Adult Class: September-November 2006
The Church
Lesson 3
Images of the Church: Body and Family
One of the most amazing events of world history was the Exodus of Israel from Egypt. God had nurtured the children of Israel in a foreign culture for many years. They were identified by their heritage, their speech and their peculiar traditions. They lived among the Egyptians, but they never became Egyptians. Then one day God intervened and led them out of Egypt to their own home. Nothing like that had ever been seen before (Deuteronomy 4:32-35).
But now He’s taken for Himself a people who must live among other people. His church is in the world, but not of the world (1 John 2:15). We speak the same language, we live under the same laws, we participate in community life—but we do some things differently, too. And one day, our Lord will come for us and take us to our home (2 Peter 3:11-13). And nothing like that will ever be seen again.
While we wait for that day, we must live in this world. How can the church of Christ understand itself while it is still immersed among the people of the world? God uses several images to describe His church. The two we will look at now are “the body” and “the family.”
The Body
Paul identified the church as “the body of Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:27). This image is a rich description of the church and has been found to be valuable to a number of human organizations. It is likely that all discussions of “membership” find their root in Biblical language about the church. Unfortunately, that human understanding of membership is a very pale imitation of church membership. In nearly all human organizations, remaining a “member” of the group is simply a matter of paying the necessary dues and attending most of the meetings. Anyone attempting to transfer that concept of membership to the church does a terrible disservice to the Lord.
The concept of Christians as “members of one body” (1 Corinthians 6:15-17) points up two immediate and practical consequences. First, we are the body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23). We are united with Him in a very powerful way, incorporated into the actual life of the Savior. From Him we receive our ongoing sustenance. In Him we have purpose. For Him we exercise His will upon the earth. Through Him artificial human divisions are broken down and we become unified as His people (Ephesians 3:6). We are united in one Spirit (1 Peter 4:14).
Second, we are members of that body (1 Corinthians 12:12-30). Each part of the body has its unique and necessary function. No part of the body is without function and no part can be set aside. No part has every function, so every part must fulfill its role. Whether that role is public and visible or less noticed in the background, each role is necessary for the healthy functioning of the church.
All of this means that the church is far greater than an organization. There are no “dues to pay” since Jesus Christ paid the price to ransom all His people. It is not sufficient merely to attend “most of the meetings” since the work of the church takes place day by day as we live out our calling in Christ. Our assemblies for worship are times of refreshing and encouragement so that we can renew our strength for even greater service in the church. Those who have no appetite for worship certainly have little interest in performing the work of the church or, indeed, in fulfilling the tasks of members within Christ’s body.
The Family
A second image used in the New Testament to describe the church is that of a family (1 Peter 4:17). As with the body, the emphasis of this image is to describe the relationship between Christ and His people. This relationship is described in a variety of ways although they all revolve around the concept of family bonds.
First, and most obviously, God is described as our Father (Galatians 3:26). This image is peculiarly powerful because God is indeed our Father (1 John 2:29). Beyond that indisputable fact, God treats us as His children, training and disciplining us more perfectly than our own earthly fathers have done (Hebrews 12:4-11). It is because He is our Father that we have access to Him in prayer (Matthew 6:6-9).
A second family relationship used to describe the church is that of a bride with her husband. Paul uses this in extended discussion in Ephesians 5:22-33 to describe the ideal marriage relationship and the actual relationship between Christ and His church. The dominant idea is one of self-sacrificing love repaid by submissive respect, all wrapped in an atmosphere of joy.
A third family relationship involves Christians as brothers and sisters of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 12:46-50). Again, the dominant idea in this relation is one of unity (Hebrews 2:5-18). Christians are bound to Christ unbreakably and they have certain responsibilities to the entire family. Meanwhile, both the Father and Christ undertake certain protections and services that are similar to the way earthly families operate.
It is dangerous to press these metaphors too far. Scripture uses these pictures to illustrate certain great truths about the church and our privileges in it. These images do not exhaust theological truth about the church. There are other images that reveal other facets of God’s plan for the church. In addition, there are certain facts about the church that are not mentioned in these images, yet are still true. We will look at two other images used to describe the church in the next lesson.