Being A
Life-Based Church
Introduction
Here
is a truth: Jesus never left the earth
except for a few days. He merely changed
bodies. When the Holy Spirit came to the
earth He was the Spirit of Christ. What
made Jesus The Christ was the Holy Spirit whom He
received without measure. Now what makes
us Christians is the same Holy Spirit.
The Spirit that once filled a body singular (our Lord’s) now fills a
body plural (us), Ephesians 1:22-23.
We are now His body and every bit as much the Lord’s body as the one He
inhabited while on the earth.
So then, how do we see ourselves? What
kind of “church” are we? Are we
programming based or ministry based? Are
we gift or need based? Is our emphasis
on methods of evangelism? Do we call
ourselves Pentecostal or Baptist? Should
we belong to an organization or denomination?
Are we to meet in cell groups? Is
that the basis? How do we grow? The answer to all of these questions is the
same. We need to see that our life is
His life and His life is our life. We as
His body can only live to fulfill the will of the Head of the body. The body does not have a will of its own, or
if it does, it is a monster.
“I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me”….Galatians
His
life is the basis of our lives and the basis of all that follows. Whether it is ministry or character, it is
from Him and for Him. The graces flowing from us to each of us is also for Him and to
Him. As we build up His body in the
earth we build Him up in the earth. As
He is lifted up, men are drawn to Him.
There is no more valuable work of the body than this. Even evangelism must have its conclusion in
this up-building work. It all resounds
to His glory.
Now we come to every man’s gifting. Do
we see these gifts for our benefit alone?
While the gifts of Ephesians
As Jesus said, “It is the Father that dwelleth in me,
He doeth the works,” John
Now what does that do to our ideas about gifts and ministry? What does it do to the way we want to
structure and formulate our churches?
What does it say about emphasis given to particular aspects of church
life? Jesus said, “Without me you can do
nothing,” John 15:5. He is the
foundation and the building all in one.
He is in it and through it and unless He builds it we labor in vain, Psalm
127:1. I bring these questions up,
because we all have been guilty of detaching the life from the work of the
life. That soon leaves “externals” with
no internal life force to which we are conscious of and accountable to. It is like having scaffolding without a
building.
How long can we run our programs and function in our ministries and gifts of
the Holy Spirit without surrendering all of it back to Him? I suppose about as long as we have. But now there is an awakening and a hunger
for intimacy. In intimacy, He makes
Himself known and there we learn what He gives of Himself in grace to each of
us. What He is we become and we end up
saying, “I am what I am by the grace of God,” 1 Corinthians
People as Gifts,
and Gifts of the Spirit
The supernatural gifts of the Spirit and the gifts of
the ascension of Jesus can be distinguished the following way. The ascension gifts of Apostle, Prophet,
Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher are “people”.
The gifts of the Spirit are momentary manifestations of the Spirit in
the believer. They manifest long enough
to do their work, so to speak. Once a
prophecy is given, it is done. But a
prophet is a permanent calling. All can
prophesy, but not all are prophets. We
will learn more of this.
One hundred percent of
the body will have a manifestation of the Spirit released through them in some
way. But, a much smaller percentage of the body will be one of the “five-fold
people gifts” to the body. However, all
will feel something of the five-fold gifting in them. This is due to impartation of each gifting into
the body as to balance out the body and keep it from becoming influenced by
only one gift such as the evangelist or the pastor. A healthy body will be the result. We become mutually dependent on each other to
“be” what God has called and given us to be.
Just as the human body needs all its parts, so does the body of
Christ. Then the full maturing of the
body can be achieved. It is impossible
without every member functioning at one time or another.
Of course this is
difficult and challenging to our old “mindskins” with
their limited concept of the pastor and the audience/congregation. But a living organism could not function with
such dependence on one member. And
further, if Christ is in all and through all, then He will express Himself
through each and every member in some fashion of His ministry when He was on
the earth. Thus the supernatural giftings of the same
Spirit will be in all of us. How will
this happen?
Much of your locating
and releasing what the Holy Spirit is ready to manifest through you will have
to do with becoming spiritually sensitive and willing to yield to the
Spirit. Yes, faith will play a part
too. And love will play a bigger
part. In the final analysis it is love
of God and love for one another that releases the spiritual gifts and increases
the supernatural. Let’s go.
Blessings In Christ,
Greg Manalli
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Ephesians Ministries International®
article is a publication of Ephesians Ministries International® and may not be copied, reproduced or distributed
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Fellowship
of