted us to be. Each of us is a vital part right now where we are. This is our history He has given us for this time and place in which we find ourselves. What are we doing with it?

The projects and ministries that a particular congregation may take on are the result of Spirit inspired members of the Body who have sought out others in the Body. As they are considered in prayer, discussion and finally confirmation as a Body, they are undertaken and supported by the Body. Again, we are not lone ranger believers. We don’t do things because one member decides everyone should do them but because the Lord has been preached, the Spirit allowed to inspire, and the whole Body through the dependence on spiritual gifts consulted so that the Body is of one mind. All this is done to honor the Lord that He may receive the glory. The result is increased desire to serve, more dynamic worship and an enlivened excited Body. This is what a leader with the spiritual gift of leadership does and this is what gifted leaders in a congregation do as well. It is gifted leaders that are your real leaders. When they do their job all the other gifts fall in place. When the whole Body is exercising gifts in concert, God is glorified.

But what of those who launch out on their own without the Body’s affirmation believing God has led them? It could mean several things. First, the larger Body may not have been taught about gifts and one person is called to lead the way to see the importance of giftedness and ministry. Second, there may be a history of reliance on a human leader to tell them what to do instead of preaching and teaching the person of Jesus and letting the Holy Spirit do the work, the most common historic problem in the institutional church. Third, if a leader may be chosen who brings an agenda or has control issues or some non-spiritual motivation like those who have been told a congregation needs rescuing, changing or overcoming some prior experience. These are the results of inadequate seminary training, non-biblical mentoring or insufficient time in assistant positions to learn spiritual leadership. Unfortunately institutional structures have fostered these conditions through the centuries of relying more on structure than Scripture and the Spirit. Personally speaking, I learned more from the Body and its loving brothers and sisters than I did in the intense environment of seminary and denominational structure.

If there is to be a true reformation it has to start with a spiritual humility that returns us to the Scripture. As we yield to its understanding of the Body of Christ and the giftedness it teaches, the importance of each individual’s heart and ability to further God’s Kingdom in the world is promoted, God is glorified and His will realized. “In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we're talking about is Christ's body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body (Rom.12:5 The Message Bible).”

Individual gifts on the way, stay tuned……...

[HKHaugan]

Hey Martha, If only everyone in the Body got that point. Keep praying. ><>W

[Martha H. McGinnis]

Thanks Whitey, ...Over the pasted year I have worked in two ministries. These phased out over 6 months for different reasons. This teaching help me understand this. As both of them were good ideas and I enjoyed doing them and enjoyed the people involved however didnot appear to be effective. To build the Body of Chirst we need to do what the Holy Spirit is motvating.