Body of Christ........Underdeveloped

So, what's the rush?? Why not just skip this and get onto biblical leadership?
Well, I am going to take the time to do this post, mainly because it deserves to be something other than a footnote. And the lack of development for the members of the body of Christ, that's one of the major reasons why there is such a thing as biblical leadership anyway!! So let's take a look at what happens when we do not develop as intended, both physically and spiritually.

As a reminder, while you read the following and watch the video's, remember that the information is not meant to be detailed. It is there to give you greater knowledge. The video's aren't perfect, some have advertisements.....etc. Regardless, they are there to help you. Know that it will most likely cause emotions to rise in you. They will rise because you KNOW that something has gone wrong, somewhere along the way, in the development process. And you will know how that effects not only the individual, but all those around them. Don't brush off those emotions!  In the same way, God, feels those same things as He sees the body of Christ when it's not developing and acting as He intended, those who are supposed to be HIS body in this world. We should see it the same way.

We will take a look at 4 major categories which pertain to the physical body not developing as intended:

Autism, Downs syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Congenital heart disease.

Autism-- Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and autism are both general terms for a group of complex disorders of brain development. These disorders are characterized, in varying degrees, by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors. They include autistic disorder, Rett syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) and Asperger syndrome. ASD can be associated with intellectual disability, difficulties in motor coordination and attention and physical health issues such as sleep and gastrointestinal disturbances.





Downs syndrome-- Down syndrome (also called Trisomy 21) is a genetic disorder that occurs in approximately 1 of 800 live births. It is the leading cause of cognitive impairment. Down syndrome is associated with mild to moderate learning disabilities, developmental delays, characteristic facial features, and low muscle tone in early infancy. Many individuals with Down syndrome also have heart defects, leukemia, early-onset Alzheimer's disease, gastro-intestinal problems, and other health issues. The symptoms of Down syndrome range from mild to severe.



Cerebral Palsy-- Cerebral palsy is a term used to describe a group of chronic conditions affecting body movements and muscle coordination. It is caused by damage to one or more specific areas of the brain, usually occurring during fetal development or infancy. It also can occur before, during or shortly following birth.
"Cerebral" refers to the brain and "Palsy" to a disorder of movement or posture. If someone has cerebral palsy it means that because of an injury to their brain (cerebral) they are not able to use some of the muscles in their body in the normal way (palsy).
Cerebral palsy is characterized by an inability to fully control motor function, particularly muscle control and coordination. Depending on which areas of the brain have been damaged, people with cerebral palsy may experience one or more of the following:

• Muscle tightness or spasm
Involuntary movement
• Disturbance in gait and mobility
• Abnormal sensation and perception
• Impairment of sight, hearing or speech
• Seizures

Congenital heart defect-- The word "congenital" means existing at birth. The terms "congenital heart defect" and "congenital heart disease" are often used to mean the same thing, but "defect" is more accurate.
The heart ailment is a defect or abnormality, not a disease. A defect results when the heart or blood vessels near the heart don't develop normally before birth.
Congenital heart defects are structural problems arising from abnormal formation of the heart or major blood vessels. At least 18 distinct types of congenital heart defects are recognized, with many additional anatomic variations. Recent progress in diagnosis and treatment (surgery and heart catheterization) makes it possible to fix most defects, even those once thought to be hopeless


As I compare physical development with spiritual development, remember, no analogy is perfect. That's why it is an analogy!! It is just meant to help us better understand a given subject by comparing it to a separate subject.

There are many aspects that are crucial for the body to work as designed. In this post we are focusing on the body developing the way it was designed to. As you know, there are too many ways in which the body doesn't develop as designed, to look at. These four are just a small sample. Some are obvious, others are not as easily seen, but take time and relationship building to know they exist.

