The Bible Speaks: Paul's Letters - Crystallizing Key Concepts for the New Church - AFC 1997
Body Language
Romans 12:18; 1 Cor. 12:1231
The church is composed of varied parts, all important for full life.
Context
The world
General world peace
System of road for confident travel
Universal language, Greek, for ready communication
The new church
Warm immediate fellowship
Vague conceptual framework
Fractionating identity, bound only by an oral tradition
Must it be Jewish?
How to handle diversity, variety within the local and dispersed community?
Enter Paul
Well educated, cultured, steeped in the Jewish Pharisaic tradition
He encountered the risen Christ.
Provided crystallizing metaphors for the new community. This provided conceptual handles for the new church to share, and became part of the foundation for its identity.
€Body of Christ
€Treasure in Clay Jars
€Citizenship in God's realm - belonging
€New Creation
€Shining stars
The Body of Christ
composed of varied parts, all headed by Christ, coordinated by the Spirit
Characteristics of the Body of Christ
holy - called by and too God
catholic - universal
active - has mission outside itself
gifted - equipped to serve
hopeful - enduring loss, anticipating life
By body language, Paul gave us the ability to speak about our unity in diversity.