From: dzeigler@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Daniel R Zeigler)
Subject: What is the Church? Further insights from God's Sketchbook
Summary: the church as Body, Soldier, and Bride
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 15:46:33 GMT


                                    Body

     God has given us many sketches illustrating His work in the church, but 
only that of the Body seems to have entered the common vernacular of Chris-
tendom.  Could it be that we have cheapened the term "Body" by overuse?  Is 
any religious body of people a Body of Christ?  Is every believer automati-
cally a member of a Body?
     Paul's primary use of the term "Body" is to describe a local church (1
Cor 12).  He uses a functional definition.  "Body" in the scriptures 
describes not so much a group of people as it does the manner in which they 
function together.  A group is functioning as a Body when it is "a unit, 
though it is made of many parts" and when the parts are arranged so that 
they can work together (vs 14-20).  It is a Body when the parts realize 
their need for each other, when the weaker members are regarded as indispen-
sable, and when its parts "have equal concern for each other" (vs 21-25).  A 
group is a Body when all the members are affected by what happens to the in-
dividual (vs 26).  And we are speaking here of a group that joins with the 
individual in walking through the sufferings and joys of daily life, not 
just a group that responds sympathetically when tragedy strikes.  (Even the 
pagans do that!)  Finally, the group is a body when there is a diversity of 
gifts, each put productively to use for the building up of the whole (vs 27-
31).  The gifts here are not necessarily "miraculous" (not all of them vio-
late the so-called "laws of nature" when they are exercised), but they are
all supernatural.  They are grace gifts, bestowed by unmerited favor of God.
These gifts are not merely the same human abilities the world-system praises
and exploits for its purposes.
     Let us then use the term "Body" sparingly.  Let us reserve it for times
when a group of Christians functions as a Body--or, even more importantly, when 
such a group is * not * functioning as a Body and need to be reminded of God's 
intention.
     But there is more.  A body can grow.  In the world, groups or "bodies"
can grow numerically.   But these "bodies" can never become more than larger 
and larger collections of individuals brought together by human effort for 
human purposes.  It is not so with Christ!  For the Body of Christ is a 
living organism, not a human organization.  A living organism grows organi-
cally, not numerically. It grows in maturity.  God has promised two things
will happen.  The Body of Christ will grow.  And "all nations" and "many
peoples" will stream to it.  But the two processes are not synonymous.  No 
matter how many people God joins to the Body, it will always remain One Body 
(Eph 4:4-5) with local expressions of its life throughout the world.  The 
growth of the Body will be organic.  It will be purposeful and directional.  
It will be growth into the fullness of Christ.
     Jesus "gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some 
shepherd-teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the 
body of Christ may be built up until we all each unity in the faith and be-
come mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." (Eph 
4:11-13)  Does this whole process sound familiar?  It should!  It is God's 
work with the church.  He makes the many into one and enables the one to be-
come the fullness of Christ.  "Then we will no longer be infants, tossed 
back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teach-
ing and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him 
who is the Head, that is Christ." (Eph 4:14-15)
     In this picture of the church there is a lesson we must never forget:  
the Body is supernatural.   Human effort could never produce it.  "Church 
growth" techniques that rely on the principles of the world can only produce 
a worldly religious organization, never an organism.  Only Life produces 
life.  God's purpose is to demonstrate His own wisdom and to frustrate 
man's.  He alone creates the Body.  "In fact, God has arranged the parts in 
the Body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be." (1 Cor 12:18,24)  
"From Him the whole Body, joined and held together by every supporting liga-
ment, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." (Eph 
4:16)  Only God will be glorified in the Body.

                                   Soldier

     The church is a soldier.  How often Ephesians 6 has been interpreted as 
an exhortation to individual Christians to engage Satan in single combat.  
It is true that individuals are exhorted to be like soldiers in their 
single-minded intent to please their commanding officer (2 Time 2:3-4).  But 
that is not the teaching of Ephesians 6!  Paul wrote to the Ephesian church: 
"You [plural] put on the full armor of God [singular] ... the belt of truth 
... the breastplate of righteousness ... the shield of faith ... the sword 
of the Spirit." (Eph 6:10-18)  The picture here is not of an endless row of 
armor, one suit for each Christian, but of a single suit of armor that the 
church collectively puts on to do combat with the adversary.  "Our [common] 
struggle is not with flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark 
world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
(6:12)  Together, "when the day of evil comes, we may be able to stand our 
ground, and after we have done everything, to stand."
     Again, there is nothing in this picture to inflate our pride.  It is 
the armor of God we are offered.  He is equipping and fitting us out for 
battle.  It is due to His unmerited favor that we receive the surpassing 
blessing of participating in His work.  Crushing Satan is a facet of God's 
work.  He equips us so that He may use our feet to perform the crushing.  
God has always won military engagements in improbable ways.  In so doing, He 
is glorified.  God dissolved Pharoah's army with water.  He broke down the 
impenetrable walled city of Jericho with a parade.  He pared down Gideon's 
army to 300 men, then had them use trumpets and lanterns to defeat 100,000 
armed soldiers.  God felled the blasphemer Goliath and routed the Philistine 
army with a young redneck and the ancient equivalent of a pellet gun.  And 
by making leaves rustle in the wind, God threw another invading army into
such a panic that it destroyed itself.  In the same way, God is now equip-
ping a warrior that will appear weak and despicable in the eyes of the
world.  Yet the spiritual forces of evil will fall.  The gates of hell will
not withstand the onslaught of the church.  And by using such vessels to ac-
complish His purposes, God will glorify Himself.

                                    Bride

     Each of the sketches of God's masterpiece illuminates an aspect of
God's work with the church.  The Lampstand sketch shows His absolute
sovereignty and authority as He performs His work.  The Mountain describes
God's plan to incorporate multitudes of people into His final work.  The
Body exemplifies the single new life He is creating out of many.  The Sol-
dier embodies His intent to crush Satan through the church.  The Temple il-
lustrates His purpose to dwell in a people, to be their All in All.
Likewise the image of the Bride holds to the light a precious facet of God's
eternal purpose.
     God created the first bride in human history to be "a helper suitable
for the man," for it was "not good for man to be alone."  In creating this
bride God brought more than a woman into existence.  He created a relation-
ship.  "The two shall become one flesh."
     "This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the
church!" (Eph 5:32)  God created marriage for a deeper purpose than curing
Adam's loneliness, for a more profound reason that merely populating the
earth.  He wished to give us a visible representation of the invisible.  The
church is a bride.  Her relationship to Jesus is simple.  Wives, submit to 
your husbands as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife as 
Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.  Now
as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their hus-
bands in everything." (Eph 5:22-24)  The work of Jesus with the church is 
more profound.  He "loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her 
holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to 
present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any 
other blemish, but holy and blameless." (Eph 5:25-27)
     Jesus is preparing a Bride "suitable for himself," a Bride who is holy, 
blameless, and unblemished.  He wants her to be radiant.  So He gives Him-
self up for her.  He makes her holy.  He feeds and cares for her.  All of 
His work has one ultimate purpose: "The two shall become one"--one Spirit.  
"Then I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from 
God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  And I heard a 
loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and 
He will live with them.  They will be His people, and God Himself will be 
with them and be their God." (Rev 21:2-3)  That is the mystery of God's work 
with the church.
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