Body Builders

Finally, brothers, rejoice. Become mature, be encouraged, be of the same mind, be at peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.

2 Corinthians 13:11

I snapped awake last night in the middle of the strangest dream. The details are foggy, but I vividly remember lifting people up who were so fragile that the tiniest motion caused their bones to break and snap. It wasn’t “scary” per se, but when I woke up, my whole body was frozen, almost paralyzed, the way it is when you wake up from a horrible nightmare. It was only a few moments, laying there perfectly still, before I heard God speak “build the body”. An image immediately came to my mind of these brittle, dry, and broken bones coming together to build a strong and stable structure. I heard it over and over again: build the body. 

 The Body of Christ seems to be in a fragile state right now. Not because our God isn’t powerful, but because we aren’t walking in Spirit and in Truth. There are Christians who have shied away from the truth of scripture. There are Christians who are quick to judge and condemn those who are not yet following Jesus. There are Christians who are going through the motions, pausing their lives to show up to worship a couple of hours a month, then going on living life on their terms. The church, in many cases, is filled with disunity, gossip, slander, and sharp, divisive tongues. And if we’re really honest, we’ve each been guilty of each of these things at one point.  

Revival is on my heart. Seeing lost and weary souls be set free in Christ is on my heart. I have been in a season of discernment, asking what the Lord wants me to do. And the response it seems I got was “build the body”.

In my heart, it comes down to this: if the Spirit of God pours out revival on our community…if a wave of baby Christians need places to plant roots and be discipled…are our churches ready to receive them? When new believers read their Bibles and read about the early church, would it resemble the church they walk into? If hundreds of new believers poured into our church doors, would they be received by a body of believers unified in mission, in purpose, and in truth?

It seems like we have work to do. Each one of us must make a choice to be body builders. 2 Corinthians 13:11 gives us insight on how to do this. Be mature, be encouraged, be of the same mind, and be at peace. And it comes with a promise…the God of love and peace will be with us. It’s time to build the body.