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A Christian must see not only that he is a believer but also that he is a member of the Body. Since he is a member, he needs other members. It is impossible for one member to live without other members. In order for a member to survive, he needs to have other members. Many people leave the denominations because they realize that denominationalism is wrong. But this is not enough; they must go on to see the Body and get into the Body. The church is not a denominational organization; the church is the living Body of Christ. A Christian is not a member of a denomination but a member of the Body of Christ. We have to see that we are members in the Body and that we cannot be separated from other members. We cannot be independent, and we cannot go on without the other members.
The Body of Christ is built up by the mutual supply of the members. In addition to seeing that we are members, we have to see that every member has a ministry. Every member in the Body has a special function, and that function is its ministry. The verb form of the word ministry means "to serve." The ministry of a member is the special portion that a member receives from Christ. With this special portion he supplies the Body, and this is the service of the members. The Body is Christ, so our ministry is simply Christ. Everyone who belongs to the Lord has a special portion which he has received from Christ, and each portion has its characteristic feature. This feature becomes the special characteristic of his service. Ministerial service to others is based on the Christ one has within him. One does not serve others with the doctrine that he understands; he can only supply the Body with what he has received of Christ. The measure of our ministry is determined by the measure of Christ in us. Our ministry is based on these two factors: the Christ we have gained and the aspects of Christ that we have gained which are different from what other members have gained. If we only knew Christ in the same general way, what would there be for us to minister to one another? What would we have that would enable us to build up the Body? That is the most basic consideration in all ministries.
A Christian needs a ministry that is particularly his, not just a general ministry. We must gain something of Christ that others have not gained. It is this particular gain that enables us to make up that which is lacking in other members. Ministry involves a special knowledge of Christ; it is not a general knowledge of Him. Every organ in the body has its special function. The eyes see, the ears hear, and the nose smells. Every organ has its special function. In other words, every organ has its special portion. Other organs may temporarily do what another member does, but they are not dedicated to that particular function. For example, you can sometimes use your mouth to pick up things, but you cannot dedicate the mouth to this use. If the ears do not function according to their particular capacity, the body will not hear anything, and the growth of the body will be frustrated. If you have acquired something special and have some special knowledge of the Lord, you can supply the Body with it. If you have a special knowledge of the Lord, this special knowledge will constitute your specific ministry. Only specific ministries can serve the Body and cause the Body to grow. This is why every member has to continually seek and gain from the Lord what the Body does not have and convey it to the Body. When every member fulfills its ministry, there will be growth in the Body of Christ.
First Corinthians 12 tells us that all the members should seek the gifts and ministries. God's intention is to have special members fulfill special ministries, using them as channels for the Lord's life to flow into the Body and to increase the measure of the Body through them. When the life we receive from the Lord flows into the Body, the measure of the stature of the Body increases. God increases the measure of the stature of the Body through the members. Madame Guyon, Mrs. Penn-Lewis, Brother T. Austin-Sparks, and others are members who have a special knowledge of Christ. Through these ones God has dispensed many riches of life into the Body. Every member should learn and know something specific before the Lord so that each one can have a specific ministry. Without a ministry, it is useless to talk about gifts. Many people stress gifts, as though gifts constitute our ministry. But our ministry is Christ; our gifts are only the means by which we minister. Two persons may use the same kind of spoon to feed a child, but whether or not the child is well-nourished will be determined by the substance in the spoon, not by the kind of spoon. We do not impart our gifts to the church; we impart Christ. Our gifts are merely the means by which we impart Him. What we minister to the Body is Christ, and what the Body receives is Christ, because Christ is all and in all in the Body.
Specific ministry comes when we receive special experiences, particular dealings, and particular discipline from the Holy Spirit. Such experiences, dealings, and discipline result in specific knowledge of Christ. With this knowledge we serve the church through the exercise of the gifts. We need to receive power from the Holy Spirit and serve the Christ we know to the church through the operation of this power. The whole matter of our ministry is a matter of life. We do not despise gifts, but it is ministry that directs the gifts, not gifts that direct the ministry. If we have a gift without first having a ministry, we will be led away by the gift and not be able to render help to the Body. What the Body lacks today is ministry, not gift. We must first discover the specific ministry that the Lord has appointed to us. Only then should we seek for the gifts to equip us to fulfill that ministry.
