The Head of the Body

And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

Colossians 1:18

The church is part of the new creation. Many churches seem to forget that. The church is something eternally new which the world has never seen before. It is quite different from any other organization among men. It is a sad thing to observe the loss of this concept among Christians. I am afraid that the most widespread concept is that the church is a religious country club, operated for the enjoyment and benefit of the members; it makes its own rules and exists for its own purposes. That is a far cry indeed from the New Testament description of the church. Others look upon the church as a collection of emotional misfits who are waiting for the first bus to glory. I fear some of us give them good reason to think that! Then there are those, like the Colossians, who are a group of eager beaver religious fanatics, running after every new doctrine that comes along, especially if it offers a good feeling and has a sense of magic and mystery about it.

But here the apostle corrects these false ideas and declares that Jesus is the Head of the body, which is the church. Paul relates the two together as a head and trunk relate in a physical body. God has actually given us a model to carry around with us (our own body), so that we may understand how the church is to function. The church is a body, and we all have bodies. The church has a Head, and we each have a head. To understand the church and how it should function, think about your own body.

If you stand in front of a mirror you will notice that there are two divisions of the body. The knob up on top, with more or less hair, we call the head. It is the control center of the body. The rest of the body is all part of the trunk. Notice that the head runs the body! Many churches seem to forget that. Think what would happen to your body if somebody removed your head. When I was a boy growing up in Montana, we did not buy chickens at the grocery store packaged in plastic. I had to go out and run one down, and then remove its head. A chicken with its head cut off acts very strangely. It does not quietly perish, but jumps and runs around, out of control, before it finally dies. Churches that lose their awareness of the Head are like that; they too go out of control. They do not know what to do. They run about and become involved in things they ought not to have anything to do with. They have, for all practical purposes, lost their Head.

I bow before you, Lord Jesus, as the head of the body which is the church. Forgive me for too often seeing this living organism as nothing more than an ordinary human institution.