It is similar with the Body of Christ, the local church and universal church. Obviously, that manifests itself in so many different denominations. Generally speaking, similar beliefs in the "big" things, differing beliefs in the "smaller" things.
Autism -  Physically, because of brain development, there is trouble communicating, both verbally and non-verbally. Difficulty in social interaction and motor function.
Spiritually, in general, there is a lack of development in what is called progressive sanctification. Are we growing in knowledge of God, growing in love for God, growing in love for His mission, growing in obedience, growing in your calling as His ambassador......etc. Are you saved? What should happen after that? We all should be growing in our Christian life, less of us and more of Him. When our "brain" does not develop as intended, we have trouble interacting with other believers, we have trouble communicating, speaking, eye contact, and sadly, we do not function as one. Or with one purpose.

Downs syndrome - Physically, cognitive impairment, learning disabilities, heart defects and other health issues. Common physical characteristics in facial features.
Spiritually -  this one is difficult. But when you know what "normal" is, or what "normal" should be biblically. And when you are presented with something that resembles "normal" but is obviously not "normal", well, you know the difference. When the Body of Christ, doesn't learn what it should be, then how can it be what it is supposed to be?? It is going through the motions, but the heart is not right, there are all kinds of internal health issues. Fixing the "learning disabilities" will not make the internal better. They exist at the same time. Spiritually speaking, for the individual, the head can be wrong, and the internal heart a mess. The head can be right, but the internal heart still a mess. Having the heart and head in unison, that's the desire. But when they are not,......it is just as clear as the physical characteristics of those with Down syndrome.

Cerebral Palsy - Physically, usually, damage done to the brain during fetal development or in infancy. It shows itself in a lack of muscular control and coordination.
Spiritual - an obvious lack of control and coordination due to lack of spiritual development. The cause of damage can be different, regardless, the lack of development as a disciple, shows itself with our lack of self-control and our almost spastic movements. When we do not develop as disciples, when we do not learn what God has commanded of us, or how to live a life that is in obedience with scripture, well, we are seen as a people with no self control. Always losing the battle between the spirit and the flesh. Preaching and judging one thing, but being that very same thing we preach and judge against. As individuals who make up the body, there is no coordination, which most non-believers can spot very easily!

CHD - Physically, a defect or abnormality in the development of the heart. Most are fixable, but can require numerous surgeries, therapy, and a restriction of activity and diet.
Spiritually - When we do not develop correctly in the spiritual realm, it generally is regarded as a "heart" issue. When our "heart" is not right, we do not function properly. If that is to be "fixed", there are numerous and ongoing "surgeries" that need to occur. All of our actions and words come out of our "heart". How many times have we heard that!! ALOT. How often do we see or experience a mentor coming along side of us? How often do we see Biblical accountability between believers? How often do we even know anything about the heart condition of our brothers and sisters in Christ? Too many hide their heart issues. CHD is not visible at a glance. Either are spiritual heart issues. This development has to be intentional, by us, by those around us, and by our "Christian" leaders. "Therapy", "activity", and "diet". Too often neglected.

The Body of Christ is clearly defined in scripture. Jesus is the head, believers in Jesus are the body.
Now that we have looked at the Body of Christ analogy, we get to look at what God put in place to help the body function and develop as intended.

All of that being said.......I can now turn the focus onto Biblical Leadership.

Body of Christ......other diseases.

The last post was a recap of a big pivot point for me. A study on the Body of Christ, with the intention of bringing a scriptural perspective to a specific group of believers, was the the beginning of a deeper search into scripture. I was using the body of Christ analogy, along with known physical diseases that different people in that group struggled with, together, to foster an environment where we dived into what we should look like as a body.

It was basically broken down into two categories.
1. When the body doesn't respond to the head.
2. When the body attacks itself. (from an external agent and from the internal)

There was also a third category: When the body doesn't develop the way it was designed to.
i.e., Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Congenital heart defect, and Downs syndrome.

But, after the depth of the first two categories, I decided to hold off on the third. It came out later in a teaching on progressive sanctification. Basically are you growing spiritually? I referenced back to the body of Christ analogy, but it didn't carry the same weight as when you compare the physical with the spiritual.

