being those who fellowship with the Body and consider the Body in everything

One of the most important principles of the Body is fellowship – the divine fellowship is actually the reality of living in the Body of Christ.

If we see the Body, we will no longer do things by ourselves and without letting others know; rather, we will fellowship and coordinate with the other members of the Body first, and then do something. In this way, everything we do will be for the Body, in the Body, and for the benefit of the Body.

In everything we need to take care of the Body, consider the Body, honor the Body, and do everything for the building up of the Body. How we need such a view of the Body of Christ that will bring us into such a living!

Being those who fellowship with the Body

Many Christians are sincerely asking the Lord, Lord, why have You not yet returned? You said in Rev. 22:20 that You are coming quickly – but why do You tarry?

The Bible tells us that before Christ can return He needs to have a built-up church, a built-up Body, a group of corporate people who live in the reality of the Body of Christ.

What is this reality of living in the Body of Christ? It is the divine fellowship – the fellowship with God and the fellowship with the Body (1 Cor. 1:9; 12:12, 27). The Lord has been frustrated from returning because of the lack of fellowship among the members of the Body.

We as believers in Christ are so individualistic, so independent, so opinionated, and so divisive. It seems that the more someone gets to know about the Lord, the more untamed and unbridled he is, trying to do a lot of things for God in an individualistic way. Nothing seems to control the believers today…

But today we can stop and fellowship! Fellowship restricts us and brings us in oneness. If we don’t fellowship, we are not in reality in the Body. But the thing that makes everything alive and real is the fellowship.

We need to learn to stop before doing things and fellowship with the Body. Fellowship will temper us, hamonize us, and keep us in the oneness of the Body of Christ.

We need the Lord’s mercy that we may see a vision of the Body that will lead us to fellowship with the Body in everything. We may think “we can do it in ourselves, we don’t need fellowship”, but the Lord desires much fellowship, much traffic, much flow of life, in the Body.

When we open up to the saints we’re coordinating with, we are being tempered, we are adjusted, we are harmonized, and we are mingled more with God and with the Body (1 Cor. 12:24).

This is a learning process we are going through our whole life – learning not to do anything without fellowship. Stop and fellowship. Before you do something, why not pray and fellowship with the Body?

Always caring for the Body and honoring the Body

When we fellowship in this way, what happens is that we care for the Body, we consider the Body, we honor the Body, and the result is that we will do what is best for the Body (1 Cor. 12:23-27).

In everything we do we need to keep this principle of the Body – consider how the Body would feel about what we are about to do. So many problems in the church life will be solved if we have such a view of the Body.

Don’t say, The saints are so weak; they don’t understand; I am more spiritual; I don’t know what they will say about this,  etc… – even though it may seem that “the Body is weak”, once we have fellowship with the Body and we care for the Body, the Body will be strong!

We need to come back to the truth revealed in the Word of God, deny ourselves, and take care of the proper order in the Body. All the problems in the church throughout the ages are due to this one thing – not seeing the Body, not knowing the Body, and not caring for the Body.

Even those who are more gifted in the Body need to fellowship and consider the Body. All the members of the Body are for the building up of the Body and for the profit of the Body!

We shouldn’t be self-centered when it comes to spiritual gifts; even in exercising the gifts and in functioning in the Body we need to seek the profit of the Body, the building up of the Body (see Eph. 4:16; 1 Cor. 12:23-27).

God is faithful – He called us into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Cor. 1:9). He is faithful to expose us how individualistic we are, how little we are in the fellowship of the Body, and how little we care for the Body.

Even though we think we know how to do things or we think we’re alright, we still need to fellowship with the members of the Body the Lord put around us to coordinate with.

We as members of the Body first have fellowship and coordination with the Head, and then we need to fellowship and coordinate with the other members. This will make us those building and buildable members of the Body who can be built up with anyone, always seeking for fellowship, always in the flow, and always caring for the Body.

Lord Jesus, help us to see the vision of the Body of Christ. Lord, it is not enough that we would only be a Christian and we would be in the church. We need to be members of the Body, coordinated and built up with our fellow members. Lord, in a practical way, bring us into the reality of being members of the Body. Remind us to fellowship with the other members in the Body. We want to care for the Body, honor the Body, and consider the Body in all that we do!

References and Further Reading

• Sharing inspired from, The Triune God to be Life to the Tripartite Man (pages 147-148), The Divine and Mystical Realm (page. 87), The problems causing the turmoils in the church life (page 35), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Taking the Lead as Elders and Responsible Ones, week 6.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # If we would love the Lord / And care for His unique Body.
  # Heav’nly vision must be renewed and ne’er disobeyed, / To experience Christ for His Body — that’s all we care!
  # Lord, to know Thee as the Body, / Is my desperate need today.