CHAPTER FOURTEEN

THE FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH

Scripture reading: “But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led a train of vanquished foes and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints to the work of the ministry, to the building up of the body of Christ, until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, at a full grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but holding the reality in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: out from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by every joint of supply, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh growth of the body unto the building up of itself in love.” Ephesians 4:7-16 (A combination of translations which we feel gives the best meaning.)

To have a proper expression of the church, we need the proper function. What has caused the shortage of the church life is that the church has no function. We must realize that all the divisions with their forms, knowledge and doctrines work together to damage the function of the church. When a physical body is divided, how can it function? When the Body is split, all the functions are gone. The subtlety of Satan is simply to kill the function of the Body. As long as we are divided, we are through as far as function is concerned.

NO FUNCTION IN CHRISTIANITY

The forms in today’s Christianity kill the function of the church. Nearly all the members of different denominations have become pew members. There is no function; so they are called laymen, which means that they do not function. They consider that they are not the experts. This is the subtlety of the enemy.

When knowledge, teachings and doctrines replace life, there is no function. We may have much knowledge, but be short of life. When the Body is short of life, it is difficult to function. Function requires the growth in life. If a person does not grow, it is impossible for his body to function. Therefore, knowledge, doctrines and teachings kill the functions of the Body. The Bible says, “the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor. 3:6). If you are killed, how can you function? This is why we say again and again that we must turn from doctrine to the Spirit. The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. As long as we have life, we will grow. And the more we grow, the more we will function.

Oh, the subtlety of the enemy! He uses divisions, forms, doctrines, teachings and knowledge to kill the functions of the Body and to paralyze it. This makes the Body useless and meaningless. This is the real situation of today’s Christianity. All Christianity is paralyzed because there is no function.

THE RECOVERY OF THE BODY’S FUNCTION

But, praise the Lord, in His recovery He is recovering all the functions of the Body in the local churches. Without the functions in the local church, the local church is without meaning. If believers come together without functioning, what is that? It is certainly not the church. In the practical church life there is a desperate need of functioning. We need the functions of all the brothers and sisters. All who partake of the church life must be functioning members. When everyone functions, we will have a strong, living, practical and aggressive church life.

The proper building up of the church life depends upon our functioning. Suppose five hundred brothers and sisters are meeting in Los Angeles on the church ground and 99 percent of them fail to function. They are simply pew members, and only three brothers who are professional do all the functioning. I do not know what to say about this kind of situation. Perhaps they are on the church ground, but they are paralyzed on the church ground. They must be a social group, a religious society, or a kind of organization, for the people are put together without functioning. Just a group of people is an organization. It is not an organism until all the members are functioning and growing together. Then it will be an organism instead of an organization, and a Body instead of a group. I hate to hear people call us a group. It is a shame if we are just a group. We must realize that we are a Body. What is a body? A body is an organism with all its members functioning in a living way. While I am speaking, not only is my mouth exercised, but my whole body is functioning. This is the body, not a group of bones put together. It is a shame to be called a group. We must be a living Body!

Suppose 50 percent of the members of my body function, and the other 50 percent are not functioning. What kind of body is this? It is paralyzed! With but one shoulder out of function the body feels very awkward. Even if only a little finger does not function, the body feels the inconvenience. If you do not believe me, cut off your little finger, and you will see how awkward it is. All the members need to function, and then we will have a living, strong, and aggressive local church. All the members of the Body must function. We do not have a pastor, but we have everyone functioning. We have brothers functioning, and we have sisters functioning. We all need to function, for without functioning we cannot have a proper church life.
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