The Body of Christ

The Sending Path is for those who want to begin serving and walking with others. Let us be clear from the start: this path only helps you prepare; the actual sending is done by your own church.

To serve the church, you first need to know what the church is. Many people say ‘go to church’ as if the church were a building or a Sunday event. The Bible puts it completely differently: the church is “his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” (Ephesians 1:22-23)

The body has a head: “He is the head of the body, the assembly.” (Colossians 1:18) The church does not belong to the pastor, nor to the few people with the most gifts or zeal; it belongs to Christ. Serving starts here: I am not working for an institution; I am a member of the body of Christ.

The members need one another. The Bible says: “speak truth each one with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.” (Ephesians 4:25-32) How does Christ treat his body? He “nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord also does the assembly.” (Ephesians 5:29-30) The earliest form of service is to nourish and cherish as he does.

So the first practice on this path is simple: don’t look first for some ‘big thing’ to do; first notice the people in your church—the one who always comes alone and leaves alone.