Day 3: Getting The Body Moving

Though I don’t enjoy going to the doctor, I absolutely love and trust my doctor. He has been my primary care physician for almost two decades. He is a strong Christian, a good friend, and an incredible internist. I have rarely seen anyone in any field with his insights.

He is a deep-thinking researcher on medical issues. I can count on him to have read and absorbed many volumes of medical advancements and discoveries. Recently, he shared with me some amazing research about mobility and health. He told me that taking a few thousand steps a day is instrumental to good health and longevity. He encouraged me to walk at least ten thousand steps a day.

“The human body is meant to move, Thom,” my doctor told me. “When we get sedentary, we are more likely to have all kinds of physical problems.”

We must get our bodies moving.

As a result, I use a smartphone app to measure my steps every day. I don’t always get to ten thousand, but sometimes I go over significantly.

GETTING THE BODY (OF CHRIST) MOVING

There are several metaphors for the church in Scripture, but my favorite is “the body of Christ.” And my favorite specific passage is 1 Corinthians 12:12-27.

Let’s take a quick look at the background of the church at Corinth, the recipient of the apostle Paul’s letter. The city itself was largely affluent. It was the capital of a Roman province. It had a favorable geography, and it was an influential city in the Roman Empire.

Sadly, the church at Corinth reflected the culture of the city instead of influencing it. There were lawsuits among the church members. Paul clearly said that such lawsuits were prohibited. There were no exception clauses. The church at Corinth had to deal with sexual immorality, abuse of spiritual gifts, and abuse of Christian freedoms that hurt the witness of the believers in the church.

Paul traveled to Corinth on his second missionary journey and spent about eighteen months there. He knew the city well. He knew the church well. And, of course, he knew the problems in the church well. While Paul mandated several corrective actions in the church, he also reminded the members poignantly of how they were supposed to function.

Metaphorically, each member is like a member of the human body. Paul makes it clear that “the human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body” (1 Corinthians 12:12). Each of those parts or members is designed to function, whether it is a “foot,” a “hand,” an “eye,” or an “ear.” In simple terms, they were designed to do something. They were not designed for a sedentary life.

Like my doctor told me, movement means health and longevity. Similarly, movement in your church means greater health for the congregation as well.

PRAYING TO GET YOUR CHURCH MOVING

First, I want to make it clear not to wait for others before you commit to moving forward for your church. You are courageous to participate in this thirty-day challenge regardless of what others do. This commitment is first between you and God.

I also want to be clear that the healthiest churches are those where several members are moving forward with a Great Commission focus. I’ve had the joy of seeing churches where many of the members are committed to reaching others. It is an incredible thing to see.

Your challenge today is to pray for your church, specifically to pray for your congregation to become a Great Commission church. Today, pray that your church will move more than it has in a long time.

I know you will not pray with a judgmental spirit, but with a loving spirit. If your church is not moving outwardly in Great Commission obedience, it is not a healthy, functioning church. You need to pray for the church to get well by moving. If a person can take ten thousand steps a day to move toward greater health, a church can take steps in Great Commission obedience to move toward greater health.

HOW, THEN, DO WE PRAY?

Of course, you are at liberty to pray as you feel led. Today’s challenge is to pray specifically that your church will become a Great Commission church. That cannot happen unless many of the members become Great Commission Christians.

The best place to start praying is for the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of your fellow church members. We cannot have hearts to reach the people in our community in our own power and strength. As a reminder from the challenge in Day 2, we are told in Acts 1:8 to be witnesses after the power of the Holy Spirit comes upon us. It can’t happen in our own power; it will happen only in God’s power.

Begin, then, by praying for your fellow church members to be both convicted and empowered by God. When that happens, your church will be turned upside down by the power of God.

You might even have some specific names of members for whom to pray. For some reason, God has put their names or their faces in your mind and heart. You may not be able to articulate why you are thinking about them. You don’t have to understand it completely. You just need to pray for them.

It’s possible there are some barriers in your church that are hindering the work of God. Sadly, many churches are not unified. Members tend to argue about petty issues. When Paul was dealing with issues in the church at Corinth, he began his first letter by appealing for unity among the church members: “I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose” (1 Corinthians 1:10).

If nothing else, you could pray this verse as a prayer for your church. If your church is not unified, it is unlikely to become a Great Commission church.

It is also vitally important to pray for your pastor and staff. They are likely under spiritual attack. They might be discouraged. They might be depressed, unable to lead your church spiritually or emotionally. In fact, this issue is so important that we will devote Day 4 to it. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with praying for your pastor today as well.

TIME TO PRAY FOR THE BODY OF CHRIST

Your church is not perfect. No church is. Churches include forgiven sinners just like you and me. Now is not the time to give up on the body of Christ. Now is the time to pray for the body of Christ.

Set this book aside for just a moment and take time to pray for your church. Pray that the members of your church will become devoted Great Commission Christians. You might take five minutes to pray for your church, or you might take thirty minutes. Regardless, pray that your church will move from an inward focus to an outward focus.

Like the first church in Jerusalem, may the power of God become a reality in your church: “After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31).

Now, it is time for you to pray for your church.