Destroying the Body of Christ: Introduction

Welcome to the start of a brand new series, and one that I have been so excited to start. Lately, the approach I have been taking to the blog is less of a contextual study of Scripture, and more of a personal approach, in which I am finding topics that relate to what I am going through, using these experiences to help guide my study in what I am learning about.

For a while now, I have been observing the body of Christ, especially from a Gen Z point of view. Between being on staff at a Christian camp, being in college church groups, and going to a Christian university, I have been able to observe so many people that claim Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. I have watched how these people interact with each other, including social norms, behaviors, and speech, and have really learned a lot. For those of you that know me personally, you know that I am an avid peoplewatcher, and am always so intrigued to see how people act and react as their authentic self.

In these observations, however, I have noticed something rather unfortunate. When looking at my generation specifically, the body of Christ is not acting at all like it should. Where we should be selfless, uplifting, and united, we are self-seeking, negative, and divisive. We as a group have allowed ourselves to blend into the world too much, and have lost the purpose for the community that the Lord has given us. And if I’m being fully honest, this is so prevalent in my school. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love my school dearly, and it is one of the biggest blessings that the Lord has ever brought in my life. I have met amazing people, grown in my sense of purpose, and have thrived in an environment where I can be constantly pushed and challenged. So when I say that we aren’t doing community like we should, this isn’t my way of talking bad about my school, but instead calling myself and my peers higher.

Wait…what?

Okay, okay, I should probably back up a bit. I know that I just threw a bunch out there, and it was kind of a lot. That was intentional. I don’t want to paint a picture of my school as a bunch of people that are these terrible, awful narcissists that only care about themselves, but I also want to be blunt and honest. This series by nature is going to be very convicting, as it has already been heavily convicting in my own life and my own actions this week.

So, let me take a minute to explain. Like I already said, I love my school. As one of the most extroverted people I know, it fills my heart with so much joy to live in an environment where people are so welcome to new friendships, and where my enthusiasm is met with joy instead of judgment. I have met so many amazing people on campus that are so sweet, and this last year has allowed me to grow in deeper relationships with them, which is such a blessing.

However, the frame of reference that I am using to defend my stance on the downfall of this generation’s community is Acts 2, which I was exploring in my last series. Here, we see the early church with one another, and it is truly inspiring to see.

“Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles; doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,  praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” (Acts 2:41-47)

I am quickly learning that this is a passage I refer to often on the blog, but for good reason. This is an example of such a Godly community, presented in the most pure and selfless way possible. This communion shows consistent fellowship, eating meals together, taking care of each others’ needs, and praying for each other. When I picture this, I think of the phrase “it takes a village to raise a child”, except that it takes a village to raise a village. Everyone’s needs were met simply because they were all working together to take care of one another. While I do think that much of the Christian community in our generation is concerned for each other, and wants to take care of each other, I also notice that we have become complacent in many things. We use the excuse of a busy life and having too many things on our to-do list to escape what we know truly needs to be priority.

In addition to our complacency, though, I see too much blatant disunity in spaces that should be focused on unifying the body of Christ together for a common goal. Whether the root of this disunity be gossip, jealousy, pride, or any other sin issue, we have ignored the countless commandments of the Lord in the New Testaments to help create a unified church, without division.

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“Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same things, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” (1 Corinthians 1:10)

“Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.” (2 Corinthians 13:11)

“Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion of one another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous.” (1 Peter 3:8)

“For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: that there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.” (1 Corinthians 12:24-25)

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In all of these different passages, we see countless commands for the early church to be joined together in one mind. This command is not simply given so that everyone can simply be happy and have fun, but instead so that we as God’s children can more effectively and lovingly carry out the mission that is set before us, to spread the good news of Jesus Christ to all nations. We all know that we were not made to go through life alone; instead, the Father created us as relational creatures that depend on one another. The whole idea of 1 Corinthians 12 is that we were all made with specific gifts, talents, and abilities that are unique to one another so that we can come together as a united body to fulfill this mission effectively. In fact, Jesus believes in this idea so strongly that he even warns that “every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.” (Matthew 12:25). While the original context of this verse is originally concerning Satan and his kingdom, the same can still apply to us. If the members of the church (church meaning the people, not the building) are focusing all of their energy on getting back at one another and trying to prove their value amongst each other, then this kingdom will be brought to desolation, and will crumble under our pride. And that brings us exactly to the heart of this study: what is destroying the body of Christ.

Looking Ahead

Now that I have just given you an exhaustive context of what has been inspiring this study, I want to formally introduce what this series is about, and why I have chosen to do what I am doing with it. In this series, I want to take a deeper look at what it is that is preventing our generation of Christians from looking like this church that we see in Acts 2. This will include a lot of my own perspective, from what I see in the social spaces that I am involved in, and will use Scripture to be supporting what I claim to be holding us back from the unity that we are commanded to reach. You could even see this series as a “how-to” sort of book, to look at the different things that, if implemented, could absolutely destroy a space of believers that are acting selflessly, humbly, and in sacrificial love. I phrased this series the way I did because I want the blunt nature of it to be shocking and convicting, as this is how it has been impacting me recently.

As I say often here, I didn’t create this blog with the intention of simply telling other people what to do with their life, and how to fix all of the terrible things about them. While I do hope to inspire change in the world around me, I also want this to be an atmosphere in which I can wrestle with my own sin issues, and be honest about the ways that I am not practicing what I preach. So, as much as I talk about the lack of unity that I see in the body of Christ, I see these own things presented in my life. Some things that have really been convicting as of late are my natural tendencies to gossip, even about those that are fellow believers, and my pride in my abilities or gifts over that of others.

So, while this series is meant to bring an exposure and awareness to what is around us, I also want it to serve as encouragement to seek unity. Oftentimes, sin can spread as much as it does because we allow it to fly under the radar, believing that it is “not that bad”. These little acts of complacency that emerge from the idol of comfort is really what kills us, because we can turn a blind eye far too easy. Because of this, I hope that this awareness calls us all, myself included, to a higher standard. I want to be challenged to see how I can approach the body of Christ in a more effective way, that stands out from the world and encourages me to begin building the community that is necessary to see growth in the kingdom of heaven.

I hope you all are as excited as I am to see where this series goes, and I can’t wait to find out how the Lord will work in and through this series!