The Body

Chuck Colson has a book by that title in which he tells some amazing stories of how the Church is living out her calling all over the world. Stories where the simple act of "being the body of Christ" impacts the local communities, governments, and indeed, changes lives and history. It's a great read, one I highly recommend, and it comes to my mind because I've found myself being very grateful that the true nature of the church isn't an organization, or a structure, or a set of documents, but rather, the body of Christ. That somehow, we as a community, reflect Jesus to those around us. Certainly the image of Christ is being formed in us as individuals, but the most complete way our world will encounter Christ is through the church community. Jesus says, "Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." (John 13:34-35, NLT)

I took (and am still finishing) an ethics class through Fuller Seminary this summer and a point that was raised in class has stuck in my mind. The point is this: There is no such thing as individual ethics for the Christian. When Paul wrote his letters, he wrote them to communities, to churches. Sure we make individual choices; we're not part of some mindless collective consciousness, like the Borg in Star Trek. But we're mistaken when we think our actions don't have impact on our community. This impacts how we treat the environment, what we do with our money, how we act sexually, and, of course, how we treat each other. And how we treat each other is going to be the proof in this pudding (pardon my butchered idiom).

So beloved, let us love one another. I see this happening here. Whether it's helping a brother get his green card, a sister get a job, helping to raise each others' kids, or simply sharing meals together in each others' homes... we are slowly but surely realizing that Paul wrote "You are the body of Christ" with a plural you. If Julie Eidson had written it, it would read: Y'all.

with much love,
Mark

posted by Steve-Dave @ 3:16 PM 1 Comments