What’s a Body to Do?

By Rev. Mark Buetow

Do you like your body? Chances are, if you’re a teenager, you can find something wrong. Too many pimples. Abs not ripped enough. Too skinny. Too plump. Too short. Too tall. It’s easy to be dissatisfied with the body our heavenly Father has given us.

But there is some false teaching out there that dislikes your body, even more than just because of a few blemishes. There’s a whole way of thinking that says that the “body” and “flesh” and “material things” are bad or not worth considering, or at least not as important as the things that are “unseen” or “spiritual.” A lot of Eastern religions (like Hinduism or Buddhism) think that material things are not that great. The big deal for them is leaving the body behind for something completely spiritual. The Devil tries constantly to bring these false notions into the church, too. He wants us to believe that “body is bad” and “spirit only is good.” These teachings, some of which are called “Gnosticism” or “hidden knowledge,” came from Eastern and even Greek culture and made their way into the teachings of many early Christian heretics!

Consider these words from Jesus’ own lips: “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63). It sure sounds like our bodies aren’t the big deal. And isn’t that how much of the Christian faith is portrayed? You die and your body gets buried but your soul lives on in heaven. That’s heaven: clouds and souls floating around with harps. Nonsense! Remember what the Creed says, “I believe in the...resurrection of the BODY and the life everlasting.” We will be raised up in our BODIES for eternal life. When Jesus speaks those words above, He is NOT saying “body, bad” and “spirit, good.” Rather, He’s referring to the Holy Spirit (the Spirit) versus our sinful nature (flesh). In other words, the Words of Jesus give us life by the Spirit. Our sinful nature doesn’t do anything for us.

And consider also: What did Jesus become when He came to save us? A human being! He took on FLESH. Bones. Blood. He received a B-O-D-Y when He was conceived in Mary’s womb. Jesus has flesh and blood, as we do, so He could suffer and die for us and redeem our bodies which are subjected to death because of sin. Then, when Jesus rose from the dead, His body rose, too. All of Him. And He still has that flesh, that body. The fact that God became man by taking on a human nature, a BODY, should toss down once and for all any notion that “spiritual and unseen” trumps “physical and material.” In fact, just think about the very physical ways that Jesus delivers His forgiveness and salvation to us: words spoken by a preacher; water and bread and wine. These very physical gifts are used by Jesus to bestow on you forgiveness, life and salvation by giving you the Spirit and Christ’s Body and Blood.

Now why is all this important? Because many Christians think that anything physical is bad and that everything should be spiritual. So don’t enjoy the nice things of this life because they’ll all pass away. And don’t worry about your body because the big deal is your spirit. We’re not Gnostics! As Christians, we don’t have to try to separate physical from spiritual or body from soul. Jesus didn’t! In fact, by His incarnation, His becoming man and having a physical body, we learn that salvation isn’t just for our “soul” but for our “body” as well. When we are raised from the dead on the Last Day, we shall have everlasting life in our BODIES! And they will be perfect bodies, too, because all the sin that sticks with us now will be gone once and for all. So what’s a body to do when we hear that bodies aren’t the big deal? Run away from that teaching! Rejoice that Jesus has saved you, both body and soul, and that both are good gifts from your heavenly Father, both are redeemed by your Savior, and both are made holy in Christ by the Spirit. Gnostic thinking is nothing but a bunch of Gnonsense!

Rev. Mark Buetow is pastor of Bethel Lutheran Church in DuQuoin, Illinois and he serves on the Higher Things Executive Council. He can be reached at buetowmt@gmail.com.