spiritual inbreeding

We are the body of Christ. Paul’s symbolism of the body of Christ is one illustration of how we work together and with Christ. We are to function as a body in which each member supplies what is needed for the entire body according to his or her gifting. We get our Life from Christ, who is our Head (Eph 4:14-16).

What happens to our churches, the individual bodies of Christ which we personally belong to, when things become stale . . . or when our services take on the tone of the world and of error? Today I will be sharing on inbreeding, the cause of spiritual staleness, or lack of variation within our churches. Because this concept has to do with the physical body and our genetic make-up, it is a term the Lord chose to illustrate the spiritual composition of some of our churches.

Inbreeding. Inbreeding is the mating of men and women closely related. This harms what we call the “gene pool” because it increases the chances for genetic mutation. Another practice also harms the gene pool, and that is called the “Founder Principle”. When the gene pool comes from only a few people, such as the founders of a colony, there is a greater chance for a loss in genetic variation, and recessive traits become stronger, more dominant. For instance, this results in a greater chance of deafness, if one of the founders has a recessive gene for deafness. It can also result in other genetic mutations, especially if there is inbreeding between people closely related to one another.

God’s design is to refresh the “gene pool” of our spiritual life by having more than one person speak or teach in the church. He raises up men and women whom He has put gifts in that will edify and build the body. When many share, the variety of messages will meet the variety of needs within the body, and it will be strong.

Yet the opposite can be true as well. When only a few speak, and the rest are spectators, there is very little variety in the spiritual make-up of the body. The in-dwelling beliefs of the few who teach and preach will become the dominant beliefs of the church, eventually. This is the spiritual “founder principle.”

Just as inbreeding with close family members can result in retardation and genetic mutations, groups who closely follow only one man can become cults . Spiritually, our reasoning is eschewed when we only receive sermons and lessons from one source. If our churches become closed to outside ministry, the members will be formed into the image of the founder or minister. But if we receive one another, as Jesus asks (Mt 10:40-42), then we will be formed by the wide variety of lessons and sermons attributed to many who represent Him.

I feel led to caution against closed systems of preaching and teaching, wherein a few approved people are the only ones allowed to minister. Let us receive one another and the variety that exists in Christ. The strength of our spiritual composition will grow, for there will be less chance of personal beliefs being dominant. Amen.