A Properly Functioning Body

Introduction

If you have been with us on Sunday mornings then you know that we are studying Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, Romans.

And last week we began a shift where Paul takes all of chapters 1-11 and then starts to apply—what do we do with this glorious truth of God’s grace to us?

And as we saw last week that the proper response to God’s amazing grace in Jesus Christ is to live all of our lives to God in worship as living sacrifices.

And this week as we turn now to Romans 12:3-8 we see that we are not called to do this in isolation, but to do this amongst the body of Christ.

Romans 12:3–8 ESV

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

When we are saved we are saved into the body of Christ. You and I and all the believers that worship here at Covenant Life make up the body of Christ together @ Covenant Life. And each body of Christ around the world makes up the united body of Christ worldwide.

It can be easy to do what you’re supposed to do when it doesn’t involve anyone else. Fixing dinner for one is easier than fixing dinner for 12.

But you and I are called to exist in this body of Christ. And God’s Word says, “we though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”

Body’s are like cars—many moving parts that make up a whole. The purpose of a car is to get you from point A to B. But in order to maintain a car that reliably moves you from point A to B and then back to A again you have to care properly for all it’s parts.

You can focus heavily on the engine and make sure that it gets the attention and the focus that it needs, but if you neglect the tires then you’ll have an engine that can’t take you anywhere. And likewise you can have expertly cared for tires and a neglected engine and you’ll get perfect tires that’ll never roll.

The body of Christ is like this too. If we are to have a properly functioning body here @ Covenant Life then our text tells us we must have I. Proper Self-Thinking (3), II. Proper Appreciation (4-6a), III. Proper Use (6b-8).

Transition: First, how do you think about yourself within the body of Christ?

I. Proper Self-Thinking (3)

Romans 12:3 “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”

Paul begins by appealing to his apostolic authority—the grace given to him to be called as apostle of Jesus Christ.

An apostle was a person who had witnessed the risen Christ and was called by Jesus to the apostolic ministry of establishing and caring for the early church.

1 Corinthians 15:6-8 “Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.”

The other apostles knew Christ in life, but Paul was humbled by Jesus on the road to Damascus as he was traveling to persecute the infant church of Jesus.

He was on the road to destroy the churhc. But, God called him to plant, nuture, and care for the church instead. And it’s this grace, this apostolic calling that Paul appeals to. And this should cause us to take notice.

This would be like if you were friends with the local sheriff and in the process of the conversation he said, “Now I’m talking to you as the Sheriff...”

Your ears would perk up and this is Paul’s purpose here. So what comes next is important. So what comes next?

“I say to everyone among you not to think of themselves more highly than they outht to think...”

If we are to have a properly functioning body of Christ it starts with right thinking about self. And this right thinking doesn’t think higher about oneself than they ought to.

And this message is counter to our culture. The culture says to think of oneself very highly, to fake it till you make it, to actualize what you want by living the life you want.

I’m number one. I’m a big deal. I’m the most important person in this room. We call this healthy self-esteem. This is not what God is calling His people to.

This type of self-centered arrogance is a wound to the body of Christ.

When the body of Christ is full of members that think this way about themselves it breeds disunity in the church.

Arrogance is entitled and selfish and proud. People like this in the body of Christ seek to be served rather than serve. They view themselves to be most important in the body.

These kinds of attitudes fight over inconsequential things. And are willing to wound others to get their way.

People who think too highly of themselves think about how much being the hands and feet of Christ is going to cost them instead of how it will serve others and glorify God.

When the body of Christ is full of people that think too highly of themselves it creates a dis functioning body filled with disunity.

Transition: So we don’t want to lift ourselves up above others. Rather we want to emulate Christ who being God humbled himself by taking on the form of a servant. We don’t want to think more highly than we ought to about ourselves.

But this also doesn’t mean to value yourself too lowly. “I’m a piece of dirt. I’m garbage. I’m scum. I’m the worst person in the room. I have the least value of anyone I know.”

We don’t wear scratchy shirts so we’re uncomfortable all day and beat ourselves with a whip before bed. As some of our monastic brothers have done in church history.

As we keep looking at the text Paul calls us to neither one of these extremes. Instead he says, “think with sober judgment about yourself”

“And as you think soberly about yourself make sure that it is according to something.”

Paul gives us a standard by which we should judge ourselves.

He says, “we should think about ourselves with sober judgment according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”

I think that there are two ways that we can understand this phrase. By one measure that is equal for all of us and by one measure that is different for each beleiver. We’ll talk about the measure given to all and then when we get to verses 6-8 we’ll talk about the measure of faith that is different between believers.

First, God has given a measure of faith to all believers. And it is the same measure. The faith that we have received as a gift from God puts all of us on a level field.

None of us can take our faith and boast in it as if we have done something to obtain our salvation. We cannot boast, “Well I had faith where others did not!”

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,”

Faith itself was given to you. You have it because God gave it.

We cannot boast in our status before salvation or be ashamed of our status if it has been lowly. Because the gospel of our faith puts us all on the same field.

We all have gone astray, we all have broken God’s laws. We all earned judgment for our sins. There are no gutters or penthouse suites in Hell.

We all have been covered by the perfect blood of Jesus. We all needed forgiveness for our sins. We all required the blood of the innocent God-man Jesus Christ for that forgiveness.

When we view ourselves through the lens of the gospel there is no room for haughty or arrogant thinking. The gospel calls us to think soberly about ourselves.

So in one sense according to this measure think about yourself soberly.

Transition: But a properly functioning body of Christ doesn’t just stop with sober self-thinking. We also must think well about one another.

II. Proper Appreciation (4-6a)

Romans 12:4-6 “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us...”

Paul is clear here. Our body is made up of many members and all those members do not have the same function because a healthy body of Christ is full of members with different spiritual gifts given by the grace of God.

As people we tend to place more importance on the visible gifts that God gives. The preaching, teaching, singing. We tend to look at the gifts that people can see—that often have a platform and we say, “Now those gifts are the gifts that are worth something.”

But Paul is clear here that each gift given is given by the grace of God. Each different gift is necessary for the healthy body of Christ.

Imagine a church where everyone was a Jacob? I don’t want to be a member of that church!

Imagine if everyone was just like Doug. Doug has gifts from the Holy Spirit—often it’s the spiritual gift of “no”. I’m just joking. But a church full of Dougs wouldn’t work.

Imagine a church of Dave’s! Nothing would get done because we’d all be mesmerized by warm smiles and perfect hair.

No we need Mary’s and Chad’s and Chance’s and Heather’s. We need—insert every name that worships here—.

All these roles are important and needed.

And if you think that your role here is more important than anyone else's then you need to check that attitude at the door because what God’s word says is that the properly functioning body of Christ needs is a diverse people with a diversity of gifts. And every one of them is vitally important. Listen to God’s Word in 1 Corinthians 12.

1 Corinthians 12:15-18 “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. 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. 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? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.”

Someone pointed out on Tuesday night that October is Pastor appreciation month—and that’s good, but I want you to know church that I am truly appreciative for every single person here. Covenant Life is more than the pastor—I am truly grateful for your giftings.

And I hope that you are grateful for one another. I hope that you know that this body of believers is serving one another in ways that you problably don’t know. Meals are made for one another. Prayers are lifted and uttered to holy God on behalf of one another. Money is given for needs. Friendship is extended. Wisdom and advice are shared. Homes are opened. Hearts and minds point toward the goodness of God in the gospel.

In thousands of unseen ways the body of Christ here is using their gifts for the good of the body and the glory of God.

I honestly wish that we had some kind of running ticker so that we could quantify the love of God given through the body here.

Friends, are you grateful for your brothers and sisters in Christ here? Do you appreciate them? Do you tell them?

Before we move on we must also place our attention on these words, “so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”

Friends, do you know that your spiritual walk with Christ affects me. And that my walk with Jesus affects you. Whether or not i use my gifts affects you in this body and whether or not you use your gifts affects everyone else.

A hand is not separate from the body. Break a pinky toe and tell me that it doesn’t affect the whole body.

My lower back is a small part of my body, but I can tell you from first hand experience that when it isn’t working well my whole body suffers and not just me but my wife and my kids. My wife has to listen to me groan and wine and my kids have a Dad that can’t do anything with them.

We like to try and hide in the church. We hide behind general statements and we hide behind safe topics. But if you are struggling in your faith and you’re talking about the weather—that’s not only unwise for your own life, but it is unloving for the rest of us becasue your health affects the rest of us.

And if you aren’t serving that affects the rest of us. Like it or not we are all a part of one body.

So if your spiritual life right now looks like the pinky toe slammed on the coffee table let our a holler. Are you tracking with me?

Let your brothers and sisters in Christ know what’s going on so we can all pursue Jesus together. Amen?

Transition: A properly functioning body of Christ will have proper thinking about self and have a proper appreciation for every member of the body and...

III. Proper Use (6b-8)

Romans 12:6-8 “...let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

In the beginning of our passage we talked about the measure of faith that is equal for all believers—the faith of the gospel.

Secondly, there is a “measure of faith” that is different from one believer to another that has to do with the gifts that God has given us which is the subject Paul takes up in the rest of our passage.

Each believer is given gifts from the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:4-7 “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

These gifts are from God and are for the common good of the body.

And each one of us are to exercise these gifts according to the measure of faith that God has given us to exercise them.

This list that Paul has here isn’t exhaustive—and in the case of prophecy it includes a gift no longer given in the church. Prophecy was for a time as the church needed it. But now we have the all sufficient word of God.

The point here is not to say, “Here is the list of gifts that God gives” but rather, Paul is commenting on the spirit with which we use them. His concern is that we use them exercising the faith that God has given us to use them.

As Paul wrote this he says, if your gift is prophecy well then prophesy in proportion, if it is service then serve, if your gift is teaching then teach, if it is exhortation then make sure you are exhorting.

As we look at these first four gifts present in the Roman church that Paul mentions the main point here is if you have a gift you better be using it.

Your gift is meant for the good of the body of Christ. If you aren’t using it—why not?

So friends, I want to encourage you to think about what your gifts are and honestly assess whether or not you are using them here in this body of Christ.

Well how do I do that? What are you good at? What do you like to do? If you aren’t sure the best thing you can do is start to serve somewhere in the church. Daryl sets up communion every Sunday—give him a Sunday off. Doug and Chance do audio every Sunday—rotate in. A lot of the same people serve in the child care ministry—take an opportunity to pour the gospel into the lives of our children.

One, because we need your gifts.

And you might not think that we do. “Well my gift is not all that important, it’s not all that impressive.”

If you are still thinking this way then I have to ask, have you been listening. And if you’ve been listening—then my follow up question is do you doubt the ability of God? God can accomplish much with a willing tool—are you willing? God can paint the Mona Lisa with a box of crayons. He can score a touchdown on a baseball diamond.

He can do whatever he wants—so he can certainly use the gifts that he has given you to accomplish good for the church and glorify himself! Amen.

So what is your gift and are you using it—them. One because we need you too but also...

Two, because this is a part of your spiritual act of worship and I want you to worship God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. I want you to love your neighbor as yourself. And this means using your gifts as God has called you to.

So if you have a gift you better be using it.

As Paul mentions the next three gifts his point is different. As you use your gifts you better use them properly.

If your gift is contributing then do it generously.

If your gift is leading then do it zealously.

If your gift is mercy then do it cheerfully.

Does a miserly contribution bless the church and glorify the Lord?

Does apathetic leadership bless the church and glorify the Lord?

What good is begruding mercy? “I guess you can have this dollar. I guess I’ll help you. I guess....”

You wouldn’t show up to a birthday party with a sour face and through a gift at the feet of birthday girl out of obligation. So make sure you don’t do that at church. Serve willingly, joyfully, knowing that sovereign God has gifted you in such a way that you are adding to the kingdom work of Christ. What you do matters significantly. And when you operate in your gifting it will be a blessing to the church. And it will bring God glory!!

Friends, in all things let us imitate our Lord Jesus. Who gave extravagantly. Who lead zealously. Who dispensed mercy cheerfully. When we preach and teach let us do it with the fire of Jesus in our bones. When we greet new comers let us do it with warmth and love of the savior. When we serve the children let us view them as precious with joy as Christ does.

Christ used his gifts for the good of the people and the glory of God and as He did it he did so with purpose and passion.

And this is Paul’s point here to us.

Conclusion

In order for the body of Christ to function properly the individual members that make up the whole body must think properly about themselves. Do you have a gospel understanding of who you are?

We must properly appreciate one another. Do you view your brothers and sisters in Christ as important? Do you appreciate them?

And we must properly use our God given spiritual gifts. First by using them. And secondly by using them with purpose and passion as Christ did.

When we do this, when this Word of God is our goal then our church will accomplish it’s purpose of glorifying God and drawing others to hope in Jesus.

As we close I want to draw your attention to something Henry Blackaby said,

“If Christians around the world were to suddenly renounce their personal agendas, their life goals and their aspirations, and begin responding in radical obedience to everything God showed them, the world would be turned upside down. How do we know? Because that's what first century Christians did, and the world is still talking about it.”

The God of the NT church is the God of Covenant Life Church. He hasn’t changed.

Will you decide today to be obedient to the life of worship that He is calling you to? Let’s pray.