In my last post, I held forth that Christian growth depends on the quality of our attachment to the Head, i.e., Christ (Col. 2:18,19). But today I would like to go a step further and advance that the very quality of our Christian life depends on that attachment.
Christian skill is in the Head
Mozart played piano with his hands, yet—as we all understand—his skill sprang from his head. Such elements as rhythm, harmony, coordination, or melodiousness didn’t originate from his hands. They were proceeding from his head and transmitted to his fingers through joints and bands. If the communication between his hands and his head had been disrupted, Mozart could have played no concertos whatsoever. The same is true of Vincent van Gogh or any other artist whose skill is derived from his head.
What is true about our physical skill is also valid when transferred to the spiritual. Jesus rightly stated that without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). And the apostle Paul attests that our sufficiency is of God (2 Cor. 3:5).
Granted that some evangelical activities, including preaching, can be carried on by atheists or lukewarm Christians, it is obvious that nothing can have spiritual value if it proceeds merely from human resources. All these so-called “productivities” will turn into smoke the moment the last trumpet is heard.
When we speak of Christian competence, we refer to the ability Christ has to fulfill the divine purpose. And we, Christians, can partake of this adeptness through a unification with Him. To think Christian skillfulness comes through academic progress or ministerial training is to drift away from Christianity. It is a borrowing from the world that has already left its negative marks on our modern evangelical trends.
The anointing comes from the head
Since the word “Christ” means “anointed one”, and there is only one Christ, it follows that there can be only one anointed One.
The anointing of Aaron offers a good example. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the author of Psalm 33 wrote:
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments.”
Here no mention is made of Aaron’s arms or legs; only the head received the anointing, not the members. In fact, the “precious oil” didn’t run on his body but on his garment. But as we all know, when the legs of Aaron moved they moved with the anointing of Aaron because they were well attached to his head.
If you want anointing, make sure you are well attached to Jesus. This is your only hope. If there is anything between you and Him, any interference that renders communication ineffective, any sin or friendship with the world, no anointing will be communicated to you as a member. You will only experience dead religiosity, nothing more. And I must say here that dead religiosity can be highly entertaining, for we have embellished it with all sorts of entertainments to engender exuberance and interest.
Nowadays, many presume they can get the anointing regardless of their spiritual condition. They think they just need to go to the right place and meet the right preacher. On the authority of God’s word I tell you: It is not so.
Coordination and consciousness come from the Head
When Mozart played piano there was a perfect synchronization between his right hand and his left hand. It was so because each hand was conscious of the other. Not only were they conscious of each other’s existence. They were also conscious of each other’s position. For instance, if you close your eyes and move your left hand behind your back, your right hand will have no problem finding it because both hands belong to the same consciousness, and this consciousness is in the head.
Paul writes: “For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church” (Eph. 5:29). The answer for the existing conflicts among Christians in local assemblies should not be borrowed from worldly wisdom. Most of the time, these conflicts exist because the members are not well attached to the Head. Obviously, when Christians are conscious they belong to the same body they will not “bite and devour one another” as we read in Galatians 5:15. On the contrary, they will participate in the common well-being of the body.
To try to create unity in a Christian community in the fashion of the coach of the Real Madrid football team is doomed to fail. What we must do is to help the people involved to harmonize themselves with their Head. Until this is done, there will be little hope of any substantial change in their relation.
Wisdom comes from the Head
To say Christ has wisdom is to put it lightly, for as the apostle Paul declares, He is the very wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:24). To attempt to generate wisdom on our own, or to get it from the school of the “wise,” is to trifle with the divine. And to endeavor to minister effectively without God’s wisdom is to flirt with foolishness (1 Cor. 3:19). Such ministering might impress the followers of Satyrus the Peripatetic, but surely not the Logos of God.
The words of Paul still speak loudly today when he writes:
These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Cor. 2:13).
The faster we depart from words taught by human wisdom, the faster we are going to benefit those who hear us.
I leave you with these words uttered by the apostle Paul: “But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus” (Eph. 4:20,21). On such learning depends our progress.
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