Growing a Healthy Church

"But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you'; or again the head to the feet, 'I have no need of you'" (1 Corinthians 12:20-21)

Perhaps nothing in life hurts quite like the feeling of being rejected, beloved. And when that rejection takes place among Christians within the visible church, it is even more traumatic. Paul in this passage was dealing with that very problem in the church in Corinth. Some who had shown evidence of the showier spiritual gifts were looking down upon and even disdaining as unnecessary other members that did not have such gifts. Thus, both a feeling of spiritual superiority as well as one of inferiority had arisen and were tearing the church apart. Because the have's were manifesting the attitude "we don't need them" of the have not's, those being rejected had begun to conclude of themselves that "we are not important."

The apostle felt led of the Holy Spirit to use the parallel of the members of the human body to make his point. Suppose, he proposed, that the head should say to the feet: "We do not need you." How would the body get around anywhere if it were not for the feet? "Ridiculous!" surely thought the Corinthian believers about such an absurd occurrence. Yet they failed to see that what they thought to be silly when occurring within the human body was precisely what they were allowing to take place within the spiritual body of their local assembly of believers!

How absolutely vital today within the visible church that none of us as members of those churches ever allow an attitude of either spiritual superiority or inferiority to develop! The way to make sure that such never happens and, thus, tears apart the fellowship of the church is for us to go out of our way to show every member of Christ's body how special and how unique they really are. Such a ministry will be one of personal encouragement, of consolation, of appreciation and of total acceptance. As Paul would later write in this same passage:

"And those members of the body, which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our unseemly members come to have more abundant seemliness" (1 Corinthians 12:23)

If you want to grow a healthy church, then, make it your goal in your interpersonal relationships within the assembly of believers to insure that every single members feels necessary and useful, regardless of what their spiritual giftedness or even their level of spiritual maturity might be. It should be unthinkable to us today, beloved, that even one member of Christ's body should feel rejection in any form!

Ron