Graciously Serve

Sitting in my first gross anatomy class (gross as in macroscopic and not gross as in “Eww, yuck!”) at the age of 40, I knew I had made a mistake. How could I possibly remember all the information my professor expected me to retain in this foundational course for my Master of Science in Occupational Therapy? I faced the daunting task of memorizing the names, locations, and functions of hundreds of bodily structures and how they work together to allow people to do the things they need and want to do each day. While it was a difficult endeavor, my muddled thoughts soon turned to wonder as I discovered God’s awe-inspiring design for enabling the intricate parts of the human body to cooperate in precise and amazing ways. Of course, since the entry of sin, death, and disease into the world, parts don’t always function as they should. So, through the course of my studies, I also learned how people adapt, compensate, and work to restore lost abilities. Neurophysiology, probably my favorite class, taught me that something needs to direct all the other parts and that when communication is disrupted, chaos ensues. Digging into Scripture yields spiritual application from my late-night anatomy study sessions.

God was equally intentional in how He designed His spiritual body on earth, the church. The work of the body of Christ is fueled by the Holy Spirit as He produces the fruit of humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance required for faithful service (Ephesians 4:2-3). Ephesians 4:7 reveals that He not only produces fruit but also provides purpose and direction for each individual part of the body: “Now grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” Ephesians 4:16 describes how parts are arranged for different functions: “From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part.” The Apostle Paul elaborates further as he writes to churches in Galatia, Rome, and Colossae, teaching that diligent, specific, and thankful service as individuals collectively benefits all. While we each have a job, it’s really not all about us. It’s about following Christ who is the head directing the body.

Serve diligently. Paul says in Galatians 6:9-10, “Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.” As we work for the good of all, how do we prepare ourselves for diligent spiritual service? I’ll suggest three starting points that correspond to our physical bodies: acknowledge fatigue, crave spiritual nourishment, and hydrate with Living Water.

Physical fatigue occurs when a body works hard and neglects adequate rest. Our all-wise God provides and commands sabbath rest because He anticipates our needs. He knows that we frequently fail to recognize our limits for fear of appearing weak. Accolades often come to those who work extra hours, push past the point of exhaustion, or burn the candle at both ends to accomplish goals and receive applause. Spiritual fatigue frequently coincides with physical fatigue; however, careful obedience to God’s command for sabbath rest helps us resist the temptation to showcase our own abilities and instead acknowledges our dependence on Him. He energizes us to work alongside our spiritual siblings for our good and His glory.

Our physical bodies also wear out when they don’t receive proper nutrients and the right kind of calories to fuel their work. Paul admonished believers in Hebrews 5:13-14 to feed on solid food rather than milk: “Now everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced about the message of righteousness, because he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature—for those whose senses have been trained to distinguish between good and evil.” Increased responsibility and heftier workloads require higher quality nourishment. Milk works temporarily but will not sustain forever. As we serve the body, our souls become depleted and need consistent high-quality nourishment from the meat of God’s Word. This spiritually dense food helps us discern increasingly convoluted messages propagated by a culture that becomes more hostile every day to the truth claims of Christianity.

Water comprises around sixty percent of the human body. No adequate substitute exists for this essential component. Dehydration and weariness set in when we fail to replenish our H2O, and in fact, true medical emergencies occur if we neglect to drink enough water while exercising, laboring, or even sitting outside on a hot summer day. Just as the physical body needs water for rehydration, the spiritual body needs the Living Water found in Jesus alone. In John 4, Jesus unexpectedly speaks to a Samaritan woman as she draws water at a well in the middle of the day. Their discussion about physical water pivots to His offer of Living Water. Jesus says, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. But whoever drinks from the water that I give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water that I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.” (John 4:13-14) As believers, we have the same well of Living Water available today. We can only effectively work within the body of Christ as we quench our thirst with long and deep drinks from this well while serving as conduits for those around us who desperately need the Living Water Jesus offers.

