Body Consciousness

Body Consciousness

What is the Church? So far as outward appearance is concerned, the Church is local. What are the content and life of the Church? If a group of believers does not stand on the ground of the local church, it basically is not a church. But if a local church subjects itself to the authority of the Head, it naturally is a church. In the church, we are members one to another, which means that no one keeps anything for himself. Our heart desire is to fellowship with all the children of God; that is to say, with all the members of the body of Christ. Just as our personal experience of the Head should be absolute, so our consciousness of the body should also be absolute. The body has its consciousness. This consciousness causes a member to submit to the authority of the Head as well as enables him to be open to the body for fellowship. This is called body consciousness.

As we have indicated, in natural appearance the church takes locality as its boundary. In its inner content, it takes the Head as authority and all the saints as one in Christ. The local church is not just a matter of locality, it also bears the testimony of the body which is holding fast the Head. When I am in fellowship with all the children of God, I will not be tempted to criticize other members. So, the basic requirement lies in producing in our hearts a body consciousness.

What is the turning point from our not having body consciousness to having body consciousness? In much of spiritual reality we need to know both the positive and the negative sides. It is not enough just to know the positive, there is need to know also the negative, else we will fail to learn a thing well. For example: The negative side of forgiveness is sin. The opposite of justification is ungodliness. The contrast to salvation is the world. In other words: To know forgiveness, we need to know sin. To be justified, we must be delivered from ungodliness. To be saved, we should be aware of the world. (The Bible seldom speaks of being saved from hell; it speaks mostly of our being saved from the world.) We see, then, that many of the truths in Scripture are presented in pairs. If we mispair them, we bring in confusion.

Now the opposite of the body is individualism. So in order to see the body, we need to see first the negative—which is individualism. An individual must have some dealings with his self life before he can see the body. Many try to have dealings with such issues as loving the Lord and hearing the Lord. Yet the more they deal with these matters the more they establish themselves in their own righteousness, holiness and strength. And thus it becomes more difficult for them to unite with other people. It is much more difficult to call them to follow the footsteps of the flock.

We need to be taught by God in every area, including the area of individualism, for the latter lies in the deepest recess of man. Today people may come to see personal holiness, as is proclaimed in the Keswick movement; yet why is not corporate holiness emphasized as well? For the holiness in view in Hebrews 12 is corporate holiness. Many today are talking about personal faith. Yet why are we not stressing corporate faith too? The phrase in the Bible, "the faith," points to truth, whereas the word "faith" without the definite article preceding it means "a believing." "The faith" refers to the faith of the whole Church. The reason we are not paying attention to corporate faith and corporate holiness is because we are not aware of our littleness. If we saw our smallness as an individual member, we would see the much larger body; and therefore, we would see the corporate side of our walk with the Lord.

A piece of glass may retain a little water but it cannot contain a full cup of water. Each and every Christian has his portion of grace. But the individual Christian is not the whole body of Christ. Even if he receives much grace, he still can only be likened to a larger piece of glass that can retain a little more water. He is like a plane and not a cube. Today we need to lay aside our individualism. For what the Lord desires is not pieces of broken glass, but a glass cup. The principle of God to be followed is for "one [to] chase a thousand, and two [to] put ten thousand to flight" (Deut. 32.30). Today the Church is full of individuals. But if two (or more) should agree, they could put ten thousand to flight! The eight thousand overage is the excess gain. Today God wants the Church to preach the gospel and the Church to preach His word. Everything must be put into the Church.

The salvation we have through seeing the body is much fuller and richer than the salvation we initially experience. After one is touched by the revelation of the body, he can no longer say that it is well for him to just be a Christian individually. We need to let God do this work in us. For having body consciousness is not something arrived at or deduced by reason. Only as a person is being dealt with by God shall he see his body consciousness appear. He shall begin to understand that he is a member in the body of Christ. As he sees the sinfulness of individualism he will naturally submit to God. With such seeing, many problems shall be solved. It will not be hard for him to love, to live a life of faith, and to have prayers answered. Unless he sees the body, he is not able to work the work of God.

Any problem with body consciousness is the outcome of a problem with individualism. For a brother to be submissive, he must first set aside his opinion. Does not my hand listen to the words of my head my entire lifetime, and does it not always remain in its place without any murmuring? It causes no problem in my physical body at all. Indeed, were my heart to have another head (the hand), my body would be in conflict from dawn to dusk. So, too, would it be in the body of Christ. Hence individualism must be dealt away. We each must lower our heads and learn to be taught to speak, to think and to act.

Coordination does not depend on human thoughts and interests. If the coordination of our physical body is so good and well ordered, how much more should that of the body of Christ be? I believe in Christ coordinating His spiritual body. Its goodness and pleasantness and effectiveness are beyond our comprehension.