Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. (Ep 4:16, NLT)
I really like the above verse, it shows how a
healthy church operates. It does not
give you a step by step plan, but it does show the body interaction necessary for
a church to become healthy. I believe that God would have His Church to be
healthy, growing, and full of love.
It does not give you a plan to follow, but
shows the necessity of each person and how important it is that each person
function, and be allowed to function, in their gifting. It takes everybody
active in their gifting for the body to truly become healthy.
It does not give you a wineskin to model, but
shows you what will keep your wineskin pliable, soft, useable, and able to
contain life.
For each of personally, it shows a few things
we need to remember:
Ÿ
We
each need to use our gifts for God’s glory and the Churches edification
Ÿ
The
body is not complete without us, it needs our gift to be operating
Ÿ
We
are not complete by ourselves, we need the rest of the body
Ÿ
It
is not a one man show, one person is not gifted to do it all
Ÿ
We
are not to be spectators, we are to be participants
Are we active in the Church? Are we doing
what God has called us to do? Are we in a body where each person is allowed and
encouraged to exercise their gift? Is the body we are part of healthy, growing
and full of love? If not, what can we do to help bring about change? One thing
we can do is follow God’s leading and do our own special work, thereby helping
the other parts grow.
