Monday, December 17

Feeder church or body church????

1 Corinthians 12:12(AMP) "For just as the body is a unity and yet has many parts, and all the parts, though many, form [only] one body, so it is with Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)."

A friend and I met over the weekend and God solidified His plans for me to depart the current home church I haven't really been attending lately to reach out into a direction that He would have me go. Whether it becomes something more than simply a lateral movement into another church of deeper depth or not, well, that is in God's hands. As it always has been.

But, in talking about departures, my friend made mention that leaving one church for another doesn't change the fact that we are still in the same family. And this verse came up in the course of my devotions today, via Worthy News. The Body of Christ, such a strong and yet, misused, phrase. Many pastors, ministers, or priests will use this generic term specifically, to refer to their congregations and their denominations, rather than referring to the entire body, regardless that proscribe to the declaration that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Light……

Unfortunately, this tunnel vision seems to affect more than just the leadership's ownership of the congregation….and the buildings in which they meet. It becomes more focused, and less clear, in the circles surrounding the leaders, those Senior, Lead, Founding, etc… Pastors/Ministers/Priests. There, the people who surround the Pastorship are too often "YES" people….either afraid to express their God-given talents in ways that are contrary to the Pastorship or simply of one mind and in tune with the Pastorship's vision….a deadly combination in any circumstance. Such 'teams' become known by the lead characteristic, i.e. the Pastorship, and thus difuse their effectiveness in the body of Christ. You know, like the "A" team (which consists of Athletes and Artists) which creates a church that is dynamic in its delivery of the Gospel, but weak in the message contained……

It's like someone gathering all the 'hand' personalities and talents and expecting some to preform as feet….. It's like someone expecting a bunch of toes to function as a head…. And so on….

Such configurations ultimately lead to implosion, as various like members rebel against the role they've been forced to play and seek greater enjoyment in the role they were meant to perform. And the Mega church, known for its phenom growth, becomes nothing more than a feeder church, where the parts of the body realize their true roles, and leave to fulfill them in a body that is unified.

Where, as George from Worthy Ministries says so succinctly, "Each member of the body is important and can minister to the other members of the body."

And the feeder church becomes something less than what it was, as one piece that is taken from the body becomes obvious, because the effectiveness of the mission has been compromised and weakened. Like the guppy tanks at your local pet store, they don't become anything other than guppies, no matter their size.

As George says, "Just as when one piece is missing from a puzzle, its absence is very obvious and damages the picture, so also is the whole weakened when we are absent from the body of Messiah"

Are you in a feeder church or a body church?

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