When the captain of a ship sees an iceberg, he knows that he must be very careful so that it does not wreck his ship. He knows that he is only looking at the tip of the iceberg, which comprises a small part of the total mass. The invisible portion under the surface presents the real danger.
This principle has a spiritual application also. In the traditional church structure, only one or two individuals are seen as functioning in the services, while behind them there may be many people who are not seen. It is the part that is concealed which contains the potential for problems. In Body ministry, as practiced in the New Testament church pattern, we recognize this danger and strive to avoid it. We realize that the problems generally come from the people who are not exposed to the deep discernment of the body of believers. Those who minister in view of everyone else not only have the Word revealed to them from the Lord, but they themselves are revealed as a member of the body to be prayed for, to be loved, to be ministered to. No one who ministers in the service has a “prima donna” complex of wanting to be seen; yet all do have great liberty to participate in the service.
In periods of intercession, everyone is encouraged and given an opportunity to participate—to create an openness which helps them to flow with the family of God. Often the opportunity to minister is created by your brother. He pushes you into the participation. Sometimes that is the way heroes are made. This calls to mind the story about the sergeant who asked for a volunteer for a dangerous mission. He told his men, “I want one volunteer who will be willing to lay down his life for this mission. I’m going to turn my back for a few minutes, and when I turn around I want to see one volunteer standing out here.” When he turned around he saw that one soldier had stepped forward. The sergeant said, “Fine. You’ve volunteered?” The soldier replied, “No, somebody pushed me.” It was not that he was so brave; rather, the opportunity to be a hero had been thrust upon him. In the family of God, people should also be pushed into participation as soon as possible, in order to draw them into what they are to do.
It is the ministries who are hidden behind the scenes for whom there is usually no burden in the rest of the church. The entire body of believers has to have an exposure to itself in the Spirit so that the burden for one another is transmitted to one another.
The ministry who is in view of the people becomes transparent, and the people analyze his need and pray for him. This time of exposure can become a turning point in his life. In a sense, he has been pulled up from under the surface and exposed to all. This kind of exposure does not put a floodlight on a person, but it does give the people a revelation of him and his needs. As we learn to relate to one another, we become more burdened for one another and more concerned that the will of the Lord spring forth in all of us.
The services should involve people for this specific, spiritual reason. Paul wrote concerning this in I Thessalonians 5:12–24. But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another. And we urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all men. See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all men.
Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.
The last two verses often are focused on the individual. He believes that he will be sanctified wholly—spirit, soul, and body. He believes that he will be preserved blameless. God has called him, and God will bring it to pass. However, everything in this chapter approaches the Church in its total aggregate concept, rather than the individual concept. It tells us how we are to relate to one another, to pray for one another, and to seek one another’s welfare. And then it says that God will sanctify us completely—our spirit, soul, and body. It tells us to warn the unruly and help the weak, to be patient with all men. It emphasizes concern for the whole Body of Christ, but it concludes by encouraging each individual to believe God for his total perfection. This will come about as a result of every individual’s interaction with one another.
In the second chapter of Philippians, Paul expressed his joy at seeing how beautifully Epaphroditus and Timothy related to each other. They were always encouraging each other to move forward in the Lord.
The selfish person is presumptuous. He feels that the world exists just for him, that everything was made for his personal, selfish gratification. In the New Testament churches that God is raising up today, it is difficult for us to relate to a selfish individual. We tend to have a negative spirit toward the selfish individual; and then we, too, have a problem. We are so trained to sacrificial giving that if someone comes along with a selfish motive, we begin to react negatively to him because that is a completely foreign spirit to what is happening. Both the selfish assumption and the negative reaction to it can become real problems. No doubt there will be greater unity if those who are unselfish do not react negatively to the selfishness of others. How is God to deal with the selfish ones? Ultimately, they actually deal with themselves.
