Basic HTML Version
acceptable unto God," he applied
thís concept. He said: "For as we
have many members in one body.
and all members have not the same
office: so we, being many. a re one
body in Christ, and every one mem–
bers one of another. Having then
gifts díffering accordíng to the grace
that is given to us, whether proph–
ecy, Jet us prophesy according to the
proportion of faith; or ministry, let
us wait on our ministering: or he
that teacheth, on teaching; or he
that exhorteth, on exhortat ion; he
that giveth, let him do it with sim–
plicity; he that ruleth, with dili–
gence; he that sheweth merey. with
cheerfulness" (Rom. 12:4-8).
Elsewhere. Paul develops the
point that organized specialization
is needed for the "body of Christ"–
all those who are true Christians-to
do the most good for the rest of the
world. "There are diversities of op–
erations, but it is the same God
which worketh all in all" (1 Cor.
12:6). he writes, noting in effect that
if every Christian were off by him–
setf, each doing his own little bit,
there would be a tremendous dupli–
catíon of effort and, most impor–
tantly. not as much of the gospel
would be dissemínated. or good
done for others. as there can be
when there is a "diversity of opera–
tions." " lf the whole body were an
eye. where were the hearing? lf the
whole were hearing, where were the
smelling?" he asks in verse 17.
The whole of the twelfth chapter
of 1 Corinthians is, in fact, devoted
to Paul's exposition that not every
Christian can do everything and
that therefore there must be a spe–
cialization or division of labor; a
division which logically implies- as
we see in the last few verses - sorne
sort of organization.
Doing Good for Fellowman
The metaphor of the human body
which Paul uses is particularly apt:
each Christian does that fo r which
he is best suited, which means he is
more likely to be happy (most of us
enjoy doing those things in which
we get to use our natural talents and
abílítíes, and usually don ' t enjoy
doíng something for which we don't
have any ability). and the whole of
Christíanity does its work most effi–
ciently.
22
But the Church is not only the
most efficíent means of reaching the
world wilh lhe good news of Christ's
government. il is also the best
means of doing good for our fellow–
man.
Let's lake a simple case. In mod–
ero society we all have only limited
contact with others of difTerent so–
cial and economic strata. Specifi–
cally. there are a lol of poor. needy
people whom we never see. Often
people will complain lhat giving
10
sorne central organ ization seems
awfully bureaucralic and imper–
sonal- it would be so much "nicer"
to be able to leave a bag of groceries
on someone's doorstep yourself than
to go through sorne organized "mid–
dleman." Bul they miss lhe point.
The point is, it isn't primarily for
our
benefit that we give someone
something- it is for lhe receiver's
benefit. Christ said that it is better to
give anonymously (Matt. 6: 1-4), so
we won't be doing it "lo be seen of
men." lf we really want to help out
sorne person. the importan! thing is
that he is helped. not that we get the
credit for it.
By pooling their efforts, Chris–
lians can have their resources go to
needy people. often geographically
far removed. people whom they
might never get the chance lo know.
Furthermore. the process can be
done without the poor person who is
being helped ever knowing who is
the one doing the helping. This
principie was practiced by lhe early
Chu rch (Acts 4:34-35).
Transcending the Existential Muck
The apostle Paul. exhorting the spi r–
itually ftagging, ti red old Church of
God at Jerusalem in the book of
Hebrews, lold them not to forsake
the "assembling of (themselves] to–
gether" (Heb. 10:25).
Most of us never stop lo consider
lhe real reason Paul said lhis: we
haveto make a special efforl to keep
relígious truths befare our minds.
The only things we ever see are
physical , mundane thíngs. But there
is a different reality, a full-blown
spirilual world in whích dwell God,
Christ and a hosl of angels and de–
mons. Bul we never see lhat world.
Our eyes are continually blind to a
major portion of realily. We never
see the whole of reality in which
God
is
manifestly evident, and
therefore we have to remind our–
selves of it by other means.
This is the reason why individual
Christians should come
together
to
worship God on the day God speci–
fied for such activity. (Wrile for our
free booklet
Which
Day
Js the Chris–
tian Sabbath?)
Unless lhey "go to
church" (to use the common
phrase), they are not likely to tran–
scend the daily. ordinary. existenlial
muck and consider the facl that
there really is a God who has a
purpose forman.
Another reason for Christians to
become organized is the various
specialized services God's Church
can provide for its members. This
means simply that Christians can
make the best use of each other's
special talents and skills.
It
is the
reason why the Bible provides for a
ministry to serv ice the body of
Christ.
.
Obviously. we can't
all
be experts
in everything. For example. the
Bible is a book which
is
often diffi–
cult to understand. We frequently
need sorne expertise in trying to
gain an understanding of its con–
tents, a fact which the Ethiopian eu–
nuch recognized when he asked
Philip to help him understand the
book of Isaiah (Acts 8:30-31 ). A
minister can specialize in under–
standing God's Word and can make
his knowledge available to other
Christians. Consequently. Paul puts
heavy emphasis on a mínister know–
ing the Word ofGod (II Tim. 2: 15).
Furthermore, in the very process
of getting God's message to the
world, specialized skills are often
needed and only an organized
"wo rk" of God has enough re–
sources to employ those skills in a
coherent, rationa l effort of evange–
lism.
Finally. there is the fact that a
real follower of Christ will na
tu
rally
want to associate (at least sorne of
the time) with other followers. l t
gives him a sense of community,
and the presence of other Christians
can reinforce the mutual desire to
remain a Christian and follow the
som~tímes
difficult way which
Christ laíd down for His followers.
When Paul exhorted his brethren
to "do good ... especially unto them
who are of the household of faith,"
The
PLAIN TRUTH May 1977