FBCD_FaithEssentials_June_FlipBook

Todd Gaddis

church. 3 This leaves no doubt as to the importance of the local churches’ role in first century kingdom expansion. This brings to mind a phrase coined in recent years, “all politics are local.” That quip can be applied to the “church” as well. Para church organizations and media ministries have their place and often serve as faith catalysts, yet nothing can take the place of the local church. The Bible is full of imagery, especially when it comes to the church. These symbols of the church will provide a greater understanding of its role on this fallen earth. Body— This is the most common symbol for the church used by Paul in his letters. It makes perfect sense, since the body is a very common thing. We all have one. They’re everywhere. It’s the same with the church. Even though its function is otherworldly in nature, it’s a very earthly fellowship— made up of very ordinary people— that crosses cultural, racial, and economical barriers. On the flipside, like the body, the church is very complex. Only God could fashion these temporal tabernacles in which we live, with their intricate combination of bones, muscle, organs, nerves, etc. Likewise, only God could unite a diverse, sin-prone, self-centered group of people behind a common purpose. As the Bible says, “For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another” (Romans 12:4,5). Just as the human body is made up of a myriad of internal and external parts, all working together for one purpose, the church is made up of uniquely gifted people striving toward a common cause. Unity doesn’t mean uniformity. As the body of Christ, the church is much greater than the sum of its parts. “Christ also is the head WE ARE CHRIST’S BODY

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