Recently, I had some downtime and was filing through some older tunes that I had saved from years back in a folder simply named “Song List”. I had compiled around 50 or so such tunes going all the way back to my early days as a new believer because they had special meaning or inspired me in some way. As a chronic list maker, it was of course easy for me to build such a list to add to my collection of dozens of other lists. I was having a tough couple of days with another brief onslaught of that whisper in my ear telling me that I’m no good, worthless, a disappointment to God, etc. Now that’s not at all what I believe, but if you pick up the cross, then it’s rather common for the enemy to whisper the same thing from time to time, especially in seasons of stress and frustration. But I digress... One song jumped off the list that day, “How Beautiful” by Christian song writer and singer Twila Paris. As if perfect timing, I cued up the song on my phone and a sense of calm and unexpected peace seemed to instantly flow over me.
Here are the lyrics from the song:
How beautiful the hands that served
The wine and the bread and the sons of the earth
How beautiful the feet that walked
The long dusty roads and the hill to the cross
How beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful
Is the body of Christ
How beautiful the heart that bled
That took all my sin and bore it instead
How beautiful the tender eyes
That choose to forgive and never despise
How beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful
Is the body of Christ
How beautiful the radiant bride
Who waits for her groom with his light in her eyes
How beautiful when humble hearts give
The fruit of pure lives so that others may live
How beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful
Is the body of Christ
How beautiful the feet that bring
The sound of good news and the love of the King
How beautiful the hands that serve
The wine and the bread and the sons of the Earth
How beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful
Is the body of Christ [1]
Just listening to that one song ushered in a whole range of emotions; the timing could not have been better as I not only needed to be soothed from my resident frustration, but also reminded just how wonderfully beauty in the form of a song can amazingly dart through a fog. For me, listening to something completely polar opposite from the adverse circumstances that I may be experiencing is not only therapy for my soul, but somehow realigns my mental perspective about the thing I’m dealing with, perhaps even life itself. It’s transformational and it’s renewing. In Song of Solomon 1:16, the good king wrote, “Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved.” Although the book is written as a lengthy dialogue between a young woman and her lover, the book is allegorical and points the people of God (the bride of Christ) to a glorious and intimate relationship with the Bridegroom, Jesus Christ. It’s the love story of the ages. God neither chose me nor called me because I was lovely (holy), but He called me that I might be made holy in my spiritual intimacy with Him, and holiness is the beauty produced by His workmanship in me. As such, God is preparing His bride in this life to dwell with Him throughout all eternity.
The phrase "body of Christ" is a metaphor used in the New Testament to refer to the true church. It is called the body of Christ because Christ is the head of the church and believers are called to do the work of Christ, like each part of a physical body. The metaphor tends to underscore the value of diversity within the church. The phrase "body of Christ" is used in several passages of the New Testament, including 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, Romans 12:5, and Ephesians 4:122. In 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, Paul writes that the body is made up of many parts, but all form one body, just as Christ is one. Believers are baptized by one Spirit to form one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free. The passage emphasizes that each member of the body is important and has a unique role to play. Here are the core verses found in 1 Corinthians:
One Body with Many Members - 1 Corinthians 12:21-26
“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.”
So here is a basic interpretation. We all have a body that is made up of a variety of parts, and each part has a unique function. Not all parts are visible, but all of them are important. If one part is not working or is missing, it impacts the rest. The effectiveness of someone’s body depends on its control by the head. This holds true as well in the body of Christ, the spiritual body functions properly only when it works together under Jesus’ headship. When that happens, we have unity, plurality, diversity, harmony, and identity. As members of the body of Christ, we belong somewhere. When God’s grace has transformed us, we should find that it matters increasingly to us that we have been called into relationship with one another—into community. We’re diverse in the gifts that have been given; none of us can make up the body individually but only together. Each of us belongs to one another. We gather as church, then, in order to give of ourselves both to each other and, ultimately, to our Lord We contribute to the body by our presence, our songs, our prayers, and our fellowship. [2]
So to summarize, I believe that the purpose and function of participation in this body by both giving and receiving, fulfills our high calling as instruments of God’s power using our individual giftedness to show forth the grace and care of God to a watching world. 1 Peter 4 says - "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms..." God made every committed believer around the globe to serve a purpose in His beautiful kingdom… to fulfill their unique role in the Body. The goal of this purpose is not that we will necessarily do work for God, but that He will be free to do His work through us. Utilizing our individual giftedness is a form of worship; to not use it is to rob God. Everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. We are the adopted family of God; and if we love the Lord, then we will love His people also.
