Bud Hancock writes another article with many important insights about the difference between the Church and worldly organisations as you know them. You all need all the help you can get at this dangerous time for humanity. Be grateful for Bud’s wisdom, gained through a lifetime of following and studying God’s word.

Gibber! Gibber!

Chugley

The Body of Christ – An Organism or An Organization?

By Bud Hancock

Words that look and sound somewhat alike can bring much confusion and that confusion can cause much distress to those who fail to understand the key differences between them.

For example, the word organism looks a lot like the word organization, but there are very real differences between organisms and organizations.

According to Dictionary.com, an organism is a form of life composed of mutually interdependent parts that maintain various vital processes. The word “mutually” is very important because it indicates that each part has a need (interdependency) for all the other parts in order to function properly. That certainly describes a living body, whether human or animal.

Also, according to Dictionary.com, organization comes from the word organize, meaning to form as, or into, a “whole” consisting of interdependent or coordinated parts, especially for united action. Thus, an organization is: the sum of all the individual parts that have been formed as, or into, a whole entity consisting of interdependent or coordinated parts, especially for united action. Notice that there is no “mutuality” in the definition of the parts of an organization. An organization is similar to an organism, but differing from it in its lack of inherent life. Depending on how it is structured and administered, an organization can easily be mistaken for an organism. But true organisms are all about procreation in order to increase the numbers of them., and without life, procreation is impossible.

SIMPLE EXAMPLE OF PROCREATION

Notice the main difference between these definitions is “a form of life” in the definition of an organism. There is no life mentioned in the definition of an organization, just a group of individual parts that have been put together in some orderly fashion to accomplish some “united action” or purpose.

Based on those definitions, what can we surmise about organisms and organizations in general? Much actually. Take an automobile for example. It is definitely “organized” into a whole unit, made up of coordinated and interdependent parts designed for some united action or purpose, so it could be called an “organization”, but it has no life of its own therefore it is certainly NOT an organism. It is there to serve the purpose for which its parts were “organized” and can be a good thing (except when it fails to start on demand😊).

The Organization

Any organization that functions as planned and built, can have either a positive or negative outcome/influence on mankind based on the reason, or intention, for the formation of it. And based on who (the human entities) is controlling the organization, the intentions can certainly deviate from the original intentions of the builder of the organization. In other words, the success of the organization is totally dependent on the character of the controller(s).

The Organism

Any organism, by definition, has a life of its own and is physically capable of functioning independently, but is also at times influenced by outside forces. The human being, as a physical organism is the perfect example of this. He was made to commune with and learn from God, His creator, but is often influenced by other humans who do not know God and therefore can have a bad influence, producing bad results.

When an organism has been created for a specific purpose, as in the creation of man, the creature, the organism, is expected to function as the Creator desires. But the history of man since his beginning has proven that to not be the case. The entry of evil into his life precluded him form functioning in ways that would be pleasing to God. No flesh and blood being is capable of successful living, being pleasing to God, without the influence and communion of, and with, God. As God is given the freedom to provide the influence it needs, the organism can produce the same results that Jesus got when He was in constant communion with His Father.

The Living Organism – The Church, or Body of Christ

According to the words of Jesus Who said, “…upon this rock I will build My Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18), Jesus was speaking of the living body of believers that would follow in His footsteps and deliver the good news of the gospel of Christ to the entire world. After Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God (Matthew 16:18), Jesus said, “…thou are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”.

Many mistakenly believe Jesus was saying He would build His church on Peter, but nothing could be further from the truth; Peter, prompted by the Holy Spirit, had just professed that Jesus IS the Mashiach (Messiah, the One Anointed). Jesus confirmed that the rock He mentions is Peter’s profession of truth that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the One anointed by God to bring redemption to the world. That knowledge would provide the access to the life of God through the Blood of Jesus; all who would believe would be redeemed from the control of Satan, with the powerful blood of Jesus being the purchase price. Jesus knew that, one day Peter would die and no longer be present on this earth, just as Jesus would die and return to His father in Heaven; God knew that the Church of Jesus would need to be built on something that could be accessed by humanity until the end of the age, and that foundation of the Church was the knowledge of Jesus Christ and Who He truly was and still IS. As people heard the word of the gospel and knew that Jesus IS that truth He claimed to be, the Church was being built and increased because of that knowledge. No matter how large the Church was to become, the foundation had to be sure, strong and everlasting to withstand the satanic attacks and pressures that would be used against it. Peter was not qualified to be that foundation, but Jesus, being the chief cornerstone, certainly was.

