Be The Church (Ephesians 5:22-32)
By calling the church a place we go to, have we impersonalized it so we don’t feel connected to it? When we say we aren’t “going to church” anymore. Aren’t we saying, “I don’t care about those people anymore?” If we stop going altogether, aren’t we saying, “I don’t want to identify with Christ and Christ’s people any longer?” Refusing to assemble with the saints is refusing to encourage those who need your encouragement. Calling church a place we go to or don’t go to anymore impersonalizes it so that it’s easier for us to live with what we have done. It’s not like we just ended our Netflix subscription. That’s what Satan wants us to believe we did. If we decide not to assemble with the saints for worship, the truth is that we have rejected who we are supposed to be, our identity. We aren’t living like Christ any longer. We do not desire to serve those who call Jesus Lord. We have cut ourselves off from the body of Christ and abandoned our spiritual family.
Last week, we started a series on not going to church anymore. My goal in this series is not to decrease our attendance but to increase our passion and desire. Today, we are looking at a few texts that clarify what God has called us to be: The people who belong to Christ and God. We don’t go to church; we are the church. This week, we are looking at the church as the body of Christ. Our focus is becoming the body of Christ this year, so today is a foundational study.
Retailer Vs. Body
Before we get into that, let’s look at this idea of a Consumerist mentality again. As we said last week, the consumer mentality makes attending church transactional. We give our time and money but expect to get something in return. But last week, I may have led you to believe it’s all the churchgoer’s fault. That’s not true. Congregations have started to adopt the methods of businesses. We market, advertise, organize, and operate like businesses. We play on people’s emotions and desires, tempting them to enter the building using programs and activities. We also may have a “the customer’s always right attitude” and teach a consumer-friendly message. This cheapens the value of the gospel and waters it down, making it appear insufficient on its own. Is that what God wants?
We must understand that this is not a business when we gather together. We aren’t here to increase revenue or get repeat business. The Bible talks about the church gathering together to encourage one another.
Hebrews 10:25 (ESV) --- 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
We also meet together to build one another up.
1 Corinthians 14:26 (ESV) --- 26 What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.
This second text lists miraculous spiritual gifts, but the point is clear. They came together with a purpose: “to build one another up.” We do not come together to pat ourselves on the back. We come together to encourage each other and build one another up. This is not the description of a retail store where a handful of people serve the masses. This describes a body working together to strengthen itself and other body members. When we open our New Testaments, it becomes evident that the church is not a store. It’s a body.
We are the Body of Christ
I want us to study Ephesians to understand better how the Bible talks about the church as a body. Paul’s point in writing this book is to let the body of Christ know who they are and what they are called to do.
Ephesians 1:22 (ESV) --- 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,
This verse, in its context, tells us that God powerfully worked in raising Christ from the dead so that he could be the head of the church. Then, he describes the church by saying, “Which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” Paul talks about the church because Jesus is the head, and we make up the body. He has the authority and power, and we submit to his will. But it also says at the end, “The fullness of him who fills all in all.” This is similar to the phrase we looked at last week, which said, “Christ is all and in all.” These phrases keep popping up.
In this case, he wants us to understand that as the body is the fullness of our head, so we are the fullness of Christ. We are interconnected and joined together. Notice that it says we are “the fullness of him” and that he “fills all in all.” We are his fullness, and he fills us. Do you see that interdependency? It’s not as though we ought to feel proud of what we can provide, but we have value to Christ. This idea of being the body of Christ and having value is ultimately seen at the end of the book, where Paul joins the body image with another image.
Ephesians 5:22--32 (ESV) --- 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
I know this is a lengthy text, but can you believe what Paul says? Being the body of Christ is explained by the husband-wife relationship. When we marry, we become one flesh. Once, Jenna and I were two distinct individuals, but now we are joined together so well that there is no distinction. The husband is the head, and the wife is the body. One cannot survive without the other. They are interdependent. The husband of the church is Christ. He nourishes and cherishes his bride, his body. Do you see how much Jesus values us? He values us like we are his own body that he nourishes and takes extreme care of. We are like his precious bride whom he is head over and does everything to provide for.
Make It Personal
Are we a body or a business? To make church impersonal by saying “I go to church” or by making it a business is to lose sight of that relationship that God brought us into. To be the church is to be the bride of Christ. If it’s a business, we don’t care who we hurt. There is no love and all that we do profits us nothing without love. There is no fulfillment in the businesslike relationship because there is only a love of self. The church is not where we purchase spiritual fulfillment. Spiritual fulfillment comes from developing our relationships. If you want spiritual fulfillment, the church has to be the body of Christ, and we must individually become spiritually alive members of it. It is a group of people working together to build one another up. So when someone speaks about the church in a business fashion, we need to recognize that and work to stop talking that way.
