Leadership Training 02

The Body of Christ (Part 1)

I. Thought of the day: The author submits this premise: "It is

impossible to truly follow Christ without being a leader". What do
you think of this? Do you think it is true? If so, how?

II. Today's lesson examines an aspect of leadership that often is

overlooked when discussing leaders: The Body of Christ.

Ephesians 1:15-23
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord
Jesus and your love for all Gods people, 16 I have not stopped
giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep
asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father,
may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may
know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be
enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has
called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy
people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he
exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated
him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above
all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every
name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also
in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his
feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the
church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills
everything in every way.
15

This is probably something that you have heard many times

before - the Church is the body of Christ. But there is more to this
paragraph that we need to look at.
1. Christ is over everything (vs 21-22b) He is over all nations. He
is over all rulers. He is over every home. He is over every parent.
2. Christ possesses ultimate, total authority. He is THE Lord and
not simply a Lord.
3. Paul is going to talk about leadership in chapter 5. Yet before he
discusses anything else in the book he wants the reader to know
that the only ultimate and total power in all the world resides in
Christ.
4. The Body is the fullness of Christ. Paul uses the term "fullness"
13 times in his writings. What does that term mean to you?
(completeness).
How does the Body complete Christ? And how is it the fullness of
him who fills everything?

Whatever role human leadership is to play in the Church, it must

not intrude on Jesus' leadership. He and He alone is the head of
the body. Our power as leaders is not in our leadership, but it is in
our Saviour.
Often we emphasize the point about the Church is the Body of
Christ in relationship to unity. Christ does not have multiple
bodies, only one. But we can easily forget to emphasize the point
that the church has only one head, and it cannot be separated
from it.

III. Leadership demands that we (re)discover and (re)affirm the

nature of the church as a body and that we learn how to help the
church be and become what it ought to be.
A. Resemblance vs identity. I had a duel major: math & computer
science. A math degree can mess you up; you won't think the
same ever again. One word that I use a lot is the word "similar". If
I have two quarters that are identical, I use the word "similar".
They are not "the same" or "equal"; if they were then I would only
have 1 quarter. Instead they are "like" each other, or similar.
Jesus used this a lot in his parables. "The kingdom of Heaven is
like a field." Is Heaven an actual field where people grow grain?
No; he is using an analogy; comparing two distinct things and
showing the ways they are similar.
We have heard the Church is the Body of Christ. How many of you
have read 1 Corinthians 12 and thought about this being an
analogy - the church is like a Body. I have said that - here are
ways the church is like a person's body.
Look back over vs 23 - do you see the word "like" in this. We are
going to read 1 Corinthians 12 and you won't see the word there
either. The Bible doesn't say that the church "resembles" a body.
It insists that the church IS a body.
This is important. We can't just note any parallels and analogies
between the two and then ignore the practical implications.
1 Corinthians 12:12-31
Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many
parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all
baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one bodywhether Jews or
Gentiles, slave or freeand we were all given the one Spirit to
drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
12

Now if the foot should say, Because I am not a hand, I do not

belong to the body, it would not for that reason stop being part
of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, Because I am not an
eye, I do not belong to the body, it would not for that reason stop
being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where
would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear,
where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed
the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them
to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it
is, there are many parts, but one body.
15

The eye cannot say to the hand, I dont need you! And the
head cannot say to the feet, I dont need you! 22 On the
contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are
indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we
treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are
treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need
no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving
greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be
no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal
concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers
with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
21

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of
it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second
prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of
helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all
apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?
30
Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues [d]? Do all
interpret? 31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.
27

The church at Corinth is not the church that any should strive to
be like. One of their many problems was that they were using the
gifts of the Spirit to "outdo" one another. For whatever reason

they thought that speaking in tongues was the coolest of all the
gifts, and whoever had it was the best and greatest among them.
They were doing the same thing that the apostles were doing at
the Last Supper: jockeying for position. Paul is telling them that
we all have jobs, given to us by Christ, and that we are all
dependent on each other. We are a body.
We often look at this teaching and focus in on how everyone is
important. And that is true. Re-read vs 21-22.
The part we often forget is that because we are a body, we lift up
all the members. Re-read vs 23-26.
The implication for leaders is great - there is no special honor at
being a leader; it is the gift God has given you. The honor is given
to those that lack it normally; great honor is given to them
because they are in the body and they are lifted up to the level of
those that already have it.
Q. So... if we are all equal honor-wise, what special burdens does
that put on leaders?
And we are all suppose to lead in the way God has chosen for us,
so this burden is on us all.

A Church-member vs a Body-member:
A Church-member:
a. must attend meetings
b. must give money
c. must live morally.
d. must recruit new members.
e. must participate in projects.
This isn't to say that these things aren't important. But couldn't
you say the exact same thing for a club - you have to attend,

donate or pay dues, live according to the rules, recruit new

members, and participate?
A Body-member:
a. is dependent on others.
b. unites the other parts
c. passes along nourishment and encouragement
d. stays put - not always trying to change his position
e. at the same time is elastic - moveable.
Conclusion: Body members support and sustain one another, and
that is the way it is in the Body of Christ.