What is the role of the church in God's Kingdom? For what purpose did God establish it to bring Him glory, and what is the role of each of us as its members?
This is the topic we will discuss in this blog post. We will begin by examining a relevant passage.
“Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.” (Colossians 2:18, 19)
This passage exhorts us to be aware of not getting deceived and led astray by people and doctrines who do not hold fast to the Head, which is Christ. He is the head of the body, He is the head of the church, and we who believe are the parts of the body. We are part of the church if we hold fast to the Head. Without Him, we cannot make it. What also this passage mentions is that the body is knit together by joints and ligaments. In anatomy, joints and ligaments are those that keep the body together. This is what is needed in a physical body; otherwise, it falls apart. These joints in the Bible represent the communion believers need to have in the body. There is also another passage that talks about the same topic.
“but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” (Ephesians 4:15, 16)
At times, it could happen that we don’t have much communion with each other. I mean that we are believers because we are born again and have accepted Christ, but we don't fully live out the communion with other believers. It could happen because we don’t attend church often or participate in many activities there. Still, it could also happen if we do that regularly, but we are just not united in the same purpose with other believers, and we don’t look for His Kingdom first. Believers in the body should be united to edify one another and to glorify God, as He has designed it this way—together, we are stronger, and through this unity, we fulfill His will. Together as a body. The arm will help the hand to reach its purpose, which is, of course, to glorify God, and the feet will also do that so that the church can reach out to people for the gospel. The communion among believers is for the purpose of edifying each other and growing together (1 Thessalonians 5:11), healing (1 Thessalonians 5:14), and reaching out to people for the gospel.
We could also be Christians without much communion, but we will not accomplish our purpose and will not be able to glorify God in the way we should. I am talking of not having much communion as an example of people who are still going to church and participating in a body of believers but without fully having the communion God desires. We shouldn’t even consider not having communion at all, as being completely alone makes us easier prey for the devil. We should have other believers on our side. We should be looking for a good church and be part of it. We are, however, giving an example of believers who are probably regular members of a church but don’t have much communion with each other with the purpose of glorifying God. Generally, this could happen because those people have not truly converted to Christ, and they still need to be clear about their belief in Christ and their relationship with Him. Still, we are not discussing that exact point right now, even if it is also very important. We are discussing the situation of people who are true believers but still don't have communion amongst themselves. This factor could be provoked by various reasons, and one is that they are not generally looking first for God's Kingdom, don’t have that priority, or are not completely aware of the will of God.
The purpose of the church is not only to lead the church services and share the good news, which is, of course, essential, but also to reach out, heal, and glorify God in more areas possible. To make this possible, we need to be spiritually awakened and united. That’s why the Bible, in so many places, exhorts us to be united and not to have divisions. Christ Himself prayed for the unity of the believers (John 17:11). We still will be different, and we might not agree on everything, but to glorify God and look for His purpose, we need to be united. This is the variety of gifts and the way each part of the body is made. Talking about this union, we mustn’t forget that each person needs to have a personal relationship with Christ and communion with Him. This is essential, and we don’t undervalue it; we are just focusing on what needs to be done after achieving that.
“For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” (Romans 12:4, 5)
This passage talks of the differences between the members and the variety of gifts they have but also points out their oneness and unity. It shows the way they should be to function properly. It says that they are “members of one another.” This shows that they depend on each other and need to be united.
Each member of the body needs to be integrated into it the right way. It needs to be placed exactly where it belongs and, with the help of the other members, needs to be used for the glory of God. God has done His part to provide a believer with a gift for a specific way to function in the body (the church). Now, the church’s leadership and other believers need to seek God’s wisdom and discernment in determining where to place that person in the church so that he can be useful to God’s glory.
It works in the exact same way as a physical body. The hand will need the arm to move it and take it to the position and place to be used in the right way. When a part of the body doesn’t move and function as it is supposed to or is not used, it weakens or atrophies. That’s why it needs to be used in the right way. We must understand that a member will need the other members to be used as it is supposed. In order for this to be done, the member needs to present himself to the disposition of the church (the body), and also, the other members need to integrate it in the proper way and use it according to God’s will. We all know that God is the one who uses each believer, but here I am pointing out the necessity of the other members as well so that this could be done as a church and a group. God is the one who distributed the gifts through His Spirit, but we are the ones who need to use God’s wisdom and corroborate with each other as a group. This is the part of the joints and the ligaments in the body. A lack of communion might be because a single member doesn’t present himself disposed to serve in the body and doesn’t manifest the gifts given it by the Spirit or because the elders of the church didn’t place that member in his right position or didn’t integrate it properly in the body. Whatever part we take of the body – as a member who needs to serve or as an elder or Pastor who needs to look for God’s wisdom to place the other members where they will be more fruitful for Christ's glory, we need to do it with faith, wisdom, and diligence.