Serve specifically. The average adult human body amazingly contains from twenty-eight to thirty-six trillion cells. That’s twelve zeroes! These cells are classified into approximately two hundred different types which then miraculously organize themselves into tissues, organs, and systems functioning together as one unique body. What a beautiful picture of the specific role each believer plays in the body of Christ! No one member has the same job. Not only that, but God designed us to mutually depend on each other as we carry out our specific part of His mission on earth. This mutual dependence requires humility as emphasized by Paul in Romans 12:3-5 when he writes, “For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one. Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another.” Consider what happens when cells in the human body go rogue and pursue their own agendas rather than serve the body. These cells invade surrounding tissues and organs and prevent them from functioning properly. Sometimes they turn into benign growths that simply distract the other parts from their intended roles. Other times they become malignant, consume precious resources, and lead to life-threatening consequences. This is a good lesson for members of the body of Christ. We need to resist the cries of popular identity-driven ideologies that shout, “You do you!” and encourage us to cut off, cancel, or divide from parts of the body with whom we disagree. Rather, members of the body of Christ are instructed to humbly pursue the purposes for which God intended them, considering the needs of the whole without distracting from the mission or harming the body.

Serve thankfully. The heart, one of the body’s vital organs, pumps nutrient and oxygen-rich blood throughout over 60,000 miles of vessels in the human body. That’s more than twice the distance around the world! It’s impossible to maintain good physical health without a properly functioning heart. We find a parallel in the church when Paul writes Colossians 3:16-17, “Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Though not a Christian, the Roman philosopher Cicero is credited with saying, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” I believe both Scripture and this secular philosopher strike at the heart (pun intended) of what empowers us to be effective members of the body of Christ. Gratitude, circulating among individual believers, is the lifeblood of the church. As we obey the greatest commandment to love God and devote ourselves fully to Him, we can’t help but be grateful for who He is and what He has done for us. Out of our gratitude toward God flows the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) we need to fuel daily interaction with our fellow image bearers. This gratitude that circulates among and in us should permeate every area of our lives because for the Christian no division exists between secular and sacred. As Christ goes with us into every sphere of our lives, the inside-out beauty of the gospel will attract the world to the infinitely better solution the church offers to the problems in the world around us.

As fascinating as the human body is, the body of Christ is even more remarkable. God the Father, through the Holy Spirit, equips us to serve diligently, specifically, and thankfully alongside our spiritual siblings as we carry out His mission on earth and reflect the hope that only He provides. Maintaining a healthy spiritual body is more important now than ever before as we care for each other, reach out into the world, and share the gospel.

Guarding Unity

“Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:1-3)

“Growing Pains” was a sitcom that aired from 1985 through 1992 featuring Dr. Jason Seaver and his wife Maggie along with their three children Mike, Carol, and Ben. Each episode highlighted Jason’s ability to adeptly tackle tough issues with humor and wisdom while navigating life’s unexpected twists and turns. The sunny lyrics of the series’ theme song, “As Long As We’ve Got Each Other,” presupposed that stormy weather was inevitable, but that rainy days could be weathered by sticking together. Despite the unique personalities of the Seaver siblings, the family presented a united front when facing challenges. The Apostle Paul predated the popular sitcom by almost two thousand years when he composed instructions to the young, growing church family at Ephesus. These same instructions have application for modern-day believers as we grow up into the mature body of Christ. Because none of us is fully sanctified yet, this can sometimes be an uncomfortable process, like the experience of physical “growing pains.” I recall my sons waking up some mornings with mysterious aches in their rapidly maturing pre-adolescent bodies. Their bones, muscles, and ligaments often shifted as they slept to accommodate normal growth. I explained to them that temporary discomfort and embarrassing clumsiness were part and parcel of growing up. Likewise, the body of Christ can expect spiritual “growing pains” and clumsiness as we learn to work and walk together toward the common goal of pointing others to Christ. We shuffle along, sometimes stumbling, and attempt to gracefully navigate a world that challenges our faith and threatens to fracture our unity.

