Link to Video https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1AvudUBUaZ/
A Christian, Biblical, Gentle-but-Devastating Response
Delegate Arikan, I want to say this with all the love and seriousness that Scripture demands. If you and I are both baptized into Christ, then you and I are not members of separate, isolated institutions. We are members of the same body.
Paul says plainly:
- “You are the Body of Christ, and individually members of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:27)
- “There is one body and one Spirit… one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” (Ephesians 4:4–5)
- Christ “is the head of the church, which is His body.” (Ephesians 1:22–23)
These verses don’t describe a building.
They don’t describe a membership roll.
They describe us — all believers — joined to Christ and therefore joined to one another.
So if I were to pinch your arm, I would be touching the Body of Christ.
And if you were to pinch mine, you would be touching the Body of Christ.
Not metaphorically.
Not symbolically.
Biblically.
That is what the New Testament teaches.
And because we are one body, Jesus’ words in Matthew 18 cannot be reduced to “only people who belong to my specific congregation.” The early church didn’t even have modern membership rolls. The ekklesia Jesus refers to is the called‑out people of God — the whole community of believers.
Matthew 18 is not about institutional boundaries.
It is about who we are in Christ.
If we are brothers and sisters in the Lord, then we are accountable to one another.
If we share one baptism, then we share one body.
If we share one body, then we share one church.
I’m not saying this to win a debate.
I’m saying it because I care about your soul, and because Christians cannot affirm the authority of Scripture while rejecting what Scripture plainly teaches about the unity of the Body of Christ.
We don’t get to choose a smaller church than the one Jesus gave us.
We don’t get to shrink the Body of Christ down to the size of our preferred congregation.
We belong to one another because we belong to Him.
And that is why Matthew 18 applies to all believers — not just the ones who happen to share a building.