A Mistaken Identity

"Now you are Christ's body..."

1 Corinthians 12:27

I've been meditating lately on what it really means to be the "body of Christ." And as I have read and studied this chapter in Corinthians, I have to say my heart has been broken over the condition of the "church." Were missing it! No doubt in
1 Cor. 12 Paul paints a picture of the body of Christ as being made up of many members all working together for the common good, but there is so much more to it than just what we do. You see I believe the substance of the church is so much more precious, worthy and significant than just its function. I think we have grossly misinterpreted how Christ meant the church to be defined in our culture today. We have taking a living organism (Christ and his church) and transformed it into a religious organization.

In this chapter Paul paints a very different picture of what the church is. After describing the church as a body made up of many members, each one placed together in the body just as God designed it...Paul says this in v12..."so also is Christ." The reality is...if the church is "the body"... shouldn't it reflect and reveal the very person of Christ. You see I believe we have an identity crisis in the church today. Historically we have told our people that being apart of the body of Christ is all about what you do. But that's not really true...we have mistaken our identity as something we do instead of a Savior we know and make known to others. Paul makes it so clear here in Corinthians that being apart of the body is about who you are not what you do! For Paul the body of Christ is not just a metaphor or a word picture but a living reality that Jesus Christ indwells his people and gives his life to them. In other words the church is not a human organization designed to keep alive the memory of a great historical figure, but rather the church is a divine organism mystically fused to a living and reigning Christ, who desires to continually reveal himself through the lives of his people -His body-the church.

Listen Jesus is not simply one who founded a community of believers and left it, but rather the one who is still ever present within it. That's what makes the church such an unstoppable force! It was never meant to be a well-oiled organization that functioned inside the walls of a building but rather a community of believers who reflect and reveal the very person and presence of Christ to those desperately hurting & lost outside the walls of the church!

Father my prayer is that as I live my life today, may your presence be felt, may your power be seen and may your life be poured out into those whom cross my path. Jesus may I be your body today!

Not Ashamed....Bill