As we anticipate challenges to walking together in unity, it is important to remind ourselves of the foundation for doing so. According to Ephesians 4:1, the way we maintain unity is to walk (live our daily lives) worthy of our calling (the hope we have in Christ.) From a strictly physiological perspective, walking is a complex process. It is the act of repeatedly falling forward with each step and regaining balance before taking the next step. None of us perfected this on our first attempt. In fact, unless our parents layered us in bubble wrap, we each accumulated a few bumps, bruises, and scrapes along the way. To this day I have a nice scar from landing on my chin a few too many times as a young child! We’ve all seen a toddler leading with his temporarily oversized head as he wobbles along tentatively reaching for the next stable surface. With enough trial, error, and tenacity, we master the skill of physically walking from one point to another and don’t throw in the towel just because we fell down the first time. Such persistence is also necessary as we walk side by side with our church family. Like the Seavers, brothers and sisters in Christ are called to face challenges with a united front and hold on tightly to each other when the going gets tough.

As previously stated, Scripture instructs us to walk worthy in our spiritual lives. The Greek word translated “worthy” means “equal weight.” Therefore, to live our daily lives equally weighted to the hope we have in Christ means that the way we conduct ourselves ought to measure up to what we claim to believe as followers of Christ. Said another way, we are to live with integrity, recognizing that the congruency between our conduct and our calling impacts our witness. Not only that, but it impacts the witness of fellow believers to whom we are “knit together” (Ephesians 4:16). It can be difficult to remember this bond we have with other believers as the world tugs at us with fiercely autonomous creeds such as “live your OWN truth,” “blaze your OWN trail,” and “follow your OWN heart.” These popular mantras don’t line up with how God’s Word says we are to conduct ourselves for the benefit of the body of Christ. As cultural cues pull us to ignore the authority of God’s Word in favor of the authority of the self, it is even more important to focus on virtues that only the indwelling Holy Spirit can cultivate in us. Paul lists three of these virtues in Ephesians 4:2-3 that foster unity among believers: humility, gentleness, and patience. These virtues are borne out in our lives as we love each other and are bound together in peace.

Humility is essential to counteract pride, which is an acid that disintegrates unity. Humility turns our focus outward instead of inward. Jesus is the ultimate example of humility as described in Philippians 2:6-8: “Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead, he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross.” If our Lord lowered Himself to serve others, He expects no less of us as we walk and work together as His ambassadors on earth.

Gentleness is not weakness as the world might define it. Rather, gentleness involves having one’s emotions under control. It is not rude or harsh but demonstrates appropriate emotion at the proper time and for the right purpose. Peter instructs believers in his first epistle to give reasons for the hope within us, and further says, “Yet do this with gentleness and reverence, keeping a clear conscience, so that when you are accused, those who disparage your good conduct in Christ will be put to shame. (1 Peter 3:16.) In other words, as we live out the light of the gospel within our spheres of influence, we are to present a compelling witness by being prepared and reasonable while preserving the right to be heard again. We do this by conducting ourselves in ways that respect our fellow image-bearers and honor Christ.

Patience is evident in one who perseveres and endures amid adversity. James 5:10 says, “Brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name as an example of suffering and patience.” The Old Testament prophets were mocked, beaten, and murdered, yet they continued to warn, prophesy, and proclaim according to God’s instructions. While we are not likely to suffer as they did, according to James we should look to them as an example of how we are to conduct ourselves in an increasingly hostile culture. As members of the body of Christ, we will only survive if we support each other in this endeavor.

Humility, gentleness, and patience are essential as we bear with one another in love, tolerate each other’s differences, and appreciate the way God equips the body of Christ with diverse gifts to serve Him (Ephesians 4:11, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 28-31.) Because we are unique individuals with distinct likes, dislikes, strengths, and weaknesses, we may sometimes rub each other the wrong way. We will stumble, but each skinned knee or scraped elbow provides an opportunity to course correct and do things better the next time. Like a toddler learning to walk, we find our balance as we appreciate, support, and encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ while clinging to God’s unchanging Word for stability. Despite our differences, God has unified us by tearing down the wall of division between us and creating one new humanity (Ephesians 2:15-16.) Our job is to guard what He has already done through the bond of peace that He provides.

