A Vision of the Body of Christ
A Different Spirit
So the first point of differentiation between this fellowship and every thing else in religion is that we have a different message. The members of the body of Christ have an understanding of that message. Second, our mission is different, in that we have a different spirit. There is something about the body of Christ, there is a spirit about it, that is different. This is not a reference to God's Holy Spirit, but rather a spirit about the people; an attitude of love - in short, charity.
Most Christians think that charity is giving an offering, or donating old clothes to Goodwill. Among us, charity means the divine love of God. A hallmark of this precious fellowship has been the message of charity. We've been taught that your spirit is everything.
In John 13:35, Jesus told His disciples that they were to be noted for their love to, not for, one another. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth to show them a more excellent way. I Corinthians 12:31. They didn't have it yet; Paul was showing them how to obtain something very precious. That way was the way of charity. In I Corinthians 13:1-3, he showed them that charity, not spirituality, is the more excellent way. Someone may seem spiritual, or blessed of God, but if they don't have charity - they are just a lot of noise. Verses 4-7 describe this charity, the divine love of God.
Brother James Sowders, pastor of the Louisville Gospel Assembly, in a message delivered on May 16, 1971, said, "Charity thinks no evil, that is, is not a 'mote hunter.' These are things that develop complete Christianity in your life. These are things that make you like Jesus Christ. And honestly, when you get them, when charity gets control of you, you're one of the most elegant individuals that ever existed."
"Charity will take from you all your human aggressiveness. Charity will take from you all protection. Charity will make you where you will not hurt anybody. It's so different from what we see today. But, when God takes those things away from you, He's going to give you something else, that will be far greater than anything you have ever possessed."
In that same message, he also said: "We've got the Holy Ghost; we speak in tongues; we shout; get people healed at times; people get converted and filled with the Spirit; we sing; and we have visions, tongues and interpretations at times; And, that's all good, but it hasn't brought us to where we can treat each other right. It hasn't brought us to where, in private, we always speak well of each other. It hasn't caused us to quit criticizing each other. It hasn't caused us to quit imagining things. It hasn't caused us to cease from hurting each other's influence."
Brother James Sowders later said, "True charity is not typified by an alms box; some people think that, if they give a little bit, that's all that's necessary. The benevolence of the checkbook does not meet all the woes of humanity. Giving food, clothing, and money to the poor is only the beginning, the kindergarten class. Charity has higher, purer forms of manifestation. Charity is the incentive reaching out for justice and light. Charity seeks to smooth down the rough places of living, to bridge the chasms of human folly and sin, to find the hungry heart, to give strength to the struggling, to be tender with human weakness. And greatest of all, it means obeying the divine injunction, 'Judge not.' These are just words, but brother, every one of them is weighty."
Charity teaches us to bridle our tongues. James 1:26. Proverbs 6:17-19 decries a lack of charity in words. Jesus said in Matthew 12:36, we will be judged for every idle word we communicate. "Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins." Proverbs 10:12. I am not to criticize your weakness. Fervent charity covers sins. I Peter 4:8. Anyone can tear down; but it takes skill to build up.
Proverbs 16:28 says that a whisperer separates chief friends. Why would you try to separate friends? Where is your charity? Proverbs 17:9, "He that covereth a transgression seeketh love: but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends." Charity does not look for faults in others; it looks for the good in them. The true church teaches that we are to overcome evil with good; not criticism. Do not overcome evil with evil. Romans 12:21.
You may say that the other person did not treat you right. And maybe they didn't. So what? Did the nail they drove into your cross hurt so bad that you cannot forgive them for their part in crucifying your flesh? Can't you be strong and bear with their weakness? The strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak. Romans 15:1.
When saints squabble, or gossip, or get into wrong spirits, it is because they are both equally weak. Charity forbids us from destroying another child of God. We cannot criticize them to others. We cannot try to eliminate their influence. We cannot express our negative opinion about their lives, or conduct. Charity never fails.