Being a child of the sixties I missed the messages of Billy Graham, however I became a Christian as a teenager in the early eighties and have since been very grateful for the word of God that came through him. Many people who have greatly impacted my life had their lives impacted earlier by God through this man.
One of the most significant teachings to my life has been hearing about what we call the Body of Christ. Essentially, this is another term for the people of God – the followers of Christ – joined together in close fellowship because of their individual connection to “the Head” who is Christ. In other words, the Body of Christ is the church, a living and growing global organism with many different parts that work together for the same purpose.
Okay, that’s the theory! We all know that the church in reality is far from this vision of a single entity: there are reportedly around 38,000 Christian denominations that are separated from each other by differing beliefs, while all proclaim to be Christian. Wouldn’t I be better off on my own? I could watch some of the Christian programs on television, read the Bible, follow the teachings of Christ……….all on my own couldn’t I?
Sadly, this has been the reasoning of many who have found Christ over the years, and while it is a completely understandable viewpoint, no one who isolates themselves from fellowship will ever come to the kind of maturity that God purposed for them. In fact, they will miss the central heart of the gospel found in John 17:21-26:
The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind— Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, So they might be one heart and mind with us. Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me. The same glory you gave me, I gave them, So they’ll be as unified and together as we are— I in them and you in me. Then they’ll be mature in this oneness, And give the godless world evidence That you’ve sent me and loved them In the same way you’ve loved me.
Christ declares in this passage of scripture His passion for His followers to be united in one heart and purpose – to be as one as God (the three) is one. What an amazing calling! This is certainly not a calling we can achieve by ourselves. The reality of the present day church may look grim, but fellowship is still God’s way (the only way) of bringing us to maturity and unity. The early church that was established by Jesus’ disciples was a dynamic “organisation.” The inverted commas are used because the church wasn’t a static structure. It was more like an organism – a body working together, with every person playing a vital part, and the whole only functioned because each part was doing its bit.
The present day church is being restored by God to be the same kind of living, growing, and working organism. The early church grew as every individual committed themselves to fellowship regularly in the Word of God, and partaking of Communion and praying together. The scripture says “they had all things in common” (Acts 2:42-47.) This doesn’t mean that they all got along really well because they were similar personalities! Rather, the scriptures say that they “steadfastly persevered”, committing and devoting themselves to this fellowship because they knew that this was the way forward.
I’m convinced that the Lord is working miracles today as much as He did 2000 years ago. He is restoring the church so that it might be the living expression of His life and love toward all. In the same way as the early church, it will take steadfast perseverance, devotion and commitment from believers to join and continue in fellowship. It is not an easy way, particularly as we all have issues that God needs to deal with so that we can grow and mature in love. However, we are encouraged because the fellowship of believers is the context for all of these issues to be made right.
At MCF we are committed, as are many churches, to seeing individuals and families established in the word of God and in His purposes for our lives as we fellowship regularly. I encourage you, if you haven’t made a connection with a church, to come and hear the word and begin to build eternal relationships in this fellowship of believers.
Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13.)
Helen Holland
