Body Parts
“Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.”
Today’s Text: 1 Corinthians 12:12-20 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
The verses above may be one of the most brilliant illustrations ever about the church. And again, it communicates the critical importance of every local church in the heart of God and in His great plan of salvation for the world in Christ Jesus. Of course, every local church back then was a house church.
Most Christians simply don’t grasp the weight of that truth enough. And that is because we tend to interpret the word of God based on our human experience and human thinking. Instead, we should be conforming our human experience and thinking to the principles found in the word of God. The shift in that perspective is a game-changer in the lives of people. Conforming our human experience and thinking to biblical principles is what it means to have a biblical worldview.
If we can be honest with ourselves, we would have to acknowledge that many Christians do not actually have a biblical worldview. A person cannot have a biblical worldview without the discipline of reading and reflecting on the word of God. It just doesn’t happen.
Instead, many Christians today have fallen for the secular perspective that the Bible is impossible to read, outdated, filled with mythological stories, and basically irrelevant for our lives. They may not admit it, but then we have to ask: Do they have the discipline of a steady diet of reading and reflecting on God’s word?
Many Christians today prefer to read devotional books or books on particular topics that interest them or concern them. Many Christians have a few famous preachers that they turn to regularly for inspiring messages. For sure, there are a lot of good books out there that are based on the Bible’s teaching, and there are a lot of good and inspiring sermons out there. And we should consume good content.
But here’s the thing: Jesus Christ is called the Word of God for a reason. It is primarily through God’s revealed word that we come to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. And we cannot have a relationship with Christ through a third party, any more than we can have a relationship with anyone through a third party.
All that to say, the Bible tells us that every local church is critically important in the kingdom of God. And if that is true, then every house church is critically important in the kingdom of God.
Of course, I’d be glad if people would trust what I say about such things. But no one should blindly take my word for it. We can all read the Bible ourselves from a position of faith (like our passage here) and listen to what the Word of God Himself has to say on such matters.
And people can disagree with me all they want. But let no one disagree with Jesus Christ, the Living Word.
Father, You sent Your Son to die on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. But You have also told us that He spilled His blood for every church. Forgive us for not catching the significance of every church and every house church. Give us Your perspective and zeal for Your church. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
