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Tonight we are looking at the body of Christ, the church. And I’m going to be experimental. It’s a metaphor

How far do we extend the metaphor of the body of Christ?

Once again I am faced with the challenge of preaching to you about something which for me is something that could be talked about at length for a very long time. We could do a series on it for a few years. But the problem is that to talk about it more is probably the last thing we need to do and so it is ironic that I stand here now talking about the thing that needs less talk and more doing.

In fact me standing here talking about it is probably just reinforcing the problem and lack of action for some people — not necessarily here in this congregation, but in other congregations, having a preacher preach is just one of those things that happens at church.

And that is what we are talking about tonight. At church.

What I want to propose tonight is that actually church is not a place to go, but a state of being.

It’s the way we talk about it that actually exposes how we think about it. Language is funny like that, it often communicates more than what we think it does. At church we sing, give an offering, hear a few announcements, listen to a prayer of confession, feel challenged, listen to a preacher, pray a little and have some supper. That’s what we do at church.

Historically though, this is a service to the church. What we do here is quite correctly called a church service. What we are doing here, the reason this meeting exists is not to provide church for people, but to serve them in their church life. That means, very briefly, nourishment, healing, relaxing, challenging. But the actual majority of church happens outside of this meeting time.

Why do I say this? Because the church is the body of Christ. It exists (thank goodness) outside the one and a half hours on a Sunday morning or evening. It exists because it is metaphorically, an organism in its own right. Let’s read from 1st Corinthians in the Message.

met·a·phor n

the application of a word or phrase to somebody or something that is not meant literally but to make a comparison, for example, saying that somebody is a snake.

Paul uses the metaphor that the church, which is a group of Christians, is the body of Jesus. And we often use this to talk about the unity of the church. But I think it’s bigger than that. How far should we extend the metaphor?

I think, as far as we can go. I think that we need to take the metaphor further – it’s too powerful to leave it alone as just talking about unity.

Let me convey to you some of the implications I can see in thinking of the church as a living organism, a body in a proper sense. And because the bible talks about hands and feet, I’m going to assume that it’s a human body. And before those of you who are quick witted pick up on the fact that monkeys have hands and feet too, I’ll draw attention to you the fact that the church is also the bride of Christ, and to think that Jesus would marry a monkey, would be a really good example of taking a metaphor too far. But I digress.

If this body of Christ is a like the human organism, it means we can apply some basic science to it.

A guy by the name of Abraham Maslow came up with a hierarchy of needs that he applied to humans. I’m not saying he is right or wrong on his hierarchy, but I thought it might be useful to apply his theory to the church body. This is not a bulletproof sermon, but I do hope it gets you thinking. Maslow says that there are two types of needs: deficit needs and being needs.

Deficit needs are the kinds of needs that need to be met at all costs. They control survival. The being needs become less important if the other needs are not being met.

Looking at his hierarchy it goes like this:

DEFICIT NEEDS

1. Physical Needs

2. Safety Needs

3. Love Needs

4. Esteem Needs

BEING NEEDS

1. Self Actualisation

What are the physical needs of the body?

Equilibrium: neither too hot or too cold, not too much water or too little, not too much sugar nor too little. Food, drink, sleep, shelter, oxygen.

How far can we extend the metaphor?

Well, perhaps food and drink are the teaching of the word. This kind of thing here, listening to sermons, reading books and talking at bible studies. Wrestling with the issues and learning.

It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

[Matthew 4;4]

“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”

[John 4:14]

Sleep? When would the church sleep and it be legitimate?

“Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.”

[Psalms 46:10]

So metaphorically, sleep could be stopping, and quietening. Making your mind still and your body stop for awhile. Just existing in it’s most basic form. Simply being. The church has a long history of contemplation and reflection. Where is that today?

Shelter. God is our refuge, our shelter our place of protection.

O how abundant is your goodness that you have laid up for those who fear you, and accomplished for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of everyone! In the shelter of your presence you hide them from human plots; you hold them safe under your shelter from contentious tongues.

