Upward growth to maturity takes place in a human, biological body when it responds to signals sent down from the head and other members play their part. Christ the Head is “the Saviour of the body” — the Church (Ephesians 5:23) “We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.” (Verse 29)
When the church recognizes Jesus as its spiritual Head, and as it develops “the mind of Christ,” it grows to maturity. However, local churches whose congregational members are passive when they ought to be active, eventually become audiences instead of participants. They become dysfunctional bodies.
Some denominations place visible, ecclesiastical ‘heads’ in the place of Christ. Despite this, Jesus remains the only true Head of his body, the Church. The question is: How can his body work cooperatively, competently and effectively, if its unseen yet celestial Head is replaced and its terrestrial authority is ignored — the second being the result of the first? Over the course of time, the dysfunctional organic body became a religious, well-organized Body Corporate.
God has placed everything “under our feet” (Ephesians 1:23. He has given the members of his body spiritual dominion. But a dysfunctional body lacks authority and so is unable to exercise our Lord’s rule. It becomes a corporate body, the head of which is no longer the Lord Jesus, but an organization overseen by the religious equivalent of a CEO and a board of directors.
The Head rules through his church body. When the body functions as it should, the heavenly rule of Christ places every earthly authority underfoot. An organic, functioning spiritual body which obeys the thoughts of its Head is able to do this, but an organizational religious body is not; instead it becomes secondary to political rule, and subject to political machinery.