"The Church is the body of Christ. Christ gives to the Church all the gifts necessary
to be his body. The Church strives to demonstrate these gifts in its life as a community in
the world" (F-1.03).
This quote is part of the section of our denominational constitution (the Book of Order) titled, "the Foundations of Presbyterian Polity." That's what the "F" means in the citation I put after it: F is for "Foundations." It is a foundational statement of our form of government that we are the body of Christ. What are we as a self-governing organization that is governed by this constitution? We are the body of Christ.
That doesn't seem to get us very far. For one thing, after over 2,000 years, it is kind of cliche. A body is physical, and Christ, after the Ascension to heaven, no longer has a physical body on this earth. We are that physical presence of Christ on the earth. A body is also connected. If we saw a thumb or toe without its hand or foot or arm or leg, we'd say it was 'dis-embodied' (this reminds me of that joke about what to do if you find a toe lying on the ground: call a toe-truck!). It is not a body unto itself even though it is a physical presence in the world. It is only a body part, and it is only part of a body if it is connected to the rest of the body. In order to be the body of Christ, we have to stay connected to each other. Finally, it does no good to be a body if we are not a living body. God formed a human out of earth, but it was not alive until God breathed into it. We cannot be the body of Christ if we are just a bunch of connected body parts unless God breathes God's breath into us. We might, each of us, be a Christ-body part, and we might be connected in our congregation and denomination and in our ecumenical relations, but we are only the body of Christ if we have the Holy Spirit in us. Foundational to our faith is that Christ is alive--Christ's body is alive--and we, in our form of governance, make liars of ourselves if we say we are the body of Christ and are not alive with the Holy Spirit. Without cliche, THAT's what we mean by saying that the statement "The church is the body of Christ" is foundational to our form of government.
Did that get us any farther? Well, a little, but just sitting around as the body of Christ, living and breathing, is a LITTLE bit cliche still, isn't it? HOW are we going to do that? We are the body of Christ, and we are empowered by Christ with gifts. What gifts? When Paul talks about this in I Corinthians 12, he starts talking about each person's vocation: "God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues." I think of "apostle" as a whole-life calling; likewise prophet and teacher. In the last part of the list he starts talking more about abilities than vocations. Peter IS an apostle. Peter CAN DO deeds of power. An apostle can show forms of leadership, and a teacher can show forms of leadership.
What is needed to be the body of Christ? All sorts of things, but whatever they are, Christ has given them to us as gifts. Maybe, if we turn this inside-out, we can answer our question as to what gifts are necessary to be the body of Christ by asking what gifts have we been given? What gifts do you have that are not being used to help us be the body of Christ? How can we connect better with you, or how can we connect better with each other to make each other feel more useful in the body of Christ?
This is a metaphor, of course. How is it that these gifts help us to be connected physical entities that live as the body of Christ? How it is that cells and chemicals and electrical signals work together to be a biological living organism is also a mystery, at least to me, a former physics major. The one thing for sure is that using our gifts is necessary. Just being a cell in a body and not DOing what's necessary for that cell to do isn't going to help a body LIVE. Food in the pantry is for EATing. Money is for SPENDing. Life is for LIVing.
Knowing what it means to be a connected body for Christ and being aware of the mystery of being alive as the body of Christ leaves one more step. We are the body of Christ. We are given gifts to empower us to be the body of Christ. Now what are we to DO as the body of Christ? We are to "demonstrate these gifts in [our] life as a community." Honestly, I think this purpose that we have as the body of Christ gives us another clue as to what kind of gifts we are given. We are to be the body of Christ and demonstrate our living as Christ in our life AS A COMMUNITY. I can't build a skyscraper. Maybe the gift of being able to build a skyscraper is not on point for living as a community (maybe it is; if you're a structural engineer, send me your ideas for using those gifts to be the body of Christ!).
The fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5 are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are things that lead to community. In I Thessalonians 5, Paul tells us to "encourage one another and build each other up." THAT's the stuff of life in community.
It's not always easy, and one of the things that makes it hard is that we don't always know what to do. God has given us abilities and God has given us creativity to figure out how to use them. That's also part of the gifts given to us that are necessary to be the body of Christ. Being the body of Christ is for LOVing—loving God and loving each person God loves. "Love your neighbor as yourself," will expand our body beyond our church walls. On the night before the Crucifixion, when Jesus was taking his last opportunity to prepare his friends for him not being bodily present among them anymore, he said, "if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them." THAT's a gift: the opportunity to serve one another.
When we do these things--when we love one another and our neighbors, when we encourage one another and serve one another--we demonstrate our gifts in our life as a community, but who are we demonstrating TO? We demonstrate our gifts TO THE WORLD. We have something special in our being the church, the body of Christ. We love one another in a world where that's not a given, where people give up trying to love one another when it gets difficult. We stay together--we stay connected to each other as the body of Christ even when it's hard. We demonstrate the good in community so the world can see that it's worth it. We are able to demonstrate the good in community because Christ has given us the gifts we need to do so. We live--we thrive--because God breathes the Holy Spirit into us to empower us to live. THAT's what it means to be the body of Christ and demonstrate the gifts of God to the world in our life as a community.
--Chas
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