[Psalm 31:19-20]

Oxygen. The holy spirit.

the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.

[Genesis 1:2]

then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.

[Genesis 2:7]

The spirit of God, breathed into us at the beginning of Genesis. The thing that makes us different from the animals. The holy spirit is often translated as wind or breath.

Now remember that these physical needs of the body are the things that bring us into equilibrium. And equilibrium in an organism is not an absolute it’s a between this point and that point. Our body temperature needs to be between 36.1° and 37.8°. this would constitute equilibrium. And we sweat when we are too hot to get this temperature down or shiver when we are cold to get the temperature up. In the same way, the church is not an absolute, it’s a state of equilibrium. If you are between such and such a point you are healthy. we can see that there is scope for many to be included. I think that nowadays, for example, we are more embracing of other denominations. There was a time when catholics and protestants were killing each other.

Now, I know that this is a little bit odd, and is speculation and maybe a little stretched, trust me on that, I’m hesitant to go any further. But there is food for thought with all of this stuff.

Back to Maslow’s hierarchy. How about the basic need of love? For a start, this is what Jesus did for us. We need to be loved in the greater sense, as in loved by God, and this has been shown time and time again. Only when we look at the bigger picture, the fact that most of the time that the word ‘you’ is used in the bible it refers to y’all. Then we start to see just how much God loves us.

This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they've done to our relationship with God. My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other.

[1 John 4.9-11]

See what the church has been through? It’s been through division after division. Major and minor. Persecution with thousands slaughtered because they are Christians in the first few centuries. Becoming one with the state of Rome in the 4th century. Terrible theological dialogue as people defend their different takes on the truth. The crusades in the twelfth century. The inquisition in the thirteenth century. Corruption in the 15th century. Colonialism and Christian slave trading. The list goes on. The pietists and the Methodists. The slaughtering of the Anabaptists. Burning witches at the stake. The rise of the third reich. Modernism. Darwinism. Evangelicalism. Fundamentalism, liberalism, postmodernism. Neo-liberalism, post-evangelicalism, paleo-mission, Pentecostalism. Liberation theology, prosperity doctrine, calvinism, open theism, creationism, intelligent design. Post-ecclessiological, pre-millenialism, annihilationism, existentialism. Mysticism, asceticism. Charismatic renewal, Toronto blessing, 40 days of purpose, ultra-fundamentalism, homosexuality, civil unions. I’m just scratching the surface of the things that have caused division in the church. Often times, violent division. Churches split over how we sing songs, or are impressed by the spirit.

You know the biggest miracle of it all? We are still here, the church still exists, cherished and loved by Jesus. Waddya reckon? When God referred to Israel as his adulteress wife, I think he meant all people who call themselves his followers. We have not been a faithful bride. And I can’t help but feel that Jesus is going to marry the ugly one. But love is blind is it not? Love is blind.

Esteem needs. Are what others think of us. And much as we would like to deny this I can’t help but feel that the church in New Zealand suffers from a low self esteem. You just need to read the article in the listener recently about Religious education in schools being so Christian that it’s an affront to the ‘secular’ branding of primary schools. We’re hammered if we state any opinions about homosexuality, if we say family values we’re labelled as the religious right.

Everyone else, it seems, gets to say what they want, but we don’t. Except on the rare occasion that we hear about like where a Christian worker stated he didn’t want to work on Sundays but his employer did nothing about it, so he spent years finding people to cover for him, or doing extra time. Finally the court ruled in his favour and he received a payout. But it’s rare for us to feel like we can exercise publicly our rights in New Zealand, to have a voice, to actually feel like a valued contributor to our society. “Yes you can be Christian, but keep your head down about it ok?”

How does this fit in with Peter’s comments about how we should feel about ourselves?

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

[1 Peter 2:9]

If we’ve got such good news, then why are we feeling so poorly about ourselves? It’s quite a challenge in our current climate, but we need to remember that we’re the winners here.

