The record of the movement of the Spirit of God among the first followers of Jesus reveals people who were interdependent. Believers are described as the “Body of Christ”, implying parts that are only functional when put together with other parts to create a complete, functioning and effective part of His body. The quantity of the parts together depends on the size of the opportunity or challenge. I have a friend who describes this phenomenon as “parts together not parts apart”.
The Body of Christ is the most powerful force in any society and in any era. There is no challenge too great or any problem too complex for a part of the Body of Christ to address. How? Together in unity and in the power of the Holy Spirit there is power. We are the unstoppable force. Our strength is only diminished by our disunity, competitiveness and selfish ambition.
I am so pleased to see a growing level of teamwork in America within the Body of Christ. Individual agendas and congregational agendas are becoming secondary to the leading of the Holy Spirit. The wind of the Spirit of God is blowing with such strength that all over the country individual followers of Jesus are coming together across traditional lines of division. Groups of Christians are cooperating around issues of common concern and engaging others to attack systemic evil with them. Jesus said that no arena controlled by evil (the gates of hell) could stand against the attack of the people he had called out from living life for themselves to living a life committed to building his rule on the earth. A follower of Jesus is one who enters the service of his Kingdom (the sphere of his rule).
Within cities of every size, it seems just the right parts are assembled together to carry out tasks. The Body of Christ could solve every system of evil in every neighborhood if its members joined with other people of good will to attack those issues. Every solution is within our ability to figure it out together. When every believer takes their place as a part of Jesus’ Body, great things happen. The effects come from Father, not from our own abilities. The outcome of “parts together” is greater than our individual parts.
The Holy Spirit comes in the same power as that of the first believers through individuals who surrender themselves to Christ and link themselves with others trying to do the same thing. So….. Wherever you live and whatever you see that does not look like Jesus is in charge, join a team or start one to defeat that evil.