Scripture Reading: Rom. 12:3-8; Eph. 4:9-16; Col. 2:19; 1 Cor. 11:29
First Corinthians 12:18 says, "But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, even as He willed." This shows that every member has a definite place, definite assignment, and definite position. Every member has a particular portion with which he serves the Body of Christ. The eyes see, the ears hear, and the nose smells. Each organ has its function, and each has its portion. The eyes serve the body by seeing. The ears serve the body by hearing. The nose serves the body by smelling. Each has its own responsibility, and none can replace another. Member A cannot be member B, and member B cannot be member C. Each member has his own characteristics, and each has his own capability. These characteristics and capabilities constitute the place, position, or ministry of each member.
The characteristics of a member are the ministry of that member, which is the supply it renders to the Body. The ministry of a member dictates his place and position in the Body. The portion of each member in the Body is not for himself, but for the whole Body. Our service in the Body of Christ is based on what we have received particularly from the Lord. The particular knowledge and experience we have acquired from the Lord become our supply to the Body. Yet many Christians have acquired only reeds — amounting to nothing but knowledge that they have heard and doctrines that they have studied. These are reed weapons; they are not the sword of the Spirit, and they will prove to be useless in time of need. One theologian despised his wife for not knowing the Bible, but when his son became ill, he could not remain calm. His wife, who had a much deeper knowledge of God, was more trusting, peaceful, and firm in her faith. Doctrines that are gained from study do not avail much. Only the life that comes from the Lord counts, and only that supplies the Body.
We supply the Body with the life that we have received from Christ the Head. Yet when we function, we have to be proper and in order. Order in the Body is essential to growth and ministry. In the physical body, any dislocation or disproportionate growth of the members hinders its functioning. This is also true in the Body of Christ. In the meeting no one will stop you from speaking. But you have to speak according to your measure of faith and according to the leading of the Spirit. You have to know whether there is any overstepping in your speaking, and you have to know whether your speaking is too long. Many believers crave to be outstanding Christians and outstanding workers, but if some become overdeveloped, others will be underdeveloped. The result would not be the Body but a monstrosity; God's order in the church would be destroyed. When we truly come under the authority of the Head, He sets us in our special place in the Body and appoints us to our special function.
In the denominational organizations, leaders are selected according to background, social status, education, knowledge, intelligence, eloquence, or talent. But they may not have any revelation, faith, or experience in the Lord. They can only bring natural things to the church. They will not supply the Body; on the contrary, they will bring death to the Body. The ministry of the Body is not determined by natural things. A member functions in the Body according to what he has received from the Lord. It is according to the "measure of faith" (Rom. 12:3, 6). At the same time, it is according to God's assigned order. Therefore, we have to seek revelation and experience from Christ so that we can have something to supply the Body, and we have to know the order of the Body, which is God's assigned pattern in the Body. We must be willing to be limited to our measure. As soon as we go beyond it, we go beyond the authority of the Head and move out from under the anointing. When we go beyond our measure, we interfere with the order of the Body. The Body of Christ is an organic life; it operates without any human arrangement. All the members must receive life from the Head and function in proper order. If our relationship with the Head is proper, we will keep our place in the Body spontaneously.
Ephesians 4:11 speaks of a group of people who are for the Body; they are God's gifts to the church, supplying Christ for the building up of the Body. We have to pay special attention to this group of members.
The apostles are the first gift that God has appointed in the Body of Christ. They are sent by God to represent the authority of the Head and to execute God's will on earth. Hence, in a church that is a proper testimony of the Body, all the believers should submit to the representative authority. In the Old Testament, Moses did not argue when Korah and his company repudiated Moses' authority as God's prophet. Instead, he referred the matter to God, who made it clear that touching the anointed of the Lord was the same as touching the Lord Himself, and that repudiating the authority of His prophet was the same as repudiating His authority. The result of such a touching and repudiation is death upon the offenders. God requires us to come directly under not only the authority of the Lord but also the authority of those who represent His authority in the Body. When the head orders the arm to move, the little finger must move with the arm. The arm illustrates representative authority. We must keep our position in the Body under the headship of Christ and under the authority of those in the Body to whom He has sovereignly given His authority. It is much easier to bow to the direct authority of God than to the authority of His representatives in the Body. Bowing to the authority of His representative takes meekness and humility. We cannot disregard God's order with impunity, as we see in Paul's letter to Corinth (1 Cor. 11:29-30). There is no room for individual thought or action in the Body of Christ. The Body moves under the control of the Head. Disobeying the law of the Body means weakness and death.
