Legacy Church Blog

Bodily Weakness Is Contagious

According to wise old king Solomon, our eyes are never satisfied.¹ This statement extends beyond beyond food, but food is a bit of a softball when it comes to applying Solomon’s words. If there’s room on the plate, then there is room for more food, right? I’d like to make the quick case that being weak in handling food/fitness can lead to weakness in other areas of life. Very simply, if we cannot buffet the body regarding food /fitness, we’ll find it an uphill climb with other desires of the flesh.

Obedience and discipline aren’t on a switch we can turn on / off depending on the current moment. In other words, I can’t be strong against lust when I eat whatever is in my sightline. I cannot contend well with anger when I contend poorly with overall bodily fitness. If I am soft when it comes to my mouth, I’ll be weak in other areas where the flesh is demanding. Weakness in one area equals weakness in more than one area. Thomas Boston once said, “They that would keep themselves pure must have their bodies in subjection, and that may require, in some cases, a holy violence.”

Basically, being soft in our bodies inclines us towards weakness and softness in our spiritual lives as well. Bodily weakness is contagious. I’m not making this up, but ripping it off from the Apostle Paul. Speaking to a church that struggled with the flesh out loud for all to see. “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things...So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”²

Paul is connecting the discipline he applies to the exterior man with the result in the inner man. He knew that being weak in discipline regarding his physical body will without a doubt drive towards spiritual weakness and possibly disqualification. Jerry Bridges agrees with Paul:

“When the body is pampered and indulged, the instincts and passions of the body tend to get the upper hand and dominate our thoughts and actions. We tend to do not what we should do, but what we want to do, as we follow the cravings of our sinful nature.”³  

Andrew Murray more bluntly says, “Overeating or eating for mere enjoyment, weights and makes the body heavy and unfit for prayer. That is the time the devil can come to you. A man may be living in victory over some sin but through the pleasure of eating the devil may get power over his flesh.”⁴

How we handle food and fitness is not an amoral issue outside of how we engage God, but a vital part of who we are as worshipers and disciples of Jesus. When strategy and discipline launch from this footing, it’s worshiping God. When discipline derives from what culture deems “beautiful” however it’s self-worship. This is why you can be fit and healthy and yet be in sin of self-worship. Step one is seeing weakness over your own body as a moral problem. Step two is developing a strategy for God’s honor, not your own.

"Why I'm signing on the dotted line..."

One of the things I’m learning as we implement a formalized church membership (what we call partnership) is how much people absolutely abhor signing their name to things and formalizing a current reality.

“It feels too corporate.” “I don’t know why it’s important.” “It’s not in the Bible.” “I’m already showing up.”

I have heard it all and I realize why most churches just don’t poke the sleeping dog. It seems like too much trouble and even threatens to run folks off. To be honest, it is much easier to just let people show. “Why can’t we all belong?”

We sign our name to thousands of documents in our lifetime to secure anything from homes to cell phone agreements and do it without even reading the contracts most of the time. When it comes to “belonging” to a people of God however, we turn into a conspiracy theorists and feel threatened. It’s an interesting thing to watch.

As I prepped the sermon for this week (5/24/15 “Why I Sign on the Dotted Line...”) something struck me as to how formalizing an already existing reality is something we already do without blinking an eye. When we marry each other and sign a marriage license and vow to love each other, we never feel like a signed covenant cheapens the union or is unnecessary. We are excited to do it because it is a celebration of the love we already have. Church partnership isn’t very different.

As Christians, we are already members of a body we don’t deserve to be in. Jesus is our head and we fit together to nurture and care for each other. This all came by the Gospel’s effect on our lives. We are truly members who cannot lose our membership because the dues were paid by Another.

This is why we use the word “partnership” to formalize the reality that already exists. We know most traditional churches refer to this as ‘membership” which is fine, but we believe that word is empty freight in our culture and is already taken Biblically through salvation. We aren’t trying to be hip, but clear.

Formalizing such a union (church partnership/membership) is a way we can know who we are responsible for as a church AND who we as leaders are responsible for. It also allows church discipline to occur to the glory of God. (See the sermon audio) Without it, we as leaders are unable to love and protect the body and serve it well.

To simply attend and volunteer at a local church without partnership is nothing more than “hedging your bets” as we are ready to extricate ourselves and cancel our “belonging” when it doesn’t fit. It’s saying, “I love this place and love coming, but want to remain a private individual with no responsibility or covering, and covenanting with you guys is too much.” It also reminds me of finally getting a heart tattoo on our arms but not putting a name inside the heart, because the "beloved" might change. 

My question is this, If signing and formalizing a covenant with your local church is too much for you to swallow, what will you be like when the persecution around us gets much hotter? If a signature causes us to balk, what about losing our reputation, or business, or life?

Jesus didn’t die to create a service where people went based on convenience, but to create a church where people were committed to each other and partnered with each other in a covenant. The local church is God’s instrument to change the world and to not partner to one is to be sitting the bench.

Jesus died and rose - we are good to leave the bench now.

Jesus died to glue you into community - you are good to stop being all about the individual

More resources on church membership

Legacy's Covenant Partnership Explanation (and Q&A)

http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/submit-to-jesus-submit-to-his-bride

http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/i_am_a_church_member

http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-second-most-important-book-for-every-christian

http://9marks.org/membership-discipline/