A peculiar aspect of selfishness is the fact that blindness and self-deception rest on selfishness. So many of the “self” family go together. Self-deception, self-indulgence, and selfishness all go together. No man is so blind as the one who cannot see beyond himself and his own interests. And people react to that. The selfish person does not see anyone else in the world; if he does, it is with a very limited vision. May God deliver us from that and give us the wisdom to pull people out of the deception that selfishness brings and to draw them into God’s family as it moves together.
Everyone must be exposed as a ministry to the rest of the people so that there can be a mutual concern and a burden to pray for them. Because most of the deacons’ activity is a hidden work, we rarely find people praying for them. Deacons are not usually among the ministries who lead the service; neither are the ministries who prepare the wine and bread for the Communion. Instead of having them bring it in before the service, it would be good to let them bring it in and place it directly in the hands of the deacons or the ministries who are going to serve it. Why? Because they need recognition? No, they need exposure. In that way we will eliminate the deep, hidden part of the icebergs that have only the tip showing.
The deacons and others who work in the church can easily lose out spiritually if there is no burden for them and for their work. It is not that they should receive a lot of praise, but they should receive an encouraging word occasionally. If there is a little communication with them, soon many will get the burden and start praying, not only for the project, but for the person who is working so faithfully. His exposure to the rest of the members of the Body is very important.
The Body of Christ is beginning to discover its many members like a baby discovers his fingers. We are coming alive to one another. This is an important key in keeping the family spirit that God is bringing. Our services still have too much of an audience-and-performers aspect. There should be a sharing. When you give a Word that God has given you, your ministry then immediately becomes a focal point in someone’s prayers and intercession. We know that Paul did not cease to pray for the people (Colossians 1:9). He rejoiced when the Spirit showed him the order of those whom he had never even seen face to face (Colossians 2:5). Then he prayed and interceded for them, and he asked them to intercede for him. The mutual exchange of burden is probably the most significant thing in the family of the Heavenly Father. The Lord Jesus Christ wants us to do that. If we start thinking this way as the Body of Christ—loving one another, being concerned for one another, drawing one another out—before long those who were on the sidelines will be brought right back into the main flow.
If a part of the physical body is not used, it soon becomes weak. This is also true spiritually. Everything has to be in motion—not with dead works, but in the great spiritual flow. The whole family has to keep on moving.
If a mother is continually distracted in the service with taking care of her baby, that may become a problem because she is never able to participate in the service. The elders should take the responsibility to see that other women occasionally take care of the baby. However, the mother should not look upon this as a permanent arrangement. Some mothers always drop off their children in the nursery and then forget about them. They, too, should be exhorted by the elders and pastors, so that they learn to reciprocate instead of taking advantage of the nursery workers. After a mother has been served, she should be encouraged to get into the flow and serve also. There must be a good balance of give and take.
We need a balance in the Body of Christ as well as in our physical body. It is a known fact that many of our brain cells are never used. This is a great problem. If we could learn how to stimulate certain areas of the brain that normally are inactive, we would gain intelligence and increase our mental capacity and mental functions. This is true physically, and it is also true spiritually. The Word tells us to bestow the more abundant honor upon the part that seems to lack, so that there may be no schism in the Body. We are to have the same care one for another (I Corinthians 12:25).
You get an exposure to a person’s spirit when he ministers. According to Paul, the prophets are to speak two or three, while the others judge (I Corinthians 14:29). One man is not to monopolize the prophesying. It is the participation by several that gives strength to the Word. At the mouth of two or three witnesses every Word will be established (II Corinthians 13:1). God establishes and confirms every Word when many voices speak it. According to divine order, the counsel you receive from one person is technically not a real Word from the Lord. Only after two or three others have confirmed that Word should it be considered as a real Word from the Lord. Then all will have to answer for that Word, but all will also have something that will work in their lives immediately. If that Word is not confirmed immediately, it may be years before someone else speaks that same Word to you. If you have confirmation at once, you can move in that Word at once. How good it is when every Word is confirmed and established in a service! Then it is imparted to the people and they can all walk in it at once.
A person can have a sense of self-importance which is destructive. But if we get the true vision of this message, we will say, “I am important to my brother. I am an important person because I can encourage my brother. I can bring him forth. I can help him.”