Today we’re going to think about the church as “the body of Christ”. We’re in a series thinking about church, and in particular we want to learn to see the church as Christ sees her.
Last time we thought about the church as the Bride of Christ, which is actually very closely linked with seeing the church as the Body of Christ.
Why are we doing this series? Because Christ himself is passionate about his church – collectively and individually. He loves this church. And you need to see the church as Christ does.
Because you cannot be close to God if you remain aloof from his people. Encourage one another.
These notes accompany a sermon on YouTube delivered at Bromborough Evangelical Church in January 2025. You can find more in the series in our sermon index.
Live out Union with Christ
Our core text for this morning is Ephesians 5:30: “…we are members of his [Christ’s] body.”
Now last week we looked at the church as the bride of Christ. So how is it that the church is also his body? Is a bride the body of her husband? That sounds weird! Read Ephesians 5:31-32.
When a man and a woman marry, they become one. They are united to each other before God. It began with Adam and Eve. Eve was made from Adam’s rib, and only in union with her was he whole again. “You complete me. You’re my rib.”
So the church as Christ’s bride has union with him.
Our union with Christ is a wonderful and mysterious thing:
- A Christian is someone who has prayed to God and confessed their sins to him, and asked for forgiveness.
- God calls you to do the same, if you never have.
- Don’t worry about not being good enough: Christ Jesus came to save sinners, and that means you.
Having trusted in him for salvation (rather than trusting in yourself), you’re united to him:
- In his death, you died to your old self.
- In his resurrection, you entered into newness of life.
- And you then live in the strength he gives every day.
- You in him where he is, him in you where you are.
Union with Christ.
Marriage union
But more than that, because this is true of every Christian it’s true of the church, his bride, his body. Ephesians 5:23: “He is the Saviour of the body.” So in his body, the church, there are only saved people – only Christians. If you’re not a Christian, you’re not saved, and you’re not in his body. But if you are a Christian, you are in his body. There’s no Bible concept of a Christian who isn’t part of a church.
But he’s separate from the bride, and he’s the head of the body. Which means that we are all subject to him. All of us individually, and all together. He governs us as a body, as much as he does individually.
So your personal holiness really matters.
Read 1 Corinthians 6:18-20.
The context is about sleeping around, with prostitutes. If you have an adulterous or immoral relationship, you enter into union with the other person. You become one. But you’re part of the body of Christ, united to him. So when you sin, you take the body of Christ with you – essentially, we’re all connected with you in your sin.
Jesus’ letters to the churches at Pergamum and Thyatira in Revelation 2 call on those churches to repent even though only some in the church have their sins called out.
So get this:
- As a Christian, you have union with Christ.
- You’re a member of his body, the church, and your union with him exists in that context.
- So you’re connected to him and to us 24×7 – for life and strength and blessing; and your sin affects us all.
Church membership
While we speak about the the body of Christ it’s a good time to mention church membership. It’s not taught as a single topic in the New Testament, but we can see here the Biblical principles.
First, church membership is primarily a spiritual reality. As your arms and legs are members of your body, if you’re a Christian regularly worshipping God here then you’re a member of Christ’s body here.
Second, it’s a pastorally helpful and practical measure too. In Acts 6 we read of measures to feed widows in the community. Likewise in 1 Timothy we read about lists of widows. It’s clear there were simple, healthy, pastoral care measures in place that needed a list of names to make sure everyone was included, none left out. So we operate a membership list too, and I’d invite you to think about becoming a church member in that sense.
Church discipline
There’s also a church discipline element: The New Testament gives us teaching on how church leaders are to manage Christians who go off the rails into sin. Restoration is always, always the goal. Sometimes, in the worst case, someone might be so unrepentant in their sin that the church is required to expel them. In that case, they’re treated from that point on as an unbeliever.
Now while that process is going on, it’s normal for the person to be excluded from taking part in the Lord’s Table. Here’s why: The Lord’s Table isn’t an individualistic thing. It’s a celebration of the Lord’s body, the church. The church at Corinth were getting that wrong, which is why 1 Corinthians 11 is so full of rebuke. But if someone is acting contrary to Christ’s teaching, living a sinful life, it’s not appropriate to be included in the Lord’s Table – they’ve withdrawn from Christ’s body.
Incidentally, if you’re a Christian, that’s the only reason you shouldn’t take the bread and wine. If you’re feeling down, tired, irritable, sinful, ashamed, or unworthy, then you need the nourishment Christ brings. At such times, take and eat with thankfulness and humility. Your sins are atoned for.
Members of one another
The last thing to say on church membership is that it’s not only something you receive, but something you give. You become a member of everyone else: Read Romans 12:4-8.