Ephesians 4:4-6 lists seven “ones” that further emphasize the unity we are called to preserve: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. The one body is the universal church bought with a price by her one Lord, Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23.) The one Spirit is the Holy Spirit who seals, counsels, and comforts each of God’s redeemed and adopted children (Ephesians 2:22.) The one hope is the promise of abundant life on earth and eternal life in heaven that awaits all believers (1 Peter 1:3.) As we profess one faith (Jude 3) in our one Lord (Colossians 1:18) publicly through one baptism, we demonstrate the desire to walk in obedience to our one God and Father of all (John 1:12.) Paul’s point is that Christ, through His finished work on the cross, has already reconciled us to God and made us one through His indwelling Holy Spirit. We don’t need any other works or worldly philosophies to accomplish what He has already completed.

As the enemy sees the body of Christ walking in unity, he would like nothing better than to infect it by challenging this oneness. Ephesians 4:31-32 tells us that disease comes in the form of bitterness, anger, wrath, shouting, slander, and malice; however, these malignancies can be defeated by putting on kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. As we remember that our righteousness was purchased by the blood of Christ, we are to put off the corrupted old self like a worn-out useless coat and put on the new self like a clean warm garment. Current ideologies encourage us to cling to parts of the old self like bitterness and rage and neglect clothing ourselves in kindness and forgiveness. It’s harmful for the body of Christ to adopt the popular practice of viewing others with suspicion and canceling those with whom we disagree. Sadly, this limits our effectiveness as we attempt to engage the watching world with the beauty of the gospel. We are, however, called to unify around truth and sound doctrine while separating from anything that deviates from Scripture. This doesn’t mean that we throw others away, but it does mean that we thoughtfully point them in the right direction. As we follow the one who is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6), God calls us to link arms together, walk the narrow path in unity, and invite others to join us on the journey of eternal hope.

Growing Up

This post is the first of a three-part series entitled “Growing Up, Pursuing Unity, and Serving Christ.”

“Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head—Christ. From Him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love for the proper working of each individual part.” (Ephesians 4:14-16)

The Apostle Paul wrote Ephesians while sitting in a Roman prison around 60 AD. He had previously visited Ephesus and founded the church there on his second missionary journey. As he established the church, he faced challenges because the city was a center of pagan worship with a specific commitment to the goddess Artemis. In fact, the temple to Artemis in Ephesus was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Artemis was a “queen of heaven” and her worship emphasized fertility, virginity, and the protection of childbearing. Ancient tourists streamed into Ephesus to visit the temple to Artemis and were encouraged to purchase a replica that they could take with them anywhere in the world to continue to worship her.

As Paul spent time in Ephesus and performed miracles, the gospel changed lives and spread across the region. Followers of Artemis, and those who made a profit from her worship, stirred up a riot in the city. This resulted in Paul leaving to begin his third missionary journey. He was led by the Holy Spirit to compose his letter to the Ephesian church to encourage and equip the diverse body of believers he had left behind when he was driven out of the city.

The first three chapters of Ephesians provide a summary of the gospel. Paul details the blessings received by believers who have been adopted into the family of God and describes the mystery revealed in Christ as He brings all who place their faith in Christ, both Jews and Gentiles, into unity under Himself. He describes how, though we were once dead in our sin and enemies of God, we are saved by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Jesus. He tells how Jesus tore down the dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles and unites all of humanity into one body with Jesus as the cornerstone of the new dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. God’s marvelous plan to bring the Gentiles into the family of God is revealed through Paul, and it is his mission to preach and have this message be understood.

The fourth chapter of Ephesians begins with the word “therefore” and provides a clear transition, indicating that Paul wants his readers to know that considering all he has just told them, they are now to go and do something. He reminds his recipients of their identity in Christ and how they are to walk out their calling in unity by holding onto the equipping God has provided through the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. In Ephesians 4:14-16 Paul encourages his readers to become mature, stable, and undeceived followers of Christ who maintain unity as they serve the body. Paul is acutely aware that as new believers, the recipients of his letter are prone to deception, just as an infant who has not yet learned to avoid danger is prone to wander into treacherous situations or consume an unhealthy diet. Paul knew that false teachers existed who would try to lure new Christians away with strange teachings that might look appealing but would not provide the nourishment they needed to become mature followers of Christ.