In this case I am still trying to decide if I should post this category here, before Biblical leadership, or to add it into Biblical leadership.

hmmmm.......guess you will find out soon!

The Body of Christ.......diseased.......spiritually.

Okay, so this is a long post. I want to summarize the two previous posts really quickly:

1.    Body of Christ analogy. Jesus is the head, Believers are the body. PERIOD!!

2.    God, Jesus, Scripture are the one and only authority that makes up the head. No “member” of the body is the head. That means no man is the head of the body of Christ. (Sorry Pope)

3.    Each “Christian” or “believer” are the members that make up the body. Each has an important role if the “body” is to function as the “head” directs it.

Disease or syndrome’s occur when:

1.    When the “body” or “members” ignore the head or do not submit to the head (Scripture).

2.    When the “body” or “members” put themselves in place of the head and do what they want to do.

3.    When the “body” or “members” attack each other when they should not be. (versus there being biblical reasons to uphold the standard of scripture, there is a difference between the two)

The Body of Christ……diseased……spiritually.

So what does that even mean? Diseased spiritually.

Let’s simply compare the six physical diseases with the spiritual equivalent:

ALS/Lou Gehrig’s disease;

Physically---The body “loses” the signal that the brain sends through the nerves and spinal cord. The muscles become weak and atrophy, to the point of not working at all. The brain is fully functional, but no part of the body responds. The body is useless.

Spiritually—Believers, or the “body”, have no idea what Scripture calls them to. Believers do not understand or listen to the Holy Spirit. Believers do not carry out the full breadth of their purpose. The spiritual body of believers become weak, atrophy, and sadly become useless and impotent as salt to and in the world around them.

Parkinson’s Disease:

Physically—The mind can no longer control the bodies actions. The head is fully functional, the muscles of the body work to a certain degree, just not working with the directions from the head. The body is active, but under no specific authority. Even to the point of being a danger to themselves and to those around them. Active and doing things, but not necessarily towards any purpose.

Spiritually—The head, Jesus, is giving specific directions, specific purposes, specific commands. But the “body”, believers, are doing their own thing. On the outside it can look like all is following a purpose, but it doesn’t take long to realize that there is a lot of activity that doesn’t work towards any purpose or goal.

Tourette’s Syndrome:

Physically—The body, without any prompting from the head, performs actions, that in the right context make sense, but in this case, doesn’t. The actions are random, uncontrolled, dangerous, and exhausting. They do not have control. Exhausting for the individual, and all those around them.

Spiritually—The “body” or believers think things, do things, say things that the head hasn’t asked them to do. The actions may be correct in the right context, but are inappropriate and out of place in the wrong context. A lot of energy is spent, but not in the biblical calling or purpose, exhausting for the individual, and definitely for those around them.

Multiple Sclerosis

Physically—The body’s immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys the myelin sheath which covers and protects the nerves, thus exposing the nerves, which causes communication within that nerve to be damaged and not function. The damage done is not curable because no one knows why the immune system is mistaken, and it attacks each person differently. Symptoms include loss of muscle control, organ failure, cognitive difficulties, extreme fatigue.

Spiritually—The “body” or believers, attack and destroy each other. By not taking the time and effort to judge our actions and words against scripture we can very easily, and for no biblical reason, cause the body as a whole to suffer because of our own misguided, undiscerning actions. Without accountability and wisdom, seeking it or giving it, we cause the body to fail.

Lyme disease

Physical-- Originating from a tick bite, bacteria enter the blood stream, and destroy the myelin sheath that protects the nerves. Depending on where in the body the nerves are affected determines the effects on the individual. Usually effects the nuerological system, immune system, organ damage and failure, causes fatigue, and can mimic arthritic symptoms. Note the difference between MS and Lyme. MS has no known cause, Lyme is caused by and external agent. The effects are basically the same, but the treatment is different. Lyme is treated with anti-biotics to kill the bacteria, and the immune system is worked to be built up to allow the body to fight off the bacteria as well.

