Essential Roles
People naturally try to lump Christianity in with all the world’s religions. They point out its similarities to other faiths man has embraced. Indeed, there are similarities, but therein lies the deception. Having a relationship with Christ is not to be mistaken for other belief systems constructed by various people groups over the millennia to help them make sense of the universe. In the final analysis, there is no comparison.
We find nothing resembling many aspects of our faith in the world’s religions. One uncommon feature is the Church itself. Although at a cursory glance, many major religions appear to have their versions of “church,” the Church is utterly unique.
When Jesus instituted His body on earth, He created something completely new. Of course, it had similarities to familiar gatherings in the synagogues, it reflected the Temple of early Jewish worship, but at a certain point, the similarities ended. The resemblance was primarily mechanical; in form, perhaps function, it looked the same in some ways. But the essence, the heart of the two institutions, couldn’t be more different.
For example, one is a merely human organization, and the other is a Spirit-empowered organism—a living, breathing entity—the Body of Christ! When you join a church, you’re not a member of a club or exclusive artificial society. While becoming part of a family, you are also part of a body where you have a function to perform, which is crucial to the health of that body, a body essential to fulfilling Christ’s purpose on earth.
As C.S. Lewis observed,
If you are worried about the people outside, the most unreasonable thing you can do is remain outside yourself. Christians are Christ’s body … every addition to that body enables Him to do more. If you want to help those outside, you must add your own little cell to the body of Christ who alone can help them. Cutting off a man’s fingers would be an odd way of getting him to do more work.
When you become a part of the Body of Christ, you have discovered your true purpose. Paul says, “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4). You had a purpose just waiting to be discovered before you were even born, from eternity past! God designed you to be part of the last great hope for humankind: Christ, working through the Church.
If you were sitting in jail, imprisoned because your culture didn’t practice freedom of religion, what would be in your primary thoughts—unfair treatment, separation from your family, your inability to earn a livelihood? Not so with Paul. During Paul’s incarceration, his thoughts were toward his beloved fellow Christians. His concern was for the Church.
Paul put things in perspective and knew the importance of Christ’s living body of believers. Of course, he would have welcomed some uplifting words for his comfort, but instead, he offered comfort, strength, and wisdom, as in his letter to the Ephesians. He wrote to edify others, build the body of Christ, and, by extension, you!
How seriously do you value Christ’s body and your part in it? Is the Church just something you occasionally visit, weekly or maybe less? Or do you see yourself as having a vital role, without which something in the Kingdom would go undone? Is your church doing without the unique contribution God intended you to add? Get serious about Christ’s body. Discover your role, fulfill your function, and grow yourself and the Kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit.
“Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.”
—1 Corinthians 12:27