Once we have been reconciled to God and our fellowship with Him is restored, our basic purpose is to see the city that He is building and to find our part in it. This begins with our part in His church. The angel told John to, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God” (Revelation 21:9-11).

         The church is not the kingdom of God. However, one of her primary callings is to be a model of the coming kingdom. The church is called to be the greatest society the world has ever seen. It will be this before the end of this age.

         For this reason, a basic part of being a disciple of Jesus is to be a part of His body, the church. We cannot be rightly joined to the Head without also being rightly joined to His body. If we are rightly joined, we will know our part, our gifts and ministries, and we will function in them to the edification of the whole body.

         As we covered earlier, from my studies I have concluded that less than 5% of Christians know their ministry or the gifts of the Spirit they have been given as tools for accomplishing their ministry. How well would you do if only 5% of your body was functioning? This is the present state of the body of Christ. Even with just 5% functioning, it is overall the most powerful entity on the planet. How much more powerful would it be if we started fulfilling 10% of our purpose? 20%? We can be sure that before the end of this age, the body of Christ will be all she is called to be.

         How can this happen if for nearly two thousand years we are still only such a tiny fraction of what we are supposed to be? Always remember that with the Lord a day is as a thousand years. This means that He can do in one day what we think would take a thousand years. As we approach the end of this age, we can expect things to speed up in the Spirit just as they are in the natural. For this reason, one of the most important signs that we are getting close to the end of the age will be the bride of Christ becoming what she is called to be. 

         One reason that less than 50% of those who claim to be Christians attend a local church is because most Christians don’t fit in. There can be various reasons for this, but one is that many churches have no place for them. There may be a place for them to sit in the services, but they are not being built together with the rest of the “living stones” into a temple. They just remain a pile of rocks gathered together.

         This is one of the biggest failures of the body of Christ, but it will be resolved. Few leaders of the present church qualify for any of the ministry titles listed in Ephesians chapter 4 because they are not building the body or equipping the saints to do the work of the ministry. This will change. There will be true apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers who will build the body by equipping the saints. 

         Any part of your body that does not get used will become atrophied very quickly. Right now more than 95% of Christians are in an atrophied spiritual state. They may pray, read, study the Word, and volunteer for service work, but few are truly connected to their purpose. This creates a continual emptiness, a yearning, a sense of being unfulfilled that is at the root of much of the discord and divisions in the church. The only remedy is for every member to know their place, be equipped to fulfill it, and engaged in fulfilling it.

         There was a study done years ago to find the main question that people ask. The main question human beings ask is what is their purpose. There is no entity on earth that can answer this as well as the body of Christ when she becomes what she is called to be. When we get this, there will be no entity on earth as compelling, interesting, or fulfilling as being a part of the body.

         How do we get there from where we are now? That is one of the ultimate questions we should be asking. The answers are readily available, but we must be prepared for radical transformation.