Energized or Mechanized?
". . .In order that you may
know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His
inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing majesty of His power in
us who believe, according to the energy of the might of His strength, with
which He energized Christ when He raised Him from the dead . . . and gave Him
as a head over all things to the Church, which is His body, the fullness of the
one who fulfills all things in all".
(Ephesians 1:18-23, Author's
translation.
The plain teaching of Scripture is
that the Holy Spirit energizes all believers. If one does not have the Holy Spirit, one is
not a member of the body of Christ (Romans 8:9). And it is that energy of the Holy Spirit that
unites the believers together in one body of which Christ is the head. A distinction must be made between the "body
of believers" and the "Body of Christ." The body of believers is
about the family members as a group. The
body of Christ would be the living organism, which is analogous to the human
body. This distinction is vital to
understand but not commonly recognized. This
analogy is used when Paul speaks of the gifts to the Corinthians. It must be understood that all members of the
body can only function as the head directs. By the same token, no member is independently
usable without the rest of the body. Thus, the brain gives the signals to the vast
network of nerves that control all the functions of the body. No member of the body can function without
signals from the brain. Each nerve has
its function as directed by the brain, from the physical functions of the limbs
and extremities to the thought processes controlled by the tiny neurons within
the brain.
Paul makes it abundantly clear in several
passages that the believer's relationship to Christ is of this nature. All members of the body are integrally
connected with the head and one another. To the Corinthians (Ch. 12), he illustrated
this principle using several members of the body as examples. He was not, of course, attempting an
exhaustive list. In the human body, millions
of functions go completely unobserved and unobservable except, in some cases,
by a microscope. Every one of these
functions is vital to the soundness of the body. For example, multiple reticular nerves control
eye movement. Should any one of these nerves
malfunction, vision could be seriously affected. One of the marvels of the human brain is that
it can keep these myriads of minute impulses sorted out and unconfused. Without the brain, none of the members could
function.
On the other hand, without the
other members, no single member has any significance. This whole concept of the head and its body is
given to us as the prime example of how the members of the family of Christ are
integrated with Him and one another. Given this analogy, we are at liberty to
define our relationship to Christ in terms of a vital, living organism rather
than in terms of an organization or a religious order. Often, when people speak of the body of
Christ, they think only about the body of believers, which is quite another
thing. When the Church is regarded as
such a body—a religious group—it is tempting to see it as a mechanized
organization rather than an energized organism. Herein lies much of the mischief that keeps
believers constantly dissatisfied with themselves, one another, and even with
the Lord. The common query, "What
are you doing for Christ?" emphasizes human rationale and motivation. It is as though the individual member, the
arm, for example, can function independently of the head. One might better ask, "What is Christ
doing with you?" Although, even
that question is inappropriate, inasmuch as it presumes that we always know
what Christ is doing with us.
When the body of Christ is viewed
only as the body of believers, i.e., a religious group, the members are usually
evaluated in terms of their functions or services rendered to the group's
objectives, not as having an individual worth apart from these services. Such services are usually classified and rated
in terms of the value to the welfare and promotion of the group. Thus, for example, a public gift, like a vocal
ministry, would be valued far more highly than one whose gift might involve the
unobserved practice of intercession, or the quiet contribution of the "widow's
mite." As well, one who would succeed in bringing to Christ some celebrity
would be given far more "press" than one who might succeed in
bringing to Christ a teenager. Similarly,
much attention is given to recruiting "public
gifts," and much leverage is exerted upon the body to exercise such a
gift. If one is not doing something of
public notice, it is assumed that one is not properly fulfilling one's purpose.
It is further assumed that everyone
should know what one's gift is. It is
like saying everyone should understand the function of every member of one's
body, including the myriad of nerve cells that function in total obscurity. We could judge the function of the prominent
parts of the body, but the body is infinitely greater than those external
functions. And of course, many of the
functions overlap, and many parts have a variety of functions. Who can sort it out? There have been many cases in this author's
ministry where one contact, made by an unobtrusive believer, resulted in a
series of successful ministries, resulting in many conversions. If the particular one in question did nothing
else in one's lifetime than make that contact, that would have been a gift of
great value. Of course, Jesus Himself
gives us the clue in His statement concerning the "cup of cold water,"
given in His name.