If we look again at the verses we mentioned before about union caused by the ligaments and the joints in the body, we will notice that they both talk about growth in the body of Christ.
“Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.” (Colossians 2:18, 19)
“but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” (Ephesians 4:15, 16)
By this, we see that the proper union in the body causes growth as well. A personal and collective growth in the body of Christ, which is the church. This is the way God had established it to be, and in this way, it should function. It is done this way because we are all different as members, and each of us has a gift that differs from another. Together, we can reach out to and accomplish God’s purpose. Combining these different gifts together, we can bring the fruit that glorifies God. We can say that Only Christ was complete, containing all God’s fullness and gifts when He was here on earth because He was The Son of God and a part of the Trinity. He taught about unity and how believers should live and glorify God together.
Of course, a believer should look for other gifts as well (1 Corinthians 12:31), but above all, he should be looking for love (1 Corinthians 13), which is also needed to collaborate in a proper way with other believers. A believer could also manifest some other gifts throughout his life, but he will nevertheless be better suited to exercise the gift he received from the Holy Spirit.
At times, divisions could happen in a church for sound reasons, as also the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 11:18, 19 but most of the time, the Bible urges us to avoid divisions and separations (Romans 16:17, 1 Corinthians 1:10).
“Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” (1 Corinthian 1:10)
The devil is the one who wants to bring those divisions, especially among believers. This is done because he knows how dangerous the body of Christ is for him when it is united and how it could glorify God and reach people. Paul was reprimanding the church of Corinthians when they were divided over various church leaders at that time. Some were saying that they were from Paul, others from Apollos, Cephas, or Christ. Further on in the same letter, he tells them that while there are envy, strife, and divisions among them, they are babes in Christ and carnal, and he couldn’t speak to them as to spiritual people (1 Corinthians 3:1-4). This was because of the lack of unity. The unity in a body is a sign of maturity because, as we said, this is how the body grows – through union, and this is how a single part of the body will develop in a proper way because it will be used together with the other parts and will not atrophy. That’s why it is so important to be a part of a church and have communion with other members.
There are some passages in the book of Haggai that also talk about this topic.
1 In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, 2 “Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying: ‘This people says, “The time has not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built.” ’ ”
3 Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?” 5 Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways!
6 “You have sown much, and bring in little;
You eat, but do not have enough;
You drink, but you are not filled with drink;
You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm;
And he who earns wages,
Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.”
7 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways! 8 Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,” says the Lord. 9 “You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says the Lord of hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. 10 Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. 11 For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.” (Haggai 1:1-11)
Here, we see God exhorting His nation through the prophet Haggai to focus on building His temple instead of their own houses. We might think that this passage doesn’t have to do with us today first because the story talks about their temple, which literally had to be rebuilt. Yes, they indeed had to rebuild their temple at that time, but today, this passage exhorts us to focus on rebuilding the church, not as a physical temple but as a spiritual one composed of believers having communion and united with the purpose of glorifying God. We need to focus on that.
We might also be living selfishly as believers, focusing just on our own relationship with God and striving for our blessings only. This, anyway, doesn’t bring us more blessings. On the contrary, it withholds them, as Haggai 1:6 says. The real blessings lie in communing with the other members of the body and pursuing God’s will together. We might also not consider ourselves in the state of the nation of Israel at that time and consider ourselves better, but we need to meditate and examine our ways, as this passage is also telling us (Haggai 1:5).
When talking of church, we see a detailed description in the book of Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, talking about the attitude of various churches. The whole book of Revelation focuses not only on the prophecies concerning what will happen in the last days but also on the church, as in the book, it is described as Christ’s bride. One day, He will return and will take His bride with Him. In the time we live now, the church that is composed of all the believers in general is getting ready for the wedding of the Lamb. This is for the church composed of all believers in general, but we can take the same model for each church in particular. The first chapters of Revelation give an example of various churches that go through various situations and problems. We see that most were rebuked by Christ. We can take that example also personally as the change needs to begin first in us so that we can also be able to edify the rest of the body.
