Only Hope for Humanity
People naturally try to lump Christianity in with all the world’s religions and delineate its similarities and the faiths that man has embraced. Indeed, there are similarities, but therein lies the deception. Having a relationship with Christ is not to be mistaken for other systems of belief constructed by various people groups over the millennia to help them make sense of the universe. In the final analysis, there is no comparison. For example, author Phillip Yancey points out one glaring and fundamental difference between Islam and Christianity.
In his book Vanishing Grace, Yancy writes about a Muslim man who told him, “I have read the entire Koran and can find in it no guidance on how Muslims should live as a minority in society. I have read the entire New Testament many times and can find in it no guidance on how Christians should live as a majority.”
Yancey comments, “Christians best thrive as a minority, a counterculture. Historically, when [Christians] reach a majority, they have yielded to the temptations of power in ways that are clearly anti-gospel” (Phillip Yancey, Vanishing Grace, p. 258).
So much about our faith is counterintuitive. There is nothing like it among the religions of the world. In many ways, one such uncommon entity is the Church itself. Although at a cursory glance, many major religions might have their versions of “church,” The Church is utterly unique.
When Jesus instituted His body on earth, He created something completely new. It had similarities to the gatherings in the synagogues or even the Temple. The initial followers of Jesus were accustomed to these in their Jewish culture. But, at some point, the similarities ended. The resemblance was primarily mechanical. The form, perhaps function, looked the same in particular traditional and cultural practices. 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 on earth! When you join a church, you don’t enter a club or exclusive artificial society of some kind. You’re not only part of a family; you are part of a body. You have an essential function to perform, crucial to the health of that body.
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 occupying your primary thoughts? Would it be your unfair treatment, the family you’re no longer with, your inability to earn a livelihood?
Although Paul was incarcerated for his faith, he didn’t think about himself. Instead, he focused on his beloved fellow Christians. His concern was for the Church. He put things in perspective and knew the importance of Christ’s body on earth. Of course, he would have welcomed some uplifting words for his comfort. Instead, he wrote to edify others, build the body of Christ, and, by extension, you!
The result was Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus. It is an epistle meant to edify, to build up the Church. From celebrating our blessings in Christ to reminding us to take advantage of the access and efficacy of the full armor of God, the Holy Spirit provides the Church with the necessary tools to build the muscle we need to carry out Christ’s Commission.
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, delayed, or done without the unique contribution God intended you to add? Get serious about Christ’s body and you.
“Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.”
—1 Corinthians 12:27