The effort to identify, classify,
and motivate the believers in terms of the gifts evolves into a process of "mechanization."
While it is acknowledged that Christ is the Head of the Church, He is seen more
as a "headmaster" than a head. The common assumption is that while Christ is
the acknowledged head, he has given the leadership the task of directing the
function of the members. Many leaders
seem to see their role as "physical therapists" manipulating the
limbs of a paralytic. The proper task of
the leadership is to guide the gifts, not manipulate them. It is to observe and nurture that Christ is
working within the individual, not to presume what Christ ought to be doing with that individual. This task, of course, requires total submissiveness
to Christ, the Head, on the part of the undershepherd to control the eager
desire to "get everyone going for
God," as well as the fleshly ambition for expansion. It seems a general, if faulty, assumption that
"bigger is better"; that service is quantitative and measurable by
human standards. If one does not see the
member in motion, one assumes nothing is happening. The sheep grazing in the pasture is just as
alive as the ram "battering the bulwarks."
Seeing the Church as a living
organism—the Body of Christ—the whole issue of obligation takes on a different
perspective. What is the obligation of
the hand to the head? The very question
itself is inappropriate. The hand can
only move as the head gives it its impulses. It is not a matter of obligation but of
condition. The condition of the hand is
that it is attached to nerves, which receive their impulses from the brain. It is not a question of what the hand is doing
for the head but what the head is doing through
the hand. There are diseases that affect
the nervous system and paralyze the hand, but the treatment for the problem
does not consist in moving the hand mechanically but in dealing with the
disease. The entire race of humankind
became diseased through the effects of sin. The antidote is redemption in Christ Jesus. In a figure, we must be reconnected to the
head. Once that connection is made, it
is the head that directs the function of the members. The shepherd's task is to nourish the members,
not manipulate them.
All gifts are, in reality, impulses
from the head to the members through the connection restored by His Spirit. The result is a body functioning in response
to the head and fulfilling His earthly purposes. "But
now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it had pleased
Him" (I Corinthians 12:18).
Not only is it up to the head to
determine what each member shall do, but He will identify what that gift is and
how it contributes to the functioning of the body. Our human minds cannot discern all the
implications and intricacies of God's usage of the myriad of members in His
body. We must trust Christ Himself to
make His body a dynamic functioning force in this world. His Spirit inspires, instructs, and empowers
us to accomplish His will. If it depends
on human resources and responses, the classification and pursuit of gifts to
control the body, and to motivate our action, then the world's plight is
hopeless.
It was not Paul's human reason that
transformed him from a willful and zealous enemy of Jesus and persecutor of His
followers to an ardent and invincible force for proclaiming Him as a Messiah. If God can do that for Paul, charging headlong
down the wrong road, can we not trust Him to bring each of us in conformity to
His will? God has many ways of
accomplishing this; all He needs is our desire to have Him do so. He has the power to energize us despite our
human inadequacy. Not only is it not
necessary, but entirely counterproductive for the Church to "mechanize"
the body of Christ and thus interfere with its energizing by the Holy Spirit.
The main thing, then, is that one
receives the Holy Spirit into one's spirit, thus restoring the connection with
the head and becoming subject to His directions to guide us through this life. We may not always understand what He is doing
with us, what His plans are for us, or even what our particular gift might be,
but we can trust Him to fulfill His purpose in us. "Now
the God of peace . . . perfect you [mend,
restore, equip] in every good thing
to do His will, doing in you that which is pleasing before Him, through Jesus
Christ; to whom be glory forever. Amen"
(Hebrews 13:21) (Author's translation).
David Morsey
February, 1988