1 Corinthians 12:27
Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

We can’t forget that most important part.  Christ is who unites us.  He is at the center.  He is the purpose.  The church is not just a bunch of people getting together because they like the same things or have common beliefs.  It’s not a mere gathering for social or even humanitarian purposes.  It is us coming together because of Him, because of what He’s done in each of us, in order to continue the work that He started.  We are to be out ministering like He was, serving the Father, fulfilling God’s will, loving people and pointing them to the truth so they can be part of this body, too.  We are to uphold His truth and learn and grow in Him alongside each other.

It was that body of Christ that was so cruelly beaten, that broken bread given for us.  He was mangled beyond recognition and endured unimaginable pain.  He was pierced and bruised for our sakes.  But now that He is risen and glorified, He is whole again.  He is perfect.  So let’s not be a broken and mangled body of believers as the representatives of Jesus Christ.  Let’s not be torn apart and cause Him that same kind of pain and shame that He felt on the cross by being divided as the body Christ.

Jesus Christ is to be the center of our lives and the center of the church.  If anything less is at the center, it’s not going to work.  If we’re serving for anyone other than Him, our work is in vain.  If we need something else as our motivation, then perhaps it’s not even Christ that we serve, but self.  And if we’ve perverted His truth in any way and strayed from Him, then we’re just people in a building on a Sunday.

We each have our role and we each have our part to give, but let’s never forget why we’re doing all this and who we are doing it for.  Christ paid for the church with His blood.  He gave His life so we could have ours.  And He’s placed us together to do His work, to co-labor with Him as He builds His church on His finished work and because of His sacrifice.  It is never about what we do.  It is not about who we are.  This whole church thing is about Jesus Christ and who He is and what He’s done and is still doing today.  So let’s each take our place and let’s give Him our all, honoring Jesus with whatever we do.