THE GOVERNING PRINCIPLE OF THE BODY OF CHRIST

Today the Body of Christ is the subject of much Christian conversation. Christian bookstores sell many books on the "Body life," the "Body ministry," and other aspects of the Body. Many seeking believers in this country are gripped with a deep longing to know more about the Body of Christ. Furthermore, they desire to experience the Body life that is revealed in the New Testament. Such longings are no doubt inspired by the Holy Spirit. In order to experience the Body life, however, it is necessary to be clear about an essential principle of the Body of Christ, the principle of oneness. Unless this principle is followed, the consequence will be further confusion and division.

The governing principle of the Body of Christ is oneness. "There is one body..." (Eph. 4:4). This is a most fundamental fact! The Bible unequivocally declares that there is only one Body of Christ. Timewise, from the beginning of the church on the day of Pentecost even into eternity, there is only one Body. All Christians, whether living in the first or twentieth century, are members of that unique Body. Tile essential oneness of the Body is not affected by time. Spacewise, Christ’s Body is also one. Whether a believer is saved in the United States or India, he becomes a member of the one universal Body. A believer living in New York City is not, in any sense, a member of a different Body than a believer living in Los Angeles. Both are members of the one universal Body of Christ.

Since the Body of Christ is one universally, it must also be one in expression. According to the Bible, there was one expression of the Body in the city of Jerusalem.

Though the believers numbered in the tens of thousands (Acts 21:20), there was only one Body with one governmental administration (Acts 21:18). Later, as the gospel was preached, the expressions of the one Body increased in number. First the church in Antioch was raised up, then the Church in Philippi, the church in Corinth, and the church in many other cities. These were not many Bodies, but merely expressions of that one Body.

The United States, with its many foreign embassies, is a good illustration of the one Body with its many expressions. The U.S. is one nation, but it has an embassy in many foreign countries. The embassy is the unique expression of the U.S. in that country. Though cities such as London and Tokyo are quite large, they still have only one U.S. embassy. If there were two U.S. embassies in a foreign city it would indicate that the U.S. was divided.

In like manner, if there are two expressions of the Body of Christ in a city, it indicates the Body is divided. The church as the Body of Christ cannot tolerate division without suffering inestimable loss. The most damaging attack upon a living body is the severance and separation of its members. Once a member is detached and separated, loss of function ensues for that member and great suffering is incurred by the whole body.

The present divided condition of the Body of Christ represents the masterstroke of an enemy who is subtle beyond human comprehension. Historically, to persecute the church is to cause it to flourish; to repress it is to cause it to spring up and advance the more livingly; but to divide it is to destroy it. When the persecutions by the Roman emperors failed to eradicate the church, Satan adopted the more subtle strategy of dividing the Body with quarrels over points of doctrine and practice. The modern denominations are but the full-grown fruits of such craftiness. Nothing has damaged the Christian testimony through the centuries more than divisions among the Christians themselves.

The Lord Jesus, realizing the supreme importance of the oneness of His disciples, prayed "that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me" (John 17:21). The most convincing evidence of the reality of Christ is oneness among His disciples. Such oneness is an irrefutable testimony to the world. In that last long season of prayer, the Lord could have prayed many things; the fact that He prayed concerning the oneness of His disciples indicates its serious significance.

When the Corinthian believers tended even slightly toward division by declaring. "I am of Paul: and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ," the Apostle sharply rebuked them by asking, "Is Christ divided?" (1 Cor. 1:10-13). The hidden root of division was further laid bare when Paul emphatically declared that divisions were fleshly (1 Cor. 3:3-4 NASB). Such a word reveals that divisions have their source, not in the Holy Spirit, but in the fallen human flesh.

The Word of God allows only two kinds of separations in the Body of Christ. One is related to time, the other to distance. A Christian living today cannot have practical fellowship with the Apostle Peter, though surely he is one with him spiritually. Furthermore, a Christian living in Los Angeles cannot have practical, daily fellowship with another Christian living in New York City. These separations are not inherent divisions, but rather are limitations based on time and distance. If, however, two Christians are living at the same time and reside in the same city, they must be one practically by meeting and fellowshipping together. To do otherwise is divisive and is against the governing principle of the Body of Christ.

In recent years various workings of the Holy Spirit have done much to lower and partially tear down the denominational walls between Christians. Fifteen years ago Christians were bold and proud to declare, "I am a Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, etc." But today, such a divisive proclamation carries with it a God-given tinge of shame. That sense of shame is God's doing and it is given because He has an intention.

In the twilight hours of this age His intention is that you as a serious seeking Christian would drop all divisive names and come together with others simply as .the church in your city. Nothing else will satisfy the longing in your spirit and nothing less will fulfill God's purpose. The Lord is calling out of all the divisions a remnant who would not love their forms, doctrines, or practices more than they love the practical oneness of His Body. He is calling those who, even at the cost or' their lives, would keep the governing principle of the oneness of the Body of Christ in the city where they live. These lovers of Jesus, by answering His call, will afford the Lord the way to build up the church and prepare it to be his Bride. A Bride adorned (Rev. 19:7; 21:2) will hasten our Bridegroom's coming. Let us give ourselves for this kind of oneness.