The Church Universal
As noted last week, the imagery of the Church as the body of Christ calls attention to the truth that all believers throughout all time and in all places make up the body.
This calls for us to think of Christ as the head of the body and of the members who individually compose the body itself. This analogy fits both the individual congregation as well as the Church universal.
A reading of 1 Corinthians reveals a local church beset with problems and division. However, it also brings to our attention the idea of the unity of the church as the people of God. A key declaration is, “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ” (12:12).
A healthy body functions as a unit. No part of the body can go its own way and do its own thing without affecting the whole. Church life at its best happens when every member chooses to function in harmony with the others.
Matter of unity
Consideration of the members who compose the body compels us to give attention not only to the matter of unity but also to the matter of diversity. Concerning the church 1 Corinthians puts it like this: “For the body does not consist of one member but of many” (v. 14). Later this passage reminds us that “if the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?” (v. 17).
Bodily parts or members are certainly not all alike nor do they all function the same way.
Furthermore, an awareness of being part of one body located in all places also can create a caring heart for the suffering segments of Christ’s body in such places as Afghanistan, India, Mozambique and Nigeria, as well as numerous locations in other hostile lands where believers are oppressed, persecuted, kidnapped and martyred.
Since the body of Christ is one body composed of all true believers, when any portion of the body is hurting, the rest should be feeling the pain.
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