The prophets not only predict future events but also speak forth God's mind. They are those who are sent by God to His people to convey His mind. The greatest prophet in the Old Testament was Elijah, not Isaiah, because most of Isaiah's words were prophecies, whereas Elijah primarily conveyed God's mind. When a prophet receives a revelation from the Lord, he conveys God's mind to His people. A prophet is one who knows and declares God's mind, whereas a person who predicts merely foretells future events. In the Body there is a special group of ministers who know God's mind and who make it known to the Body. These ones are also the representative authority of the Head.
Evangelists make known the compassions of God in Christ, while shepherds and teachers make known God's riches in Christ and render others the supply through these riches. Each of these ministers is a "joint of the rich supply" (Eph. 4:16). They receive life from God and communicate it to the whole Body. Many Christians say, "I am in direct communication with the Source of supply; I can get everything for myself from the Head." Such an attitude is a repudiation of the authority of the Lord, who in His sovereignty has ordained that the members would be dependent not only on Him but also on one another.
How do these "joints of the rich supply" serve the Body? They must be those who have gone through special training under the Lord's hand and have been specially molded through the environment ordered by the Spirit; they have a history of knowing Christ. They are tried and tested and instructed by Christ, and they are qualified to transmit spiritual values. They have a secret history in tribulation, and the cross has wrought the things that they minister to the Body into them.
In addition, in the local assembly there are members who have the right to exercise authority. They are not merely given authority; they have authority. These are those who hold the office of elders. They occupy this position, not because they have been made elders, but because they are elders. Elders are manifested in a spontaneous way by the Holy Spirit; the only thing that man can do is identify and confirm. In a spiritual church the most spiritual members hold the office of elders; in a carnal church the office is held by those who have the best natural qualifications. When a man marries and has a son, he becomes a father. No one can be appointed to hold the office of a father. A man either is a father or is not a father; he cannot be made a father. Likewise, no one can be made an elder. He either is an elder or is not an elder. Elders are not elected through campaigns and elections; they are manifested in a spontaneous way through maturity in life. They should be those who are purer in heart and who are seeking for and growing in spiritual things. Their duty is to help others obey the Head. If a person is an elder, all that the church has to do is recognize what he is and allow him to function accordingly.
In God's arrangement, the man is the head of the woman. Therefore, sisters have no administrative power in the church. This does not mean, however, that any man can be the head of a woman; only those who are under Christ can be the head of the sisters. The covering of the sisters' heads indicates that they maintain the order in the Body, that they submit to Christ as well as to the authority of the Body.
Strictly speaking, there is no authority in the Body; all authority lies in the Head. The weakness of the so-called church today is that authority has become a matter of position, not of life. In the Body of Christ authority is a matter of life, not of position. If a member has authority, it is because that authority has been wrought into him already. He has passed through God's dealing, and authority has become life in him. God does not set up certain individuals to act as eyes, ears, mouth, hands, etc. He makes them these things by the operation of the cross. When they are these organs, they naturally function in that capacity. The whole issue rests on life. As long as we obey the life of the Body, which flows as the Body maintains its position under the absolute authority of the Head, there will be continuous and perfectly proportioned growth. Unless we are truly in the life of the Body, there cannot be increase in the measure of Christ.
Apostles and elders have no authority in themselves; they only have authority as they stand under the authority of the Lord. They exercise authority in the Body by representing the authority of the Head. If the apostles and elders have the mind of God, then they have the authority of God, for He only upholds that for which He Himself stands. Whatever He authorizes, He supports by His authority.
The life of the Body necessitates drastic dealings with the natural life. We must be broken before we will submit to the representative authority in the Body and be willing to minister and be ministered unto in our sovereignly ordained place. God cannot allow lawlessness to come into His church, because this makes the development of the Body impossible. He cannot allow any human head to raise itself, because this also hinders the development of the Body and denies the headship of Christ. Any desire on the part of a believer to exercise authority is contrary to the life of the Body. Christ alone is the Head, and we are all members one of another. If anyone claims to have a revelation of the Body yet is not in subjection to the authority of the Body or properly related to the other members, the claim is false. As soon as we truly see the Body, we will also see the need of obedience and mutual relatedness. Submission is one outstanding characteristic of those who are familiar with the life of the Body.
God has made definite arrangements and instituted order in the Body of Christ. We must be careful to discern the Body, as 1 Corinthians 11:29 charges us to do. We cannot be careless in the Body and make proposals lightly or overstep presumptuously. Every member must be in proper order and walk in an orderly way. Authority is ordained by the Lord; no one can be an authority in himself, and no one can elect others to be an authority. Authority comes from the Lord's arrangement and is for the Body life. We should be clear about our position in the Body and maintain our position. In the Body life, we all must walk according to the order in the Body.