1 Corinthians 12:12-27: Paul explains in great detail and complete simplicity how the human body is built and compares the Body of Christ to the human body. There are many “members” in the human body, each with its own particular function, but all are combined to make “one body”. In the same manner, there are multitudes of “members” in the Body of Christ, and the Lord Himself determines which member has been given a particular function, and just what that function is. In the human body, each part, designed by God functions according to His design based on the DNA that God imparted to Adam at creation. When a human body is healthy, each part, functioning properly and working together with all the other parts, make a productive person.

The church Jesus mentions in Matthew 16:18 is the entire worldwide Body of Christ, a living organism made up of millions, possibly billions of human beings who believe in Him and who have become His children by adoption. While the Body of Christ is made up of multitudes of people with varying functions, it is Jesus, the Head of the Body, that determines exactly how each part is fitted together, or organized. Only Jesus knows the very heart of every believer as well as their individual strengths and weaknesses, their character flaws and the areas wherein they excel, and He therefore is the only person qualified to organize His body; so the Church is an organizationally in the sense that it is a highly organized organism , having its own life force.

But just as an automobile is a highly organized entity, with multitudes of various parts having various functions, it has no life of its own and only when a living person inserts a key into the ignition and sends power to the starter, does it exhibit any life. The difference between the organism, the Church, the Body of Christ, and an organization is that the Body of Christ, made up of its millions of parts (people), has life inherent in it: the life of the Holy Spirit Who indwells each believer.

CAR STARTER MOTOR

An organization such as an individual church building wherein believers gather to worship God appears to have life when true believers are gathered there in God’s presence, but when the people leave that building, it becomes as dead as a doornail. The believers in each individual church body, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, function as the key which is inserted into the ignition system of a car and when turned, it becomes the connection between the power and the engine; then the organism that was previously only “life potential”, becomes “life realized”.

However, if the organization becomes greater than the organism, the power of the organism is decreased and the entirety of the body that should be Jesus’s Church then functions only AS an organization, and at that point, it loses or forfeits its communion with God and all the purposes for which it was created become null.

The most critical understanding is that just as the ignition key is the connection with the power source that starts the engine of an automobile and provides for the functioning of it, according the automobile’s operators manual, so The Key, The Holy Spirit, provides the life connection to the Body of Christ, and based on the operators manual, the Word of God, He provides the direction for proper functioning of the whole Body.

Conclusion

The organization, as opposed to the organism, does not have a life of its own. However, if it functions as it was created to function, it can produce the results needed by its creator(s). However, it cannot, by any means produce any life because it is devoid of life. It only moves, or functions, as it is influenced by human beings. If a local religious church body or even an entire religious denomination is ONLY an organization, where God has been totally left out of the structure of that organization, leaving it at the mercy of humans to get any results from it, then the organization is nothing more than a sham.

A religious organization, devoid of the TRUE living power of The Holy Spirit, may function as it was designed but when the intended result of that design was originally, or has degenerated into, bringing honor, power and glory to the organizers and NOT to God, it is a dismal failure and not a part of the Living Body of Christ, regardless of what its designers and operators claim. They may vehemently deny this fact, but in the end, God knows their hearts, He knows their intentions, and while eternal blessings will be bestowed upon the Living Body of Christ, He will expose the false claims of the empty organizations before the entire world.

Maranatha, and Blessings

Bud Hancock

Born and raised in a small textile town in North Carolina, Bud’s family moved to Michigan in the hope of finding better employment with General Motors.  After graduating from high school, Bud began an apprenticeship with General Motors to become a Metal Modelmaker.  Retiring after a 30 year career, which included an eight year stint as a Metrologist (Science of high precision measurement), he and his wife moved back to North Carolina to be near his elderly parents.  Shortly thereafter, with both of his parents having passed, he began a new career in the bank security/ATM business, advancing from an entry level technician to one of two North Carolina customer service managers for his employer.  Retiring again after 13 years, he and his wife of 51 years relocated to Tennessee where Bud began writing articles emphasizing Biblical teaching and geopolitical issues.  At age 75, he and his wife relocated to South Carolina with their Miniature Schnauzer, Baxter.  Bud continues to study God’s word and write articles on Christian living and geopolitical issues from the Biblical end times  perspective.