“The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”
– I Corinthians 12:12, 13
I remember back in June when I was with the January ´07 World Race team in Swaziland. It was during that trip I saw the body of Christ – in the form of that team. I had never before been exposed to the real, living, breathing, tangible body of Christ. The way that they served, protected, ministered, and loved one another was truly amazing. I knew then, this is what I was missing in my life!
So, fast-forward to now, seven months later, and here I am watching this team, the January 2008 squad, become that same body of Christ – and it’s beautiful! I tell you, it’s been so cool seeing how God uses each of us to answer one another’s prayers. You see I’m just now beginning to realize that when we pray to see or feel more of Christ’s love in our lives, that love comes to us in the form of one of our teammates. I can’t tell you how many times in the last six weeks I’ve seen people crying out for the Lord. Then the next thing you know, we’ve got other folks on the team stepping up and being the answer to that prayer, whether it be thru comforting, or speaking truth into someone, or casting off oppressive spirits – THEY were Jesus to the ones in need. And it makes total sense, because WE are His body. So it’s nuts, I’m seeing very clearly now that our ministry ain’t just to the folks in the nations – but to each other. But that’s a whole ‘nother blog.
However though, a lot of times Christ’s love within us does not manifest itself overnight. It takes time to develop and it almost ALWAYS develops thru pain and conflict – something I’ve seen a lot of on this team. So I know we got more of that coming this month – the pain and conflict that is. But I say AMEN! Look at the result – a stronger, more healthy and effective body of Christ. Which will just benefit all of us. Paul does say in I Corinthians 12:26, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”
So the key is this, we just have to ask for the spiritual eyes to see the good all the pain and conflict is doing in our lives. We’ve got to focus on the unseen glory at the other side of the pain. “UNSEEN” is the key word. We live by faith, not by sight. (2 Cor. 5:7) You see, in my own life when I live by sight, I’m living by what my human eyes can see. Which means I’m placing limits on God and that’s living thru the flesh. But if I live by faith, I’m putting my hope in the UNSEEN glory that God has promised me and this body of Christ I’m a part of. That, my friends, is living by the Spirit.
It’s funny because I’m learning not only was I missing the body of Christ in my life – but by missing the body, I was missing Christ himself.