Spiritually--The "body" is effected by someone, or something outside of itself. The internal is effected by the external. The "body" is damaged, fatigued, and pained by "bacteria" that come from the outside. The bacteria needs to be dealt with, directly. And the body needs to be built up in its spirtual health.

Cancer

Physically--The body produces "bad" cells that divide, multiply, and spread. These cells then gradually destroy any given organ or part of the body. The "bad" cells would normally be sought out and destroyed by a process called apoptosis. When for some reason apoptosis isn't working as designed, well........everyone knows what cancer does, or someone who has been in the battle with cancer. Treatment is brutal and not always successful. Some form of cancers are hereditary, passed from generation to generation.

Spiritually-- Simply put, the "body" has bad cells that divide, multiply and spread. Left unchecked these cells overwhelm and destroy the body. Why? Just like apoptosis for the physical body, God has designed a defense system for the spiritual body. Biblical Leadership.
(That is the next post!!!)

Diagnosis and treatment

Why is it that we can very easily know when something physically isn’t working right? Because we know what it is supposed to look like, we know how things are supposed to work, we know "normal", so we can easily spot anything that is not "normal". For the individual , usually there is some form of pain or outward physical sign that something is wrong.

Why is it that we fail to acknowledge when the spiritual, the Body of Christ, isn’t working right? I believe there are many reasons, but two specific ones that are the biggest causes.

1.    The “body” has very poor understanding of what its role is. If the individual members, that make up the whole body, do not know what their role is, then how can those members play their part? A simple yet complex lack of desire to live the Holy, set apart life, that Scripture calls us to.

2.    The “body” and its individual members would rather be their own “head”, and live to their own desires. My desires and happiness take the front seat. Holiness, character, and integrity are for when it is convenient.

So what is the treatment? What has God put in place to help the spiritual body?.......

The Body of Christ......diseased.

The Body of Christ is very important to me, so I am going to take some time to set this up right.

This post will be about the physical body, how disease's affect it. For the most part, we know this, we see this, we can readily recognize disease. I am picking 6 disease/syndrome's that effect people. They all, to varying degree's, result in the body no longer responding to the head in some way. They each are different in how they stop the body from functioning properly. We might not necessarily know the actual disease or syndrome, but without out a doubt, we know when something is not "normal".

I added a few short video's for 4 disease/syndrome's. I am visual. These help me to understand what the disease/syndrome's really looks like. I am not lobbying for anything, or trying to get you to donate funds. I am just trying to teach you something about these disease/syndrome's. Watch them if you like. I found myself watching quite a few (not posted)!! Again, I am visual, and these videos are just a helpful tool to give a better idea of what the disease/syndrome looks like.

Disease -  "a disordered or incorrectly functioning organ, part, structure, or system of the body resulting from the effect of genetic or developmental errors, infection, poisons, nutritional deficiency or imbalance, toxicity, or unfavorable environmental factors; illness; sickness; ailment."

Syndrome - "a group of symptoms that together are characteristic of a specific disorder, disease, or the like."

Disease or Syndrome, where the body does not submit to the head, or function the way it is designed to.

ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) - an incurable disease of unknown cause in which progressive degeneration of motor neuron's in the brain stem and spinal cord leads to atrophy and eventually complete paralysis of the voluntary muscles.


Parkinson's disease - a progressive nervous disease occurring most often after the age of 50, associated with the destruction of brain cells that produce dopamine, and characterized by muscular tremor, slowing of movement, and partial facial paralysis.



Tourette's syndrome - a severe neurological disorder characterized by multiple facial and other body tics, usually beginning in childhood or adolescence. Often accompanied by grunts and compulsive utterances, as of interjections and obscenities.



Disease or Syndrome where the body attacks itself.

