(Reading Time: 3:00) I’m still catching up on my blogs. This one does not relate to the 17th of May, but still, it’s on my heart. Last night (May 31st) we had a wonderful time of communion and worship at Calvary. The main thrust of what I shared was about rightly discerning the body of Christ. I spoke of how our love for the Lord and one another should not be taken lightly. Many times this is a battle hard won. Some people get hurt along the way, either through fleshly lusts or a simple lack of understanding. Some then choose not to forgive and become bitter. However, over time, if we value the body of Christ, we need to lay it all down and recommit ourselves to loving the church, which is God’s people.
For me, I committed myself to the church a long time ago. I can’t say I have always done my job, nor has the church always treated me with respect. At times, like Paul, the church has even refused to recognize my calling as a pastor, but I press on to love others as I have been loved by the Lord.
To discern the Lord’s body is to love what he loves and give our lives for the church as he did. This was brought home even more when Susan and got home that night and watched the newest episode of A. D. The Bible Continues. In the episode we watched we saw Saul trying to join himself to the believers after his conversion on the road to Damascus. You can imagine their reservations, being that many of them had lost their lives to this man? They portrayed Peter as having difficulty and struggling to reconcile this new convert with the church. However, Peter recognized that the church wasn’t his, it was the Lord’s and he chooses whomever he desires to do his work.
In the same way, we must realize that God chooses imperfect people to work out his plan through. So for us to rightly discern the Lord’s body, we must look past those fleshly limitations and see the Spirit’s power at work in each believer. If we do not, then we condemn a portion of the Lord’s body as unfit, while we excuse ourselves, in spite of our own shortcomings.
Forgiveness is a pathway to cleansing and healing in the church. As I stated during our communion service, we must forgive each other if we are to remain free from condemnation—by the Lord and by the world.
“Bear with each other and forgive whatever
grievances you may have against one another.
Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
Colossians 3:13, NIV.
The passage we often use to instruct the church about communion (1st Corinthians 11) is also the passage that tells us the importance of healing the divisions within the church. If we truly value our fellowship with the body of Christ, then we will labor to restore broken relationships. If we distance ourselves from those who have hurt us, then we are weakening the body of Christ and doing despite to the grace we ourselves have received. Let us not fall under judgment, but rightly discern what it means to be one in the Lord and part of his manifested body—the church.
“Calvary exists to demonstrate the love of God to the families of our community!”
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