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3. Christ's Body in Me
Christ lives in me! What is true of the Virgin Mary, who knew the Son of God physically in her womb, is true spiritually of every saint. God's son is born into me through the direct act of God.
Teresa of Avila wrote many years ago, "Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours; yours are the eyes through which he is to look with compassion on the world; yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good; and yours the hands with which he is to bless us now."
Jesus can live in Christians
"In all, he is present.
In some, he is prominent.
In a few, he is pre-eminent."
Becoming a Christian
Becoming a Christian is like getting married. Being a Christian is like being married.
At the wedding, the bride and groom make solemn vows that they will love and care for each other,
"till death parts us."
Over the months and years of a developing union, their relationship is better summed up not by a marriage certificate signed years before but in their day-to-day love.
Being a Christian
Both initial commitment and daily love combine to make a good partnership. In the same way, my daily walk and discipleship in God speak more eloquently of my Christian faith than the intensity of my initial decision, though that is also important.
Like a horse and a carriage, belief and belonging are always hitched together in the genuine member of the Body of Christ.
Decision and Discipleship
Is a Christian someone who has merely made a decision for Christ, or does there need to be more? Some cradle Christians, who have been devoted to Jesus for as long as they can remember, do not know a specific commitment point yet they cannot be refused the title of Christian.
An initial decision is of no consequence to them, it is their present faith that is all important. Paul describes this current conviction as, "until Christ is formed in you"(1).
Christ is Born in Me!
The basic purpose of this chapter is to show that the Body of Christ was the model of ministry for individuals in the New Testament church and is also God's choice for you and I at the close of the Twentieth Century.
This model, when rediscovered, will provide what we now call "the church" with a dedicated and focused workforce for the future. To flesh out a "faith today" definition of a "Christian" Dr. C. Peter Wagner presents us with an illuminating suggestion
A Christian is someone who is
1. Committed to Christ.
2. Committed to the Body of Christ.
3. Committed to the work of Christ in the world.
4. Developing his or her Christian life in this order.
Response and Call.
This is especially true for more Protestant Christians who lay great stress on individual response. Becoming a Christian encompasses God's initiative to call, equip and send us. But at the same time, it also embraces our response to bow to Christ, to join the Body of Christ and to engage in the work of Christ. Both are necessary for a Christian to develop spiritually towards maturity.
To the question, "What does being committed to the Body of Christ mean?" Blaise Pascal responded, "To be a member is to have neither life, being, nor movement, except through the spirit of the Body and for the Body." Everything we do, think or say is through and for the Body.
Question for Discussion
1. Consider the statement, "When I am by myself, I am the entire body of Christ."
2. How do you feel about this? Do you agree personally with it?
Notes
(1) Galatians 4.19.
"We are living members of his mystical body"