Cancer - any type of malignant growth or tumor, caused by abnormal and uncontrolled cell division: it may spread through the lymphatic system or blood stream to other parts of the body.
** As a side note that I will come back to, the body has a natural defense system called apoptosis that prevents the "abnormal and uncontrolled cell division" from happening. Basically if a bad cell is found, the apoptosis process destroys the bad cell and keeps it from multiplying. Google it, it is fascinating, that and I will be coming back to this......

Multiple Sclerosis - a chronic degenerative disease of the central nervous system in which gradual destruction of myelin occurs in patches throughout the brain or spinal cord or both, interfering with the nerve pathways and causing muscular weakness, loss of coordination, and speech and visual disturbances.


Lyme disease - an acute inflammatory disease caused by a tic borne spirochete characterized by recurrent episodes of decreasing severity in which joint swelling, fever, and rash occur, sometimes with cardiac or nervous system complications.
** Basically Lyme disease is often diagnosed as MS. The same thing is happening, but with Lyme the cause is known, with MS the cause is not known. Either way, the Myelin sheath is being attacked by the body.......hmmmmm, I am going to come back to that one too!!!!

We view these disease/syndrome's as tragic. And this is such a small sample of all the disease's and syndrome's that are out there. I want to point to the fact that most of us know what "normal" is with our physical bodies. We know how they are supposed to function, and we know when they are not functioning "normally"!!!

As I said at the beginning of this post, the Body of Christ is very important to me. Scripture let's us know what the Body of Christ is supposed to look like. And that will be the next post, the Body of Christ.......diseased.......spiritually.

The Body of Christ

Now that I have posted some on the books that influenced the development of ManUp.....I will move on to what proved to be a big Pivot point. A study on the Body of Christ.

I was starting my second year of co-leading an adult Sunday school class. And I knew at the end of the previous year that I wanted to start the next year off with a mini series, something that would help bring this group of adults together, foster community and resemble what scripture calls for a community of believers to look like. So I had from June until September to prepare for a 3-4 week teaching on the Body of Christ.

I was beginning to truly desire to know what scripture says. I had grown up in church and just accepted "church" for what it was. Thinking all churches were basically the same, never giving much thought to it. Basically, I had no idea what scripture said about church and leadership, so as you can guess, this was going to really challenge me.  I was now seeing metamorphoo in many area's of my life. Especially those that can be rethought and changed because of  what I was learning in scripture. So, the Body of Christ....well,  I realized I had no idea how important and intentional this should be within the leadership of the Church. Basically the Body of Christ is the people of the church.......right???? I mean, really isn't that about it?!!! Needless to say, my view's on the Body of Christ was about to experience some serious metamorphoo!!

The term "Body of Christ" is used by the Apostle Paul. He references it in different ways, depending on the focus of the passage. Two things are clear. Jesus Christ is the head, and believers are the body.

1.   Eph. 1:21-22 ......and he (God) put all things under his (Jesus) feet and game him (Jesus) as head overall things to the church, which is his body.........
2. Eph 4:15. .....we are to grow up in every way into him (Jesus) who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together......
3. Eph 5:23 .......for the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.
4. 1 Cor. 12:12-21. ......now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.....

I would encourage you to look at the full context of these verses, and others that make reference to the body of Christ. But, as I have said, two things are very very clear. Jesus is the Head, believers are the body. If we can not understand that, agree with that, or live like that, well......the "body" is no longer the body it is designed to be. If the "body" does not recognize the "head" as the authority, what happens??

When Paul uses this analogy, the Holy Spirit is prompting an analogy that is absolutely perfect. Something we do not put enough thought into, and something we totally take for granted. AS LONG as it is working the way it is designed to!! I will look at two different aspects about the physical body that we see as obvious and unmistakable.

It is unmistakable when the physical body does not respond as designed to the directions from the head, and when the physical body attacks itself. They are labeled as diseases, syndromes, cancers, ....etc. Next post.....real diseases and syndromes.......both physical and spiritual.