6-2-2006

Romans 12:4,5
Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Ephesians 4:2-6 + 13-16
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
… until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Hello everyone!

How are you all? I hope and pray that all is well, and also that our Father is teaching you many things as the summer months have officially been in full swing.
I recently just finished a book called the Weight of Glory, by C.S. Lewis… one that I would definitely recommend all of you read if you have the chance. In one of the last sections of the book, Lewis speaks about membership and church membership. But one thing that I wasn’t quite expecting was to find a definition of the word ‘member.’
In the book, Lewis points out to the reader that we think of members as individual units that are less important than the higher-ups in an organization, and those members can easily function apart from each other. Originally, the term member was used when speaking about body parts and organs of the body. A member is a smaller part of a larger whole, where one ‘member’ is just as important and functional as any other ‘member’ within the body… in different ways. There are our hands that operate in much different ways than veins or arteries¸ but each are important in the tasks that they do. Or, there’s the wind pipe and the esophagus, close in proximity but certainly having different functions, and yet still a part of a larger organism. Even further and beyond the idea of ‘members,’ there are red blood cells and white blood cells; DNA and RNA. But I shall stop there.

Many, if not all of you are familiar with the idea of being a member of a church, a local body. Some, well, you might not be so keen on the idea of it all, but here’s something to keep in mind: a finger cannot survive on its own- a hand cannot survive on its own. In order to function as it was designed to function and in order to survive at all, it must be connected to a body. So it is with you and I: we are designed to be a functioning part of a local body of believers – a church – whose Head is Christ. If we aren’t? Well, our faith will suffer in the long run. Undeniably.
The people in the church are probably going to be different than you are. There are going to be those who like different things and then those who like similar things, or think a bit differently or talk differently because we all come from different walks of life. And this is no reason to neglect the local church! The thing that unites us all is the Head, that is Christ, and our purpose in glorifying God in all that we do… the only reason to separate from a local church is if that church is preaching heresies.
We are individuals designed to be members of something bigger, something beyond ourselves. And dare I say it, something that’s beyond our selfish desires, preferences, and biases, and that it ought to be a church that is solid in Biblical teaching.

I pray that each of us would be convicted in regards to our brothers and sisters, that we would not neglect or ignore them, as are as much a part of ourselves as we are all under Christ… and I also pray that we would find comfort in knowing that we DO belong to a body. I ask that the Holy Spirit would move the hearts of those who find it difficult to belong to a church body and help them to long for fellowship with other believers. I also pray that our churches would always submit to the headship of Christ. I ask that He help us in utilizing our skills and abilities to build up our brothers and sisters, so that we may be active parts of the body, universally and locally. May the Lord always be changing our hearts and our attitudes so that we may become more and more Christ-like.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne