Series: We the Church

Title: You the Church (Many Members One Body)

We have talked about the global church and Jesus’ prayer for His church to be one.  We are one with the global church through our faith in Jesus, missions, embracing diversity and through suffering. 

Last week we talked about the local church and how God places us in a local church much like He places us in a family.  The purpose in doing so is to refine us so that we will reflect Him through it. 

Today we want to look at our individual responsibilities as being a part of a local church.

The church is made up of many members, but we are all part of one body.  Your physical body is made up of many members, each of the members of your body has a specific and unique function.  The same is true with the body of Christ.  Every member (every person) plays an important part of the Body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:1-31

¹ Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. ² You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. ³ Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

Let’s establish to whom was this written. Yes, Paul addresses the entirety of the letter to the church at Corinth.  But more specifically He is speaking to those who once had a past plagued with unrighteousness and idolatry.  These idolators have since been converted to Christianity.  Where they used to consider Jesus a curse and a byword, they now proclaim Him as Lord. 

We can all relate to the church at Corinth for the same thing has happened to us.  We too were once living as the gentiles apart from God until that day that Jesus became our Lord and our Savior.  No one can make such a proclamation that He is Lord unless the Holy Spirit is living in that person and quickens them to do so. 

Therefore, a member of the local church is one who confesses Jesus as Lord through the persuasion of the Holy Spirit.

⁴ Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; ⁵ and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; ⁶ and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 

This is very important to understand.  Not only are these Corinthians members of the body of Christ but they have each been given various gifts, various services, various activities by the same spirit. But look at the last part of vs 6 again.

but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 

God has made each of us uniquely different from everyone else.  It is by His power that we can operate in the various gifts, the various services, and the various activities.   But look at the last word in vs 6.  God empowers the gifts in everyone. 

Who is included in everyone? Everyone through whom the Holy Spirit is working.  Everyone is to have the Holy Spirit working in their lives where the gifts are evident, the service is evident and/or the activities are evident.

⁷ To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 

So, what does that mean? When something is manifested, it is perceived by the senses and especially by the sense of sight.  Take for instance a balloon.  We know there is air all around us however we cannot see it.   However, when we put air into a balloon then air has a manifested in such a way which we can see it. 

So, when God empowers His church through either gifts, services or activities, then it is as though God has manifested Himself through His church for the world to see Him. Notice these are given for the common good, for the benefit of the church, to edify the body, and spread and advance the gospel. 

These gifts, services and activities are entrusted to us as believers to do something with it.  They are given not to make oneself proud or boastful, but to serve others.

Paul goes on to name some of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. While we will not get into each of these today, just notice that not everyone gets the same gift.

⁸ For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

There are different gifts given to different people at the Lord’s choosing.  Afterall, the gifts come from Him and He knows how to best equip His people for His purpose.

¹² For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

We are made up of many members yet we make up one body.  For a moment let’s consider a few parts of our physical bodies and their functions. Let’s start with something that is vital to every human being

Spinal column (back bone) protects the spinal cord, which is a pathway for messages between the brain and the body.

Blood - Humans can't live without blood. Without blood, the body's organs couldn't get the oxygen and nutrients they need to survive, we couldn't keep warm or cool off, fight infections, or get rid of our own wasteproducts. Without enough blood, we'd weaken and die.

Skin, Hair, Nails -

Other body systems rely on skin, hair, and nails to help them do their jobs:

• Skin and nails block germs from getting inside the body, which helps the immune system.
• Hairs in the nose help the respiratory systemby catching tiny particles and keeping them out of the lungs.
• Skin helps the endocrine system by absorbing vitamin D from the sun, which helps the body use calcium. Calcium is needed for strong bones.
• Skin holds nerve endings that let us feel hot and cold, touch, and pain. This helps the nervous systemrespond to what’s happening inside and outside the body.

Every member of the body is unique, distinct, every member is valuable, every member has a place inside the body of Christ. Every member cannot have the same place and office.  All His members are dear to Him. Variety in the members of the body contributes to the beauty of it. Each is a member of the body, not the whole body.

¹⁴ For the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵ If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? ¹⁸ But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ¹⁹ If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

Paul confronts the inner conflict that we often face when feeling insignificant in comparison to others.  We ought not to compare ourselves to other members of the body, because they are distinctly different than you with a different purpose given to them by God. 

So therefore, you are to never feel insignificant and that what you do does not matter.  It matters, you matter. Paul also addresses the conflict that may arise between other members of the body. 

 ²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 

We should be concerned with doing our part, minding our own business, and not murmuring amongst ourselves, nor quarrelling with each other, not jealous of each other’s positions. We need each other.

All the members of the body are, in some respect, useful and necessary to each other:

²² On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, ²⁴ which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, ²⁵ that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶ If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

Taken notice of the human body there is cohesiveness in how all the members are connected. It is the way that God made it.  If you were to cut your off big toe and have it surgically fastened to the top of your head, then it would not be functioning as it should and would be quite a nuisance and would cause quite a bit of discomfort for both the head and foot area. 

Know your place.  For God has fastened the members of the body according to His good plan that there might be no divisions in the body

²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. ²⁸ And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. ²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰ Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹ But earnestly desire the higher gifts.

And I will show you a still more excellent way.

You have an individual responsibility as a member of the body of Christ. The giftings, the service, the activitieswere given to you by God for the common good.  God empowers the gifts in everyone.  What you do matters and is significant to God.  

Living in the Spirit and in the Body for the Common Good

One Body with Many Members - Every member has it proper place and use