Many of us are familiar with Ephesians 5 where the apostle Paul is describing how husbands should love their wives, but allegorically, “… just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” The relationship between wives and husbands is a model of the union between Jesus and the church, and His attitude towards the church is the pattern for the Christian husbands’ love to his wife. When this type of selfless love abounds and the people of God simply submit to Christ’s pure love and cleansing of all sin exhibited at the cross, then the bride is made beautiful, radiant, without defect and sublimely holy for her wedding day, or entrance into the very presence of God in eternity.
To do the works of Jesus, we must live the life of Jesus. Acts 10 says, "He went about doing good." Jesus was never deterred by danger or difficulty. He sought out the recipients of His grace and those who had need. I can only imagine that a glimpse into His loving eyes radiated such beauty.. such compassion, and that is why the people were drawn to Him. No other light was as pure as His light and darkness had no place in His presence. So if we have the light and love of God shining through the darkness of our lives, then that light will shine forth where and when it needs to shine as long as we do not personally obscure it. Listen to the words of Jesus recorded in Matthew 5:13-16, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let you light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” This is the very heartbeat of the body of Christ and it is indeed beautiful! Charles Spurgeon was known to give an illustration in his sermons about a jeweler; when the jeweler brings out his best diamonds, he puts them on black velvet so the darkness will show the gem’s luster. That’s how God is. He is just as sovereign over the darkness as He is over the light. The darker the raging seas at night, the brighter the beacon appears to shine from the lighthouse. Our various experiences are meant by our heavenly Father to provide new vantage points from which we may view the loveliness of Jesus shining through. In the experience of suffering and pain, He has never been and can never be anything other than "beautiful."
I’m utterly convinced that the world doesn’t need more sermons on faith. They need to see a vibrant church who’s living out their faith, putting their hand to the plow, and 'doing good' before the world. There comes a point when God prompts us to respond to the cry of those around us. We are not to turn a blind eye to the pressing needs all around us, settling for a shallow Christianity with no power, no provision, no purpose, and nothing to give. Instead, let us, “…live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Walking in the light of His Glory will serve to exemplify and beautify the true Church of Jesus Christ.
******************
As I listened to the words Twila sung that day, “How beautiful when humble hearts give, the fruit of pure lives so that others may live”, I realized that the light that I allow to peek through this earthen vessel, adding some miniscule amount of beauty to a gray world, I know in that moment that I am a vessel of beauty. I delight in bringing beautiful gifts to my Father out of adoration for Him. I remind myself that I don't have to be a pastor or a priest or serve in some official capacity in the church to be a faithful and effective member of Christ’s radiant Kingdom. All I must do is be faithful in whatever vocation God has given to me. Wherever God has placed me on my journey through life, I intend to faithfully, lovingly, and humbly serve those people who are around me by letting His light shine like a lighthouse, showing the way to those lost at sea. I am convinced that Christ can use you as his hands, feet, and mouth to act in love toward the people that he is placed in your life and in so doing you’re going to bring indescribable beauty to the body of Christ.
_________________________
1. Twila Paris, “How Beautiful”, 1990
2. Alistair Begg, “Together Is Where We Belong”, 2024
What a wonderful read. Thank you Mark this substack is what we all need right now.