There Is One Body -- A Necessity For Unity
"Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body ...." (Eph. 4:3-4)
Our Lord prayed that we, as believers, should be one. (John 17:21) Paul condemned the division in the Corinthian church, and made an earnest plea for unity among believers. In Ephesians, chapter four, God's plan for unity is set forth with the giving of the seven basic unities, the first of which is, there is one body.
It is utterly impossible for believers to be united except in one body. The one body is unity of organization. So long as there is "but one body," the members of which recognize the "one Lord," as the sole authority (Matt. 28:18), unity can prevail. But when brethren begin to form other bodies (organizations) either larger than or smaller than the local church, unity will be disrupted. A study of the division of a hundred years ago reveals the fact that the unity of the believers was first disrupted when brethren formed a second body (organization) known as the Missionary Society. We can not have unity with more than one body. There is one body, not two or thirty. Those who formed the second body which was larger than the local church, later formed several bodies smaller than the local church: Mary and Martha Club, Dorcas Club, Young People's Clubs, Men's Clubs, etc. Can any successfully deny that the formation of a second body was the beginning of division of believers? The formation of the Missionary Society was just as sinful as the formation of a denomination, which is a body other than the one body of the Lord.
The present generation of believers has witnessed the formation of other bodies (organizations). These bodies are causing division among believers. Some of these new bodies have been formed for the purpose of building and maintaining homes for children and old folks. There is yet but "one body" for the accomplishment of work of the church, and the thirty or more Benevolent Societies that have been formed are not a part of the "one body," the church, but are separate from the one body.
Still other bodies have been formed to preach the gospel of Christ. Gospel Press is another organization which is supported by churches of Christ for the purpose of preaching the gospel. It is as much another body as was the Missionary Society of 1849, and is just as unscriptural. The Missionary Society had its head, Alexander Campbell, and its mission, preaching the gospel. The Gospel Press has its head, Alan Bryan, and its mission, preaching the gospel. The Missionary Society was a body other than "the body of Christ" which was supported by the body of Christ, sent forth preachers who preached the gospel of Christ. The Gospel Press is a body other than the "body of Christ," which is supported by the body of Christ, and sends forth the gospel of Christ which the preacher would preach if he were sent. If the formation of another body was sinful in 1849, why is not the formation of another body sinful in 1962? In past years brethren have preached the "one body" and the sinfulness of the formation of "other bodies" through which the "one body is to do its work.
In the Gospel Advocate's Annual Lesson Commentary, 1946, page 80, Guy N. Woods, commenting on the seven basic unities of Eph. 4:4-6, says:
"There is one body. The body is the church (Eph. 1:22, 23)....Yet, the religious world is divided into hundreds of bodies, each striving to maintain itself at the expense of others. The unity of the body of Christ, the church, is utterly ignored by most religious professors of today. Indeed, the scriptural teaching on this subject is scoffed at, and those who insist on the one body are stigmatized as marrow,' bigoted,' and 'intolerant.' This, however, is the New Testament way to unity, and those who have regard for God and his word remain unmoved by those who choose to ignore what is therein said. There is but one church, and this is the church of the New Testament. For it Jesus died; all the saved are in it; it alone will stand when the institutions of men are destroyed."
I agree with the Guy Woods of 1846; but brother Woods is now contending for "other bodies" and insists that the "one body" cannot do all of its work without the formation of "other bodies" in the realm of benevolent work. However, in 1946 brother Woods said, "We should be highly suspicious of any scheme that requires the setting up of an organization independent of the church in order to accomplish its work." (Ibid. page 338.)
Brother Woods was right in 1946 when he said "those who insist on the one body are stigmatized as 'narrow,' 'bigoted,' and 'Intolerant!." When contending for the "one body" which is essential for unity, my own brethren are crying "narrow," "bigoted," and "intolerant." Indeed "the scriptural teaching on this subject is scoffed at," and that by our own brethren who fifteen years ago contended for the one body, but who now favor church support of many "other bodies," and claim that these "other bodies" are necessary if the church does its work. I still agree with the Woods of 1946 who said, "those who have regard for God and his word remain unmoved by those who choose to ignore what is therein said" about the one body, and that in the end this one body "alone will stand when the institutions of men are destroyed."
Brethren, the church is the body of Christ, and the body is sufficient to accomplish all that the head (Christ) desires of it. It was adequate to fulfill its mission in the first century, and is just as adequate in the twentieth century. The efforts of men to establish other bodies through which the body of Christ is to function in accomplishing its mission are but reproaches upon the head, and are sure to disrupt the unity of believers. Let us endeavor to "keep the unity of the Spirit" and remember "there is yet but one body."
— Harrison, Arkansas