Our service in the Body of Christ is based on our knowledge of Christ. This knowledge comes from our experience of life, not from doctrines. God first gives us life and then doctrines. Life comes first, and doctrines follow. The Bible shows us that Abraham had a special contribution for the Body along the line of faith. This did not come by a teaching he received concerning faith, and it was not brought about by him communicating a doctrine to others. Instead, it came about by Abraham being brought into a set of circumstances in which he learned to trust God. What was wrought into him through the fires of affliction was eventually ministered by him to the whole Body for its enrichment. First there was the life and lesson of faith and then the doctrine of faith. How did Martin Luther become competent to teach the church concerning the truth that "the righteous one shall live by his faith" (Hab. 2:4)? He did not become competent by diligently studying the Bible as a textbook and then communicating the knowledge he had acquired; rather, he became competent through much suffering and affliction. When his knees were worn from kneeling and his hope for justification was gone, the Lord revealed to him in a living way that a man is justified by faith. After he had this experience, he gained the doctrine of justification by faith. Doctrine is necessary, but doctrine should follow experience, not precede it. First there should be life, and then doctrine should follow. First there should be the experience, and then there should be the teaching. The order of the New Testament is first the Gospels (facts) and then the Epistles (doctrines). First, we have the life of Christ, and then we have the teachings of Christ. We should not spend all of our time studying, analyzing, and investigating a doctrine; these are works of reeds and will fail when the test comes. The only thing that is useful is what God has wrought in us, and only this can render supply to others. The only way we can communicate to others in a living way is to communicate that which we have learned through experience. Discipline, suffering, and trials are the means for God to constitute the word into us so that we may have something to give to the Body. If we want to be ministers for the building up of the Body of Christ, we must not shrink from any trial, discipline, or dealing.
First Corinthians 12:4-30 is divided into four sections:
(1)Subject — vv. 4-6: Gift, ministry, and function.(2)The gifts of the Holy Spirit — vv. 7-11: The main emphasis being on the Holy Spirit.(3)The ministry of the Lord — vv. 12-27: The main emphasis being on Christ.(4)The work of God — vv. 28-30: The main emphasis being on God.
The beginning of every section points out the main divisions, while the theme can be seen in the subject of that section. Gift is related to the Holy Spirit, whereas ministry is related to Christ. The bringing forth of the ministry is through the gift of the Holy Spirit. The gifts are the vessels to perfect the ministries for the building up of the Body of Christ. The goal of the gifts is to bring in the ministries, and through the ministries, the Christ that the church has learned, known, and gained is dispensed to others. Most of the revival movements today have gifts but no ministry. It is useless to exercise gifts all day long. We have to realize that gifts are secondary; the main thing is the ministry. Once we have a ministry, we can serve the Body and cause the growth of the Body.
All the members of the Body of Christ mutually affect one another. If one member suffers, all the other members spontaneously suffer. Sometimes we feel strong because strength from other members has been transmitted to us. Every member can affect the other members. This is why we should not live by ourselves but hold the Head and seek fellowship. God conveys life to the Body through every member. If life stops in you, you will not be able to supply others with life, and the church will suffer. Every individual failure causes damage to the church. As a consequence, when one member suffers in the Body of Christ, all the members suffer with him. Every member affects other members one way or another. Hence, we have to be in the fellowship of the Body in everything we do. If we have some good experiences, it is for rendering a supply to the Body. If we are in some adverse condition, we must realize that this also affects other members of the Body.
Everything we have is in the Body, through the Body, and for the Body. In 1925 Brother T. Austin-Sparks was invited to America. He met a sister there who had learned many lessons through her illnesses and who had subsequently rendered much help to many people. She had a ministry of life and was a person who supplied others with life. The lessons she learned were learned in the Body, through the Body, and for the Body. This is the kind of person God is looking for today. Our living should be in the Body, through the Body, and for the Body; this should be our standard. May the Lord deliver us from individualism into the Body. May the Lord show us the Body, and may we serve His Body with a ministry which is based on our knowledge of Christ.