- “Individually members of one another”. Connected to us all.
- Each with different gifts to use to serve the church.
Celebrate Diversity
We read 1 Corinthians 12 which is an extended meditation on the nature of a body, and how the church is like a human body.
There are some clear lessons: A hand is not an eye, nor an ear an elbow. But each has its function, and we need every part of us. The Holy Spirit has given you the gifts he has given, and there is no-one in this body here by mistake. You are here because of the gifts he has given you, so that you will use those gifts in the church, for his glory.
So it’s good that we’re all different. The more different we are, the more gifts he has given us.
But you must be realistic:
- Because we’re sinful, sometimes we’ll clash with one another.
- Some have the gift of perfectionism – making sure things are just absolutely right – and sometimes we really need that.
- Others are more relaxed – no need to do everything so perfectly – and often we need that too.
- Each needs to work with the other: With patience and acceptance that some things are done differently from how you’d do them. But better, with joy that the Spirit makes us different to serve and teach one another in different ways.
You must also realise that gifts change over time.
- New people joining the church changes us as a whole body, enabling us to do things differently.
- Younger people will grow and develop, and it’s important to see them as the Christians they are maturing into than the youngster that you’ve always known.
- Equally, as age and infirmity take their toll, you might find you don’t have the gifts you once had. That can be hard, but the Lord knows, and he gives grace.
No division
But read 1 Corinthians 12:24-25 again.
Although we recognise differences between us – and learn to celebrate them – it’s important they don’t lead to division. It’s normal and healthy to have friends and friendship groups in church. But it’s unhealthy to have closed cliques, sects, or partitions. You might not even realise you have them. You think we’re a friendly church, but that’s not the same as being as welcoming one.
In fact, if you take it to the extreme you can see what a travesty a church split is – tearing the body of Christ in two.
It’s also clear how painful it ought to be to leave a church. When someone leaves a church, they often only see it from their own perspective. But an amputation affects the whole body, and the pain and loss is felt throughout.
In fact, the metaphor of the church as the body of Christ should help you realise that you’re a member 24×7. There are no removable or temporary parts. You are his 24×7, which makes you part of his body 24×7.
So what must you do?
Deliberately Connect
You can’t be close to God if you remain aloof from his people, because his people are his body – all connected, all one.
So we read Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.” The thing is, you can neither rejoice nor weep if you don’t know what’s going on in other people’s lives.
And that’s a two-way street: No-one can rejoice with you or weep with you if you never share what’s going on in your life. You need to be with others if you’re going to rejoice or weep with them.
Over the past few years the Lord has graciously added to our number here. Take steps to chat with those you don’t know. Connect. You might think, “It’s embarrassing after this time to ask, ‘What’s your name?’!” – but do it anyway.
Part and parcel with that connection with others is openness. In Acts 6, there was a problem in the early church. It was the very early church. Still in Jerusalem. And immediately there was a problem to do with uneven distribution of food among some of the widows. Even that church – with the apostles still among them – had problems. The problem was aired, a solution put forward, and everyone was happy.
Don’t harbour ill-feeling in your heart – or worse, among a small group of people stirring one another up. Get it aired properly so that it can be sorted. Speak the truth in love, and get things resolved.
Internal bleeding is bad news in any body.
Giving and receiving
Sometimes you will deliberately connect with the church by participating in things (even just turning up and attending). That’s good, using the gifts the Spirit has given you for the church.
Other times, you’ll deliberately connect by drawing on us.
It’s not a sin to ask for help. As you would help others, ask for help. Some of you are getting older. You have served the Lord with energy and enthusiasm, bearing the burdens of others. But you now say, “I don’t want to ask for help as I don’t want to be a burden.” But that’s not biblical. It might even be sinful. He has put you in a church so that we can live for him together, honouring one another in every way.
Sometimes, connecting with the church is giving, and sometimes it’s receiving. Members support other members, like arms taking on crutches if a leg is broken.
Summary
- If you are a Christian, you have union with Christ. You are in him where he is, and he is in you where you are.
- That union is personal for you, but it’s also in the context of a marriage union: Christ and his bride, his body, the church.
- You’re a member of his body, and he is the head. As my hand is under the control of my head, so you and all of us belong to Christ, under his command.
- You’re connected to him and to his body 24×7 – and that’s good, for life and strength, for love and help.
You can’t be close to God if you remain aloof from his people, the body of Christ. So engage with the church, this church, these people.
Know one another, serve one another, depend on one another. Encourage one another.
The question now is: What will you do differently? Take a minute to reflect.