【双语灵修】基督的身体THE BODY OF CHRIST

罗马书12:1-8

所以弟兄们，我以神的慈悲劝你们，将身体献上，当做活祭，是圣洁的，是神所喜悦的，你们如此侍奉乃是理所当然的。 不要效法这个世界，只要心意更新而变化，叫你们察验何为神的善良、纯全、可喜悦的旨意。

我凭着所赐我的恩对你们各人说：不要看自己过于所当看的，要照着神所分给各人信心的大小，看得合乎中道。 正如我们一个身子上有好些肢体，肢体也不都是一样的用处； 我们这许多人在基督里成为一身，互相联络做肢体，也是如此。 按我们所得的恩赐，各有不同。或说预言，就当照着信心的程度说预言； 或做执事，就当专一执事；或做教导的，就当专一教导； 或做劝化的，就当专一劝化；施舍的，就当诚实；治理的，就当殷勤；怜悯人的，就当甘心。

10月17日

基督的身体

又将万有服在他的脚下，使他为教会作万有之首。 教会是他的身体，是那充满万有者所充满的。(以弗所书1:22-23)

或许你曾听说：“做基督徒不一定要去教会。”这话没错，许多基督徒因信仰被囚禁，无法参加教会的敬拜聚会。

但教会并非我们“前往”的某个场所。教会是基督的身体，只要神的子民聚集敬拜相交，那里就有教会存在。教会不仅存在于我们称为教堂的建筑物里面，也显现在监狱中、大学校园里、偏远的宣教工场上、那些将基督信仰定为非法的国家的家庭聚会中。

圣经将教会比作人的身体，指出我们都是这身体的组成部分（哥林多前书12章）。成为基督徒与成为教会成员本质相同。身体每个部分都至关重要，各肢体共同维系着整个机体的健康运转。

虽然不去教会“做礼拜”或许也能称为基督徒，但脱离整体的肢体将会终于坏死。就像脚趾、手指、眼睛或肾脏，若脱离身体就无法存活。唯有当我们彼此服侍、互相造就时，信仰才能茁壮成长！

祷告

主啊，感谢你赐下教会—你以各种不同形态遍布世界的身体。感谢你将我联结于教会之中。请帮助我在其中服侍众人，也接受他人的服侍，成为这身体的一部分！阿们。

Romans 12:1-8

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17

THE BODY OF CHRIST

God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body. . . .—Ephesians 1:22-23

Maybe you have heard someone say, “I don’t need to go to church to be a Christian.” This is true. Many Christians have been jailed for their faith and have been prevented from going to or attending church worship services.

But the church is not a place where we “go.” The church is the body of Christ. Wherever God’s people meet for worship and fellowship, the church is present. The church is found not only in buildings that we call churches but also in prisons, on college campuses, on remote mission fields, in homes within countries that have outlawed Christianity, and more.

The Bible likens the church to a human body and says that we are each a part of the body (1 Corinthians 12). Being a Christian and being part of the church are synonymous. Every part of the body is important, and every part contributes to the overall well-being of the entire body.

While it may be true that we don’t need to “go to church” to be a Christian, the parts of the body can die if they are disconnected from the whole. A foot, finger, eye, or kidney, for example, cannot live if it is not connected to the body. Only when we minister to others, and are ministered to, can we grow in our faith and flourish!

Lord, thank you for the church, your body, in its many different shapes and forms throughout the world. Thank you for joining me to the church. Help me to serve and to be served as a part of it! Amen.