{"id":564,"date":"2008-10-16T01:01:30","date_gmt":"2008-10-16T01:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/2008\/10\/christian-fondue.html"},"modified":"2008-10-16T01:01:30","modified_gmt":"2008-10-16T01:01:30","slug":"christian-fondue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2008\/10\/christian-fondue.html","title":{"rendered":"Christian Fondue?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Part 4 of series: The Church as the Body of Christ
\n<\/em>Permalink for this post<\/a> \/ Permalink for this series<\/a>
\nIn my last post in this series, I explained that the kind of individualism we see among American Christians was prefigured in first-century Corinth. Like us, the Corinthians lived in a culture of individualistic self-promotion. Thus they found it natural to fit their Christianity to their cultural mold.
\nYet the Apostle Paul, who had founded the church in Corinth, recognized that individualism was antithetical to the Christian life. He wrote the letter we know as 1 Corinthians to help the young disciples in Corinth live in genuine community together. (Photo: Excavations of Ancient Corinth. Note the Temple of Apollo to the right. Photo from Holy Land Photos, used with permission.)
\nPaul could have tried to correct the Corinthian problem by giving a quick series of commands: “Don’t sleep with your stepmother. Don\u00e2??t sue each other. Don’t eat in pagan temples. Don’t enjoy your own elegant supper while others go hungry. Don’t boast about your spiritual endowments.” But Paul wanted to do more than rebuke the Corinthians and redirect their behavior. (Besides, given what we know about this particular group of Christians, they would not have received Paul’s naked admonishments too happily.)
\nIn his letter, Paul seeks to instruct his church so that their behavior might flow from a right understanding of Christian theology. Rather than simply shouting, “Don’t be individualistic,” Paul helps the Corinthians to comprehend who they are as a community formed by God. He does this by using the image of the human body. This would have been a familiar analogy to the recipients of Paul’s letter, since many in the Roman world besides Paul used the image of the body as a way to talk about human relationships and institutions. But, as we’ll see, some of Paul’s emphases would have come as quite a surprise.
\nHe begins his instruction by writing:<\/p>\n

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body\u00e2??Jews or Greeks, slaves or free\u00e2??and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Cor 12:12-13).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

According to Paul, we have all been baptized into Christ’s body by one Spirit (1 Cor 12:12). The Greek verb translated as “to baptize” literally means “to dip” or “to immerse” something in a liquid. It’s a little hard to envision something being immersed in a solid physical body. In fact, the \u00e2??dipped into a body\u00e2?\u009d image is what we call a mixed metaphor. It wouldn\u00e2??t get a high grade in a high school writing assignment, but it does draw attention to the fact that individual believers are joined in some profound way to a body.
\nIf Paul had been writing his letter in the 1960s rather than the 50s, he might have been tempted to speak of the beginning of discipleship as Christian fondue. If you\u00e2??re as old as I am, you may remember the fondue craze that his the U.S. in the 60s. Throughout America people were imitated the Swiss by dipping bread into hot pots of cheese, and topping it off with fruit dipped into steaming chocolate. Paul might have said that when we put our faith in Christ, we are dipped into the Spirit much like a piece of bread into a Fondue pot of cheese. But this metaphor wouldn\u00e2??t have been quite right, because Christians remain immersed in the Spirit, unlike the pieces of bread that, once saturated, are eaten by eager Fonduers.
\nPaul, of course, didn’t have available to him an image from our day that makes the point a little more elegantly. If he were writing in 2008 AD rather than 50 AD, Paul might say, “by the surgery of the Spirit, we have all been transplanted into Christ’s body as vital organs.” In since he was writing two millennia earlier, Paul uses the language of immersion to make sure that we don’t consider our connection to the body as something extrinsic and temporary. We belong permanently and essentially.
\nOur immersion within the body happens by the work of the Holy Spirit in the moment of our conversion. The theological fact of our connection to the body depends upon God’s action, not upon our own. Whether we choose to live in light of what God has done is up to us, however. Yet if you are a vital organ that has been transplanted into Christ’s body, you can see how counterproductive it would be for you to live apart from that body. Positively, both the body of Christ and your own life would be strengthened through your connection to the body, but weakened by your disconnection from it.
\nFinally, notice that Paul clearly states that “we have all been baptized into Christ’s body.” Nobody escapes this immersion by the Spirit. No one can rightly claim to be a Christian who has somehow avoided this work of the Holy Spirit. Those who always plays hooky from church to commune alone with God have simply chosen to live as amputated body parts, no matter how much this might impair their own spiritual health, not to mention the health of the church that is deprived of their participation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part 4 of series: The Church as the Body of Christ Permalink for this post \/ Permalink for this series In my last post in this series, I explained that the kind of individualism we see among American Christians was prefigured in first-century Corinth. Like us, the Corinthians lived in a culture of individualistic self-promotion.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church-as-body-of-christ"],"yoast_head":"\nChristian Fondue? - Mark D. 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Roberts","description":"Mark D. Roberts: Thoughtfully Christian Reflections on Jesus, the Church, and the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73","name":"Mark D. Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"description":"The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Before coming to Laity Lodge, he was for sixteen years the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California (a city in Orange County about forty miles south of Los Angeles). Before his time at Irvine Pres, Mark served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood as Associate Pastor of Education. (Thanks to Janel Pahl for taking the photo to the right.) Mark studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has taught classes in New Testament for Fuller Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Mark has written several books, including No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer (WaterBrook, 2005), Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003), Jesus Revealed (WaterBrook, 2002), After \"I Believe\" (Baker, 2002), and Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Word, 1993). His most recent book is Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007). He is currently working on a commentary on Ephesians that will be published by Zondervan in 2014. Mark writes a devotional for The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website associated with Laity Lodge. His \"Daily Reflections\" can be viewed online or sent as a daily email. If you wish to receive this email, just visit TheHighCalling.org and sign up. Mark serves on the editorial board of Worship Leader magazine, where he publishes articles and reviews, including his regular column \"Lyrical Poetry.\" Additionally, he has published dozens of articles in leading magazines and journals. He often speaks for churches and other Christian groups, and has been interviewed on over seventy-five radio programs nationwide. Mark is married to Linda, who is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a Spiritual Director, and a retreat speaker. They have two children, Nathan and Kara.For Publicity Photos and Bio Statements for Mark, please check here. Mark's Dossier Professional History: Senior Director and Scholar-in Residence, Laity Lodge, October 2007 to present. Senior Pastor Irvine Presbyterian Church, June 1991 to September 2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor Fuller Theological Seminary, 1994 to 2007. Courses: New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Adjunct Instructor San Francisco Theological Seminary, 1995 to 2001. Courses: New Testament Greek and Exegesis Associate Pastor of Education First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1987-1991 Teaching Fellow Harvard University, 1980-1983 Education: Ph.D. in the Study of Religion. Harvard University, 1992. Area: New Testament and Christian Origins M.A. in the Study of Religion Harvard University, 1984. A.B. magna cum laude in Philosophy Harvard University, 1979. Phi Beta Kappa; Danforth Fellowship Books: Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Crossway, 2007 No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer. WaterBrook, 2005 Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. WaterBrook, 2003. Jesus Revealed: Know Him Better to Love Him Better. WaterBrook, 2002. After \"I Believe\": Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. Baker, 2002. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther in the Communicator's Commentary Series. Word, 1993. Contacting Mark: You can reach Mark at: E-mail: mark@markdroberts.com mroberts@laitylodge.org Phone: Laity Lodge: (830) 792-1216 Address: Laity Lodge 719 Earl Garrett Kerrville, TX 78028","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/author\/mroberts"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}