The head is the part that directs the
whole body. We recognize this in other settings too. Thus the director of my
department at work is called the head of the department. Or we speak for the
head of the family, the head of the state etc. What we mean with the term
“head” in these expressions is that part, that person, that is responsible to
give directions and to make decisions at work, the family, the state etc. There
is no direction if there is no head or if those who are under the head, do not
obey to what the head says.
The Bible, the written Word of God, tells us that we are
members of the body of Jesus Christ, the church, the Ecclesia. With the term
ecclesia or church I don’t mean here – nor the Bible means - buildings or other
human constructions but the sum of those who believe that Jesus Christ is Lord
and God has raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9). Everybody that believes
this is automatically member of the family of God, of the body of Christ, the
church, the Ecclesia. The Bible also tells us who is the head, the director of
this body. This is no other than the Son of God Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let’s see this:
Ephesians 1:22
“And He [God, the Father of glory, (verse 15)] put all things under His [Jesus
Christ’s] feet, and gave Him to be head over
ALL THINGSto the church”
Ephesians 4:15-16
“but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things
into Him who is the head––Christ–– from whom the whole body, joined and
knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working
by which every part does its share,
causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
Ephesians 5:23
“Christ is head of the
church ;”
Colossians 1:17-18
“And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He [Christ] is the head of the body, the church..”
And here are also some passages that make clear that
we, the believers in the Son of God, are members of the body, whose Head is the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 12:4-5
“For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the
same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and
individually members of one another. ”
1 Corinthians 12:12-27
“For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one
body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ….. For by one Spirit we were
all baptized into one body––whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free––and
have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one
member but many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I am
not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should
say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body," is it therefore
not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If
the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the
members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all
one member, where would the body be? But now indeedthere are many members, yet
one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of
you"; nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you."
No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are
necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable,
on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater
modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body,
having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no
schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one
another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer withit; or if one
member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and members
individually.”
Ephesians 5:30
“For we are members of His body, of
His flesh and of His bones.”
In these pages of New Testament Scripture, three
questions are given crystal clear answers:
There is ONE and only ONE body of Christ. Ecclesia is
the body of Christ and is ONE. I’m speaking here about the universal Church of
Christ and not about the local church in the individual cities. Without wanting
to make a digression, in each local city there is in the Scripture ONE and only
ONE church in the city. It was the church in Corinth. It was the church in
Collosai, the church in Jerusalem etc. There is nothing in the Scripture to
support what we have today: many churches, with no relationships to each
other, all in the same city. Also completely unknown to
the Scripture is the concept of denominations. There is no Baptist,
Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Orthodox, Catholic or any other denomination in the
Scripture. What there is in the Scripture is one simple thing: just Christians.
“And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians” (Acts 11:26). To
sum it up: what you see in the Scripture is ONE body that includes everyone
that believes that Jesus Christ is Lord and God raised Him from the dead
(Romans 10:9). What you also see is one Head of this body, the Son of God
Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ.
What is also made clear from the above given New
Testament passages is the fact that we are members of the body of Christ and
members of each other. The relationship therefore with each other is not a
hierarchical one, exactly as the relationship of our members in our own body is
not a hierarchical one. The foot does not say I’m in a greater position than
the hand but still need to catch up with the ear. The foot is happy to be foot,
because that’s what God made it to be and placed it in the body to be. It is
also happy that there is a hand to do what a hand is supposed to do. Foot and
hand are both members of the same body and are therefore connected to each
other. The hand cannot live alone, outside the body. It has life and function
only within the body. So is with the members of the body of Christ, the
believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. They do not relate to each other via a
top-down hierarchy where the X believer is in higher place in the hierarchy
than the Y believer but still needs to catch up with the Z believer. There is
also no competition in the body. Everybody who believes in the Lord Jesus
Christ and in His resurrection has been placed by God Himself into the body of
Christ with a specific function. And all members of the body are valuable. As
Paul said above: “much rather, those members of the body which seem to be
weaker are necessary.”
Lastly, and this we have noticed right from the
beginning of this article, it is clear that the Scripture recognizes one and
only one as Head of this body. This is no other than the Son of God Himself,
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Head, the director of the church, the top one.
He directs the church, His body, and it is Him therefore to whom the body
should look up for instruction and direction.
This is a very short article and though it still needs
a lot of completion, I don’t think we need a book to lay out some basic truths
found in the Scripture about the church. We all too often prefer to rely on a
human hierarchy to decide for us. We are all too often waiting in the sidelines
for somebody else, a “professional”, to do what we are supposed to do or to
tell us what we are supposed to do. We are looking and searching for mortal
church CEOs that will take each individual and tell him what he is supposed to
do like head of the departments do in our business world. Our business world
with its practices is all too often copied into the church. We need however to
notice one thing. The Scripture says that God gave Christ to be “head over ALL THINGS to the
church”. See this “OVER ALL THINGS”. Now guess what ?
Over all things means OVER ALL THINGS. There is nothing left out from
this “over all”! Christ and not a mortal man – however well intentioned he may
be - is the boss, the master, the CEO, the “over all” in the church.
See also that the body grows as “every part does its share”. EVERY
PART! Again, guess what? “Every part” means EVERY PART.
There are no exceptions here. There is nothing in the Bible that suggests that
one part does everything and the other parts do nothing. All of us have to go
to the Lord and ask Him, as the Head, the manager of this organism called the
church: “Lord what do you want me to do? You are the head. Direct me as you
want, where you want”. Let us stop look out for mortal men to get directions.
The directions can only come from the head and the head is one: CHRIST! To Him
let us turn for directions and Him let us seek!
Matthew 7:8
“For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks
it will be opened.”