You might be confused by what I’m saying. You might wonder, “How have we made the church a business?” When we start using metrics such as attendance numbers and financial contribution to define whether we are successful, have we not made it a business? Should we compare our size and popularity with other congregations? The only metric that matters in a body is spiritual growth and performing the work our head has given us. We must spread the seed of the gospel to the community. Then, we have moved from a business to a body. If we start comparing membership or resources with other groups while focusing on these things, we are headed for disaster. This is so easy for us to do. Instead, we need to focus on the body of Christ growing spiritually. We need to focus on spreading seeds in our community and workplace.
Focusing On Growth
When we think of a body, we think of many organs functioning together. We think of the skeletal structure, skin, and hair that make up its appearance. The human body is made up of trillions of cells. It is difficult to give an exact number, as it varies from person to person. However, it is estimated that the average adult has around 30 trillion cells. These cells are of many different types and perform various functions, including building and repairing tissues, storing energy, and carrying out chemical reactions.
So when we think of the body of Christ, we need to be active in spiritual growth.
Ephesians 4:11--16 (ESV) --- 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Do you see how each body member works to create spiritual growth? Some of us do work by simply being here to encourage everyone else. When Sheila drives from Mississippi to make it to every service, she is serving the body, telling us that this church body is worth the drive. When Bill and Elna Bailey make it to services at every opportunity, they serve and build up the body. Vance Phillips did the same thing. The moms handling squirmy and loud babies serve the body by telling us, “There is a future here.” Those who visit the sick when no one is looking serve the body. Those who spend countless hours praying or studying their Bibles to share in Bible class. Those who stand up here and lead us in singing or Lord’s Supper talks. Some of you open your home to have people over. Some of you attend those get-togethers and enjoy the food and conversation. You work on developing relationships with other body members to build up every member. We all have roles that we play. Some teach classes. Some assist in the teaching. Some organize. Some do manual labor.
The point of Ephesians 4 is to say that every part has to be working to build up the body to become the fullness of Christ. Don’t lose sight of that goal. Whatever you do, remember that the mission is for our brothers and sisters to see Christ in us and strive to be like Christ.
The illustration of the church as a body helps us understand the nature of these people who meet together and build one another up. You and I are a part of that. Consider these two verses.
1 Corinthians 12:27 (ESV) --- 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
Paul says that the Corinthian church is the body of Christ. That’s who they are.
Romans 12:4--5 (ESV) --- 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
We are all living and working as a part of this body. Whether we are here together or away from here, we are a part of this body. What we do or don’t do affects every other member of this body, and it reflects well or poorly on the head of the body, Christ.
I would like for us to have confidence in one another. We need to know that those around us are all in. So I will ask you to do something a little different and perhaps uncomfortable. Stand up if you are a baptized believer who wants to be a working part of this body. Now look around. Some of you miss 75% of the services we hold here. I’m not trying to shame or criticize. Some of you have valid reasons. I’m just stating the obvious. Your choice not to come on Sunday nights or Wednesday nights does not make you any less a part of the body of Christ than those who attend every service. If you are a baptized believer who wants to be a working part of this body, that’s great! We want to help you in your work. Some of you don’t miss a service, and you greatly encourage me and everyone else who comes.
Here is why I had you stand up: Confidence. Do you understand that you are individual members of one another? That person across the room is a member of your body. You are joined to them and are responsible for building them up in love, not because they are great but because God has called you to it. Have a seat.
We cannot be the body of Christ without unity. We cannot be united if we don’t work together to accomplish spiritual growth. Whether this is your first time here or your thousandth time, there shouldn’t be a stranger among us. We are all here now to serve each other, but this is not our only opportunity. We can do it this afternoon. We can do it tonight. We can do it any time of the week. We are members of one another. If you live far away, praise God for giving you cell phones and the internet. Build up your brethren on Facebook. Build up your brethren with a card or a phone call. Be the body of Christ. If you live close, open your home and be willing to go to other homes to connect with the body of Christ. This is our calling, brethren.
Conclusion
Don’t let church become a business. Let it be a body, and be a working part of that body. If you did not stand up just now, I want you to know that you are missing out on God’s purpose for your life. Until you submit to Christ as head and become a working member, life is meaningless, as we will see tonight in our study of Ecclesiastes. Why not change? Why not join the church and work to build us up to God’s glory?