The final part of Maslow’s hierarchy is very interesting because according to his theory, unless the other needs are being met this one never will.

Self actualisation.

A musician must make music, the artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be completely at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be. This need we may call self-actualisation .

I think this is telling. Because if we feel that any of these basic needs are not being met, then we will not find that we will do what we were designed to do. Will we be a light of the world if we are afraid of it? Will we be able to show love if we do not know it? Can we show mercy if we have not experienced it? Will we be able to present good news if we feel like we are just an optional extra in people’s experience?

If a poet isn’t fed, she will not write. She will die. If the church was made for mission, to tell the good news to all corners of the earth, to make disciples and to baptise then if it is not fed, or protected or it’s breathing bad air, then it’s small surprise that it is ineffective.

I don’t think that we are over extending the metaphor too much really. Not at this level. In fact I think it’s helpful because it gives us a broader perspective on ourselves. Don’t you think?

Well, let’s find out!

So here we have an image of a human form as outlined in 1 Corinthians. Jesus at the head, we are the rest of the body. Does this body have a personality? Does this body have basic needs?

I want us to break into small groups again tonight and talk about the idea of the body of Christ being organic and alive in this physical sense of the word.

There’s this story about a guy who went on holiday somewhere in Asia. He goes to a bar, and some friendly chaps come up to him and buy him some drinks. The next thing he knows is that he’s woken up in some alley somewhere, feeling yuk. So he climbs up to his feet and staggers to a phone to call a taxi. The taxi comes and drops him at the airport where he collapses dead. Turns out both his kidneys were removed. Now that is an urban legend so it’s kind of a lie. But it does illustrate my point.

You just can’t get rid of parts of the body without consequences.

Simple as that.

Let’s divvy up the parts of the body just for interests sake. Who wants to be an arm? Leg? Eye? Mouth? There is only one person allowed to be an appendix here. Now you may think I’m being crass here, but Paul makes this point in Corinthians. Who wants to be a genital? Anyone?

Even those parts that we are ashamed of have a use. In fact Paul is quite right when he says that those are actually the parts that have some of the most significance and amazing properties: reproduction is no small thing.

It’s because the weakest parts of the body, those that the world around us would call insignificant, these are actually vital to us as church community. It is in these people that God’s grace is revealed. It is in weakness that God’s mercy kicks in and makes strong. It is often in the lowest times that we connect with God.

We are all in this together. When one of us leaves the community, it affects us. When one of us is disruptive in the community it affects us. When one of us triumphs in the community it affects us. When one of us is generous in the community it affects us. We are all intertwined – whether we like it or not. We are all connected, whether we like it or not. This is both the beauty and the ugly of the church.

But we still need to consider. How much do we have to change our perspective on this church? Is this meeting all there is to it? Or are we able to engage with each other outside this?

How do we know what needs we have? When are there opportunities to pray for one another? Help one another, look out for one another? How do we keep tabs on each other if this is all that we have?

To help with this, once every two months we are replacing the singing with prayer and the sermon with a topical discussion. We will actually interact during the service time. It is one step to some of the ideals that I hold high for a church community.

Transparency, love, grace and acceptance. The bible says that they will know we are Christians by our love for one another. Not by the songs we sing, the style of preaching or the way we give money to the church. But by the way we love one another, and those around us. This formal setting is important I think for the feeding and resting of the church body, but it’s only part of what the body is about. The body is to be exercised outside these walls in whatever we do.

We need to stop saying that we will be going to church, or that we do things at church. Because that’s the wrong perspective. We are church all the time. We are church like we are Christian. We come to the church service, we meet in the church buildings, but the Mt Albert Baptist church is not this block of land, it actually covers quite a vast area of Auckland. Maybe we should change our name to Mt Albert Baptist Assembly, and these buildings should be called the meeting places.

Let’s rest for a few minutes and commit some of these thoughts to God.