1 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write,
‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. 3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. 4 You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
6 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’ (Revelation 3:1-6)
This is one of the messages directed to the churches we find in the book of Revelation. It is the message to the church of Sardis. We see that, apparently, that church was fine as it had a name that was alive (Revelation 3:1). Today, we can compare it to a church that has a sound doctrine and structurally is fine. The only one who could define and see that the church of Sardis was dead was Jesus. He says that the church had a name of being alive, but it was actually dead. He is the one who sees with His penetrating eyes and examines all with the two-edged sword of His word, which pierces the depths of the soul and heart, discerning its thoughts and intents (Hebrews 4:12). We always need to compare and judge our personal lives and the church in the light of what he says. We need to leave Him to judge our lives and reveal to us our fall shorts, mistakes, and what we need to do. There is no other who could do that. We might appear fine in the eyes of men or in the eyes of the people whom we want to help, but we always need to listen to His voice and look for His judgment on our works and attitude.
Revelation 3:4 tells us that there were some people in that church who hadn’t defiled their vests. That means that they were saved. Does this mean that they probably didn’t place their part in the right way and didn't have the right communion among themselves? Would the state of the church be better if they did that? These are questions we might ponder about, but it's possible that this also occurred in that church. As a believer, I might be protected by God, and He will also be faithful in accomplishing His work in me, but if I don’t commune with other believers and we are not functioning as a body, we cannot fully achieve the purpose we are meant to reach for God’s glory. We might get saved, and He will accomplish the work for which He died on the calvary, but there are also other people that we are meant to reach out to so that they also can partake of His gift. In most cases, we can reach them out as a body. This is how God has established things to function, that the believers get to experience fully His blessings and purposes as one body. There are passages in the Bible that indicate believers should manifest God’s wisdom and glory to the world and reach out to those in need of Him. (Ephesians 3:10, 11, 1 Peter 2:9, Matthew 5:13-16). They need to share the good news with them. These exhortations in the Bible are expressed in the plural form, indicating that, in this case, God addresses us as a group.
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;” (1 Peter 2:9)
When believers are united, they can better grasp the vision of God for the church and follow it. When there is a vision to follow, God’s purposes are accomplished. Believers need to be united to reach those who do not believe yet and are lost.
“Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint;
But happy is he who keeps the law.” (Proverbs 29:18)
The Bible says that when there is no revelation (prophetic vision in another version), the people cast off restrain (perish). In this case, these are the people who need to be saved. When the body of Christ doesn't receive a vision from God, the people perish as they are not reached out by the church with the gospel. This way, they carry on following their ways. This is what a vision is for, not for personal benefit but for the benefit of others and, most of all – for the benefit of the Kingdom of Heaven. The church’s leadership needs to pray for wisdom from God, seek a vision of how to position each member and entrust them with the right task in the church, which will bring more benefit to God’s Kingdom and will glorify Him. Obviously, God is the one who distributes the gifts, but the body of believers and the leadership also participate in that. They need to have wisdom on where to place each member so that he can be more fruitful for God. God is the one who gives spiritual gifts to believers, but it is the church leaders who must entrust them with responsibilities. If they cannot recognize the spiritual gift God bestowed upon them and position them correctly with the appropriate task, they may not be utilized to their fullest potential despite having received their gift from God. A believer must also expose his gifts and service to the church, not hide them. This is why God has given them to him. The church is supposed to receive a vision from God on how to serve Him and follow it. This is the most effective way to reach out to people for salvation because this is God’s desire. The vision will help them do that in the right way, as all visions from God are to glorify Him. This vision is received by the Body of Christ (the church) when believers are together in communion. However, without a vision, not only the people perish, but the church as their ligaments are no longer strong.
We need to do everything we can and hope that the group or church we belong to doesn’t become like the church of Sardis, where even though there were true and genuine believers, the church was considered dead. We don’t know exactly why it happened, whether it was due to a lack of communion among them or because the leadership wasn’t spiritually awake enough to recognize the gifts the believers had and how they could be used for God. In any way, we need to be careful that those mistakes are not done by us. We can define that church as the “sleeping church” because they were spiritually asleep to what God wanted and the vision He had for them to be used in the world. We need to be individually awakened, but we also need to be that way as a group.
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