He also addressed the issue of immaturity in his letter to the church at Corinth and describes the spiritually immature in this way in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3: “For my part, brothers and sisters, I was not able to speak to you as spiritual people but as people of the flesh, as babies in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, since you were not yet ready for it. In fact, you are still not ready, because you are still worldly. For since there is envy and strifeamong you, are you not worldly and behaving like mere humans?” The above passage points to envy and strife as barriers to receiving solid spiritual nourishment. Discontentment with what others have that we do not have and stirring up discord over trivial matters can stunt our spiritual growth and hinder the growth of those around us. The enemy loves nothing more than to divert our energy toward things that divide and away from sound doctrine that unites the body of Christ.

The author of Hebrews also addressed spiritual immaturity and writes in Hebrews 5:12-14: “Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic principles of God’s revelation again. You need milk, not solid food. Now everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced with the message about righteousness because he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature—for those whose senses have been trained to distinguish between good and evil.” Distinguishing between good and evil is what we refer to as discernment and comes from the Latin word meaning “to separate.” One who is discerning has the spiritual maturity to separate good from evil or truth from error. Charles Spurgeon said that discernment is telling the difference between right and almost right. Many false ideologies that we see today attempt to address very real concerns but miss the mark of truth just enough to be dangerous.

I love Chick-fil-A peach milkshakes. After all, they are packed with juicy chunks of fruit and smooth and creamy milk. These ingredients meet the need for some of the nutrients that help my body function properly. But they miss the mark because they also contain enough sugar to make them bad for me if I make a steady diet of these yummy delicacies. We can only grow in discernment as we routinely consume a healthy spiritual diet of truth from God’s Word and avoid things that may be easier to swallow but are bad for us. Temporary ease rarely provides any lasting benefit to our souls.

Paul also describes spiritual infants as those who are tossed by the waves and blown around by the wind, an experience with which he was surely familiar as he describes in 2 Corinthians 11:25 his experience of being shipwrecked three times and spending a night and day adrift at sea. I can only imagine the helplessness and hopelessness that must have been present in those moments. If placed in this situation, I would probably be tempted to grab onto anything that happened to float by with the hopes that it would keep me from drifting further away from safety. When you are drowning, any piece of wreckage seems like a good option even if it isn’t solidly built and made to stay afloat in the middle of the sea.

But we are reminded in Scripture that there is only one thing that can truly be trusted to keep our heads above water and on course in this life. In Hebrews 6:19, we are reminded of the hope we have in Christ as an anchor for our souls. If we place our faith in Him and hold fast to the only one who is truth, we don’t need to look to the world at other strange doctrines that would add or subtract anything from the purity of the gospel. The danger of many false ideologies is the addition of works to attain salvation, and works will never keep us afloat. We can’t dog paddle hard enough to keep from drowning in a sea of hopelessness. Only God’s grace can accomplish that for us.

Our gracious Heavenly Father provides resources for us as we seek to grow up spiritually, become more discerning, and anchor our hope in Christ. The primary tool available to us is Scripture. Second Timothy 3:16 tells us that “All Scripture is inspired by Godand is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness.” God literally breathed out His perfect truth to us through human authors and has miraculously preserved it for us through the centuries. When the world tries to tell us that the truth is within us, that it is always evolving, or that truth is whatever might feel right in the moment, we can be confident that His unchanging truth is available within His Word to teach, rebuke, correct, and train us to function as part of the body of Christ.

When we place our faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us and provides help for us in the task of discernment. Jesus says in John 14:26-27 “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.” We have a counselor who is on call 24/7 to whisper truth to us when the enemy of our souls stands ready to deceive us at every turn.

One additional resource is available in the form of more mature fellow believers. Scripture commands us in 1 Thessalonians 5:11 to encourage and build each other up. Proverbs 27:17 says we sharpen each other as iron sharpens iron. Titus 2 contains specific instructions for more mature believers to instruct the younger in sound doctrine. So, when the world wants to cancel and criticize, the body of Christ is called to respond differently. We are to build up and help each other become more effective instruments of God’s grace by working together to shine light and truth into a dark and dying world. Part two of this series will expand on the pursuit of unity around truth within the body of Christ.