Who are we, again?

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. –1 Corinthians 12:12-14 (NIV)

How many times have you heard that verse – either quoted in a sermon, referenced in an article, sung in lyric form, or posted on a Christian blog (ha ha)? This is one of those key verses in the pastor’s verse-book which gets used whenever a discussion arises over what the Church is, and what our role should/could be in it. As part of a relatively new church planting movement, we’ve developed a slightly different view of this verse from the traditional way it is taught.

To understand this description of the Church, one must understand how God’s Spirit works in our midst. But to understand how God’s Spirit works, we need to understand who God’s Spirit is. Since clearly it will be impossible for the human mind to completely understand God’s Spirit (Just as Jesus, the Spirit is in the very nature God…), we must use metaphor and analogy. We have to say, “The Spirit is like such-and-such.” My favorite metaphorical description of the Spirit’s work in the Church comes from Peter Scholtes’ famous 1968 Hymn,

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord,
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord,
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored:

And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love,
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand
We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand
And together we’ll spread the news that God is in our land:

We will work with each other, we will work side by side
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
And we’ll guard each man’s dignity and save each man’s pride:

All Praise to the Father from whom all things come,
And all praise to Christ Jesus His only Son,
And all praise to the Spirit who makes us all one:

And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yes, They’ll know we are Christians by our love.

The Spirit is the glue that binds the universe together. It’s like The Force, only real. But it has no dark side – only light. It’s no wonder that so many philosophies, religions, “ways of life,” and worldviews share this common theme of one essence, one unifier, one pursuit and one purpose. Some describe it as karma. Some as life-force. Others describe it as unattainable perfection (Nirvana, etc). Some describe it as the inner divine goodness of human character. To the Christian, the Spirit is God. Just as Jesus is “God with skin on.” the Spirit is God with us every day in every thing. When we sing “O Come O Come Emmanuel” at Christmastime, we’re singing as much about the Spirit as we are about Jesus. For us living today, the Spirit is Emmanuel (or Imanu’el) – literally “God [is] with us.”

Getting back now to the Church. Jesus is the head of the Church – period. Every Christian on the planet should answer this way when asked who their leader is. Any other answer is heresy. This is what separates the Church from any number of cults. Ultimately, those of us in the Church seek to honor Christ, we seek to obey Christ, we seek to learn from Christ, we seek to follow Christ. Often we do this with the help of some other person – an elder, a pastor, a teacher. But there should be no question as to who ultimately leads us. Jesus Christ.

When the Apostle Paul talks about the Body of Christ in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, he gives us many juicy verses about how no part of the body is more important than any other. He even states in verse 21 that “the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’” How encouraging is that? Christ cannot say to any other part of the body, “I don’t need you!” So why is it that so many people in the Church feel un-needed? That sentiment cannot be coming from Jesus.

For those who have had the privilege of leading Bible studies or even pastoring churches, many in those positions understand the common struggle of what it means to be “the head.” It is common for church leaders to actually fight Jesus for the right to be called “head.” It is also common for other members of the Church to contend with the elder/pastor/leader for that job. This is basic sin nature played out in real life, and one which we all must be aware of. But a second struggle is also common in the Church. It is those who don’t really want to be “hands,” or “feet,” or “ears.” They resist taking an active roll in the Church, perhaps because of some past experience or maybe even due to no experience. Maybe they once saw themselves as an active part of the whole, but now they are just one of many masses of people who are attached to the Body in a way that caters to passivity. I’m talking about the hindquarters, the gluteus maximus, the butt.

If every part of the Body of Christ is valuable, then why is it that so many people aspire largely to one of two parts – either to the head or to the butt? Let there be no mistake, and let me say it again: There can only be one Head of the Church – that is Jesus Christ. So we see two things happening in general: One is a group of people sinfully rebelling against Christ and claiming his position of authority; the other is a group of people passively collecting to provide for a nice,soft place to sit. If this isn’t a recipe for disaster, I don’t know what is!

The natural reflection question that almost always comes when one talks about 1 Corinthians 12 is, “What part of the Body am I?” So often in the American Church, we train people to either want to be the head, or to want to be the butt. We teach them that in order to have value in the Body, you have to lead something – whether that be a home group, a Bible study, a committee, etc. But we also teach people that the primary way to contribute to the regular activity of the organization is to gather in large groups in a (mostly) passive arrangement. On top of that, we set people’s expectations such that the best way to gauge success in the organization is to have large numbers of people attending – to put “butts in the seats.” I attest that if this is our goal, we’re going to get what we strive for!

So, we’re either training people to be sinners by instilling a desire to take Christ’s place as Head, or we’re training people to be sinners by encouraging passivity in the Body. How do we counter this? We do so by allowing the Holy Spirit to do his work in our midst.

As I stated before, the Holy Spirit is God with us today. He provides unity, He provides strength, He provides vision, He provides the means for action. But the church in America struggles with this. We tend to equate “unity” with “agreement.” We equate “strength” with “numbers of people.” We equate “vision” with “strong leadership.” And we often equate “action” with “it’s probably somebody else’s job.”

For the Body of Christ to be called “one,” it doesn’t require us to all be the same. “One” in this sense is the amalgamation of the whole. If you divide the Body of Christ as it is described in 1 Corinthians 12, you don’t get two bodies – you get a dead body. The Spirit provides gifts to allow the “hand” to be a “hand,” to allow the “foot” to be a “foot,” etc. As Paul states earlier in 1 Corinthians, we don’t lack anything we need. Likewise, he states in 12:7, “to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” We are healthiest when we are diversified. Anything that causes us to consolidate, homogenize, to turn to “butt fat” is not of the Spirit.

In Church Planting Movements (of which Crossroads is considered part), we state that the primary way to fight these tendencies is to stay as small as possible – to consist of many smaller groups (churches) instead of fewer larger groups. With growth comes problems (like fat butts). When you’re a small group, you must rely on each other to function. In small groups, God’s Spirit is free to move. We don’t state that our method of assembling as God’s people is the only way, or even the best way – rather that it helps overcome some of the more common traps described earlier in this article. Even still, we stay vigilant against the human tenancy to be the “head.” We seek to encourage active participation in harmony with God’s Spirit among us. And we strive for unity, not just with each other, but with all who call themselves Christians. We are one Body. We have one Head in Jesus Christ. And we strive for a muscular “butt” which spends more time propelling the legs to climb over obstacles than resting and sitting. In all of this, God’s Holy Spirit provides the unity, strength, vision and means for action.

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 (NIV)