Category Archives: Body Life

Training Category: Body Life

Reaching God’s goals for Body Life in the Church will take functioning according to His design.

He’s the Architect so He knows how it must all come together for His blueprint to become a reality.

What’s Required to Function According to God’s Design for Body Life

In 1 Corinthians 12:14-26 God compares the functioning of the Church to the way our physical bodies function. Here’s what’s required for all the parts to live in unity:

• God purposely designed the Body with diversity so we must function in a way that expects members to be different from one another.

Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. 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? (1 Cor. 12:14-17)

• God determines what each member’s part is so we simply need to identify our parts and function accordingly.

But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. (1 Cor. 12:18-20)

• Because of the way God designed the Body, with each member having a part, we must function interdependently.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” (1 Cor. 12:21)

• God’s design gives value to each member and so we affirm each person’s contribution no matter what their part may be.

On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. (1 Cor. 12:22-25)

• All of this can only happen if function like we truly care for one another.

If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. (1 Cor. 12:26)

The Body Life Ministry Manual provides some additional input on each of the above points.

Training Category: Body Life

Coming up with a blueprint design requires having goals of what the end result should be. The Bible provides us with God’s objectives for His Church — what following His design will ultimately lead to in the Church. We find this in Ephesians 4:11-16 which begins and ends with God’s plan for reaching His goals, providing the actual goals in verses 13-15.

God’s Ultimate Goals for Body Life in His Church

Here’s the end result of following God’s design for Body Life in His Church:

1) Unity

“until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God” (Eph. 4:13)

2) Maturity

“and become mature” (Eph. 4:13)

3) Christ-likeness

“attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13)

4) Balance

“… speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ … ” (Eph. 4:14-16)

God’s Plan for Reaching His Goals for His Church

To become the Church of God’s design begins with gifted leaders and teachers equipping believers to serve. It takes everybody doing their part, not just leaders and teachers.

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up (Eph. 4:11-12)

From him(Christ) the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Eph. 4:16)

— Learn more about God’s design in the Body Life Ministry Manual where you will also find a few questions to help you reflect on your church in light of this passage.

We’ve can learn much about the need for encouragement in 1 Thessalonians 5. The first ten verses of that chapter provide the reason we need encouragement. The eleventh verse spells out who needs encouragement and who should be giving it. When we get to verses 11-15, we find practical help for how to encourage people.

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.

To know how to most effectively encourage one another, we must make some presuppositions based on this text:

1. People are at different places, with varying needs, requiring tailored responses to help them more effectively let their lights shine.
2. We must know people well enough to be able to provide the kind of encouragement they need to spur them on.

How to Encourage Those who Seem to Have It All Together

These would be the leaders among us, whether in a formal position of leadership or not. How can we encourage those servants among us?

The Kind of Encouragement Needed by Those Who Aren’t Aligned with God’s Ways

The NIV text refers to them as “those who are idle” but the NASB and KJV seem to describe these believers more accurately as “unruly.” The original word is a military term for those who were disorderly or insubordinate — “not keeping order” (from Vines Expository Dictionary). Idleness certainly could be a symptom especially given that early in 1 Thessalonians 5 Paul stressed the need to “be alert and self-controlled.” Insubordination can be demonstrated passively or actively. How can we encourage people who are not lining up with God’s ways?

Encouraging Those Who Struggle with Fears & Insecurities

While some willfully fail to line up, others struggle because of fears and insecurities. The word “timid” used in 1 Thessalonians 5 comes from “oligos” meaning “small” and “psuche” referring to “the soul” hence depicting someone who is “small-souled.” The desire might be there but they lack the courage or faith to line up. How can we encourage the faint of heart?

How to Encourage the Weak

Some people struggle because they’re weak (asthenes: “a” – negative; “sthenos” – “strength” … “without strength”). 1 Thessalonians 5 does not give the reason for such a lack of strength. Perhaps this is a new believer. Maybe it is someone who has been through a prolonged traumatic event in his/her life. Or, it could be someone coming out of a backslidden state. In addition, it could be a person who feels beaten down due to spiritual warfare. How can we encourage those in this state?

What Everybody Needs

As seen in this passage, people are at different places in their lives needing the right kind of encouragement to meet their needs. What is the one thing everybody needs regardless of where they are?

Members of the Body living together in accordance with God’s design results in tremendous benefits to both the Church collectively and as individuals.  But, whose responsibility is it to foster Body Life within the Church?

Bible Teachers Have the Responsibility of Teaching and Modeling Body Life

Body Life doesn’t come natural to us fallen human beings.  We tend to live for self.  Consequently, how to live life together as members of one another must be taught.  Teachers have a wonderful setting for helping students practice Body Life principles.  Teachers also have opportunity to model Body Life.  Click below for two teacher training worksheets that will help teachers build a classroom environment in keeping with God’s design for the Body.

Teachers Either Block or Promote Community Worksheet
In Facilitating a Discussion, Everyone’s Contribution is Valuable Worksheet

Church Leaders are Responsible to Help Us Function as the Body of Christ

Church Leaders have a platform for promoting Body Life.  If they are going to effectively steer members toward God’s design, they themselves must also function in accordance with Body Life principles.  You can evaluate how your leadership is promoting or detracting from God’s design for the church in the Body Life section of TrainChurchLeaders.com.  There you will find questions with possible responses.  Clicking on the responses will provide additional input.

Responsibilities Belong to Everyone to Be the Church of God’s Design

God has both commanded and enabled all believers to engage in Body Life.

1. Each member of the body must heed the one another commands of God to function as a body.
2. Every believer has been given at least one spiritual gift to be used for the common good of the body.

Even if Bible teachers do not fulfill their responsibility in teaching and modeling it and even if church leaders do not actively promote and function within it, you are still responsible before God to do your part in living out Body Life principles.  May this site be used by God to help you better understand God’s design for the Church and encourage you to do your part.