While I was a missionary serving in Hong Kong, a Chinese pastor told an insightful parable that illustrated a powerful truth. An old man who was almost blind, was walking down a road when a strange thing happened – his nose and his eyes had a conversation.
The nose was very critical of the eyes, saying, “You eyes are no good. You are weak and defective and useless. This old man is almost blind because you can’t see properly. The old man has difficulty doing anything.”
The nose became increasingly critical of the eyes and said, “You eyes don’t do anything to help the situation. This old man needs to wear glasses, but you eyes don’t do anything to bear the weight of the glasses. All the weight of the glasses rests on me, the nose! You eyes, who need the glasses, don’t do anything to help.”
The eyes responded. “We are sorry. We are almost blind. There is nothing we can do about it. We am thankful for your help.”
But the nose was so angry, he said, “I am finished helping you. I am tired of carrying your glasses, I don’t need the glasses and I am not going to do it any more.” With those words, the glasses were removed.
At first, the nose felt released from his burden of carrying the glasses. He didn’t need the glasses and was relieved to be free of them. However, the eyes responded differently. The eyes were uncertain and hesitant. They weren’t sure what was in front of them and feared falling. The glasses were off and the nose was free, but the eyes were uncertain.
Then it happened. The old man, not being able to see where he was going, walked into a brick wall. Everyone nearby heard the thud of flesh hitting bricks and the old man crying for help.
What part of the man was hurt when the man walked into the wall? Clearly, it was his nose. The eyes weren’t hurt; the nose was bruised! The nose experienced the brunt of the collision with the wall! It was the nose that was severely injured.
THE CHURCH IS A BODY
What an illustration of how the church of Christ should function! The Bible uses many words to describe the church. The church is a bride, an army, a temple and a sheepfold. But the most frequently used word to describe the church is that the church is a body – the body of Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:12-27).
There is diversity in the body. We don’t look alike. We have different functions. Just as an arm and an ear have different functions in the body, so each of us has a different job to do in the body.
There is interdependence in the body. We need each other. As the old man discovered, the nose needed the eyes just as much as the eyes needed the nose. In the church, we need others and others need us. No person can make it on his own; no one can do everything. Everyone can do something.
There is cooperation in the body. The parts of the body work together. There is only one body and as each part in the body cooperates with the other parts, the body functions as God intended.
There is sensitivity in the body. When I have a toothache, every part of my body feels the pain. Each part of my body is sensitive to the other parts.
There is work for the body to do. The body is to fight off germs and accomplish certain tasks.
The key to getting it done is for every member of the body to follow the instructions of the head.
UNDERSTAND THE BODY
Until you grasp the significance of the church functioning as a body, you will struggle to understand ministry, particularly lay ministry. Too often, both pastors and members forget that the church is to function as a body. When the church really functions as a body, no one hogs the ministry, trying to do it all, and no one sits back waiting for someone else to do the ministry. Each part of the body does its job.
All Christians are involved in ministry; a non-ministering follower of Jesus is a contradiction of terms.
Each of us has a different function in the body. The responsibility we have in the body is unique. No two people have exactly the same job to do. I am not called to do what you are equipped to do. A member is not expected to do everything a pastor is called to do. Pastors are not called or equipped to do what the members of the church are called to do. Preachers cannot monopolize ministry; lay people cannot escape ministry.
Spiritual gifts determine our ministries. There is a diversity of ministries in the body. Paul in Romans 12, says there are varieties of ministries and in Romans 16, indicates that both men and women have ministry in the church.
Each part of the body is necessary. When I was young, it was normal practice for every child to have his tonsils removed. Doctors said, “The tonsils aren’t needed. You can get along just fine without them.” As a result, I had my tonsils removed! Doctors don’t think that way anymore. They say, “Yes, you can live without your tonsils but you are better off keeping them. The tonsils have a function and you are healthier if you have them.”
A healthy body grows. After spending a lifetime traveling the world in ministry, I have observed that growing churches have a high percentage of its members serving in ministry. The more regular members are involved in ministry, the greater the growth and the healthier the congregation. Strong churches are not built around superstar pastors, who center the ministry around themselves. Healthy churches develop a strong lay ministry.
SO…
1. Realize you are part of his body. Both pastors and people have spiritual functions within the body. The moment you are saved, you are part of the body of Christ. That is both a privilege and a responsibility. It means you are in a position to reach out in ministry to others.
2. Recognize your function in the body. When I drink a cup of coffee, my fingers grasp the coffee mug, my arm lifts the mug and my elbow bends my arm so the mug meets my lips. My lips touch the cup as I start sipping the coffee. Of course, before any of this happens, my fingers help me roast the coffee and then grind the coffee. The various parts of my body know how to respond to the instructions my brain sends to them. Each part of my body knows the job it is to do and how to do it.
The same is true in the church. Every member of the church not only has a job to do, each member should know what that job (ministry) is. Your ministry position in the church is determined by your place in the body. If you are a knee, don’t try to do the work of the stomach, do the work of a knee.
Some ministries are expressed through the structure of the church organization; some ministries are expressed through the normal flow of life as people mix and interact with people in the community.
Rise to the challenge. Raise your level of ministry. Do your function in the body.
3. Release others to function in ministry, if you are in leadership. Do your job in the body and allow others to do their jobs. Recognize the functions of others in the body. Value and celebrate their ministries.
When one part of the body refuses to do its job, it puts strain on the other parts of the body. When one part of the body does not do its job, there are needs in the body that are not met. When one part of the body tries to do everything, it quickly burns out.
Because some church leaders love the limelight and prestige (an attitude that is in contrast to the meaning of servant or minister) they fear the emergence of a lay ministry. They see lay ministry as a threat to their position. The greatest unexploited resource of the church is the lay membership.
Lay ministry is not an attempt to undermine the authority of the pastor or abolish the work of the pastor. The development of a lay ministry in a church is not simply an excuse for getting a free work force for the activities of the church. A fully deployed lay ministry is the only way to maintain church growth and foster congregational health.
The ministry of the church is too big to be left in the hands of a few professional leaders.
4. Reproduce your ministry. Refuse to try to do it all yourself. Resist monopolizing the ministry. Realize that others in the body have critical functions. The recovery of the ministry of the laity can only come as the church revises its structure by training its members to be more than institutional maintenance men and women, but God’s messengers in every-day life.
Some have the unbiblical idea that lay members are the pastor’s helpers. That is not right. The biblical idea is that the pastor is the helper of the lay members, enabling them to do their ministry.
Frequently, lay people can do some ministries better than their pastors. They are in regular contact with unbelievers and are not treated with suspicion as many preachers are.
Visibility is not the measure of importance in the body. Which is more important: my thumb or my stomach? Both of course are important and I don’t want to do without either my stomach or my thumb. But just because my stomach is not visible does not mean it is not important. It is very important.
Christ is the head of the body and each believer is part of the body. Some parts of the body are more visible than others, but each part of the body is essential and has a unique function.
A complete directory of articles can be found at http://calsinsights.com/
You can receive this material regularly by email – just fill in your email address at the bottom left side of the home page under subscription options and you will receive a copy of each new article as it is posted.
To forward the material to someone else, press the “share this” button and fill in an email address.
I appreciate all your comments and suggestions.