Romans 12:4-5, “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another."
Paul chooses to use the word body instead of business because body parts work together much differently than employees of a business work together. Let me give you a few differences between the two:
1. The body works in harmony when one of the parts fail to restore that body part back to health. In a business, employees are tempted to utilize the failure of a co-worker for personal gain.
2. All body parts are equally valuable. For example, my body responds the same when I stub my toe and when I hit my head, because when there is pain, regardless of where it is located in my body, my other body parts jump in with care and comfort. On the other hand, employees are not equal in a business. A janitor could take short term disability and the business may never know it. But when the CFO has to take short term disability, the entire business may suffer.
3. The body is comprised of all Christ-centered churches that have the same mission and is one under the headship of Christ. Contrary to that, a business may have many franchises that have a similar mission but strive to keep their local franchise open with disregard to other franchises around the globe.
In order for Paul to rightly represent the church as God intended it to be seen, he has to use the analogy of a body.
It is sad to see more and more churches operate like a business instead of a body. Don't get me wrong, I
am not against fancy church names, slogans, and awesome church branding, that is, unless it is to promote your own personal kingdom and not the Kingdom of God. Today's church culture is becoming littered with churches that belittle other churches in order to promote their own growth....Phrases like, "We aren't your grandma's church" are becoming more offensive to me because grandma's church is part of the body and is discipiling grandma to become more like Christ. The body should protect the different body parts, not belittle them in order for personal gain.
Much too often today, we have franchised the local church, promoting "my church" because it is better than "that church down the street", all along, building our personal kingdom instead of seeing God's church as a global church; under one head, operating with one mission, with all of its parts (you, me and all other children of God) being part of the same body. When we aim to build only our local church that we attend or lead, we run the risk of making disciples of us and not of God. Our goal can become to train people to follow our methods, our vision, and to do church our way, instead of equipping people to go out in the world to make disciples no matter where God may lead them to ultimately worship. The church's mission is to make disciples that make disciples, but some churches have made disciples who ultimately just serve the church. The mission field is not inside the church (although there is a harvest to be reaped inside of the church), but out in the world. Therefore the church's goal is to launch Christians out into this world (Jesus specifically told his disciples to go and make disciples, get out in the world and get to work) to save the lost. The church's goal should not be to make disciples who only serve their local church.
