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Introduction
Last Sunday, we learned from 1 Corinthians 12:14-20 several important local church principles.
In fact, God expects everything we are learning from each local church.
Our text last week gave us the analogy of the local church as a body.
Look with me again at those verses.
From this text, we noted three things.
• Each Member is Necessary as Part of the Body of Christ (aka the Local Church)
• Each Member has a Purpose within the Body of Christ (aka the Local Church)
• Each Member is a Member of the Body of Christ (aka the Local Church) as God Wills
Now there is one more point that I failed to give you last week.
That point was this!
Each Member is Different , but United as Part of the Body of Christ (aka the Local Church)
Look at the last verse from last week’s text.
If you go back a few verses to the beginning of this chapter, the Holy Spirit also notes the following.
From there, the Holy Spirit gives examples of the different spiritual gifts.
It lists the other parts of His body within the local church.
If you have the gift of faith, you are a faith member of the body, for lack of a better way to state it.
If you have the gift of teaching, then you are the teaching member of the body.
Each is different, but each is an essential part of the body.
All the different parts make up the body.
It is then the local church by which all are united and operate together.
Going back to the Holy Spirit’s illustration, where would the faith, mercy, pastors, etc., be if only one member, such as teachers, existed?
If there were only one member, there would be nobody.
Think about it this way!
I will use my spiritual gift as an example because it often happens in churches.
If a church becomes all about the pastor, making him the most significant and vital person in the church, what happens to the body?
This church isn’t about one person or one spiritual gift.
No, each local church is made of many members equally crucial to the function and operation of the body.
All of us, including pastors, must not make it about ourselves.
Instead, we must remember that we are one part of a whole body, of which Christ is the head.
Any church that makes it all about the pastor is not operating as God intended.
Are pastors significant?
Yes, but so are those who teach, serve, encourage, pray, etc.
Each member is substantial and essential.
We are one body!
All this leads us to today’s text, the following 3 verses of chapter 12.
Too often, the more gifted believers are given preeminence in a local church.
And, at times, there is a sense that they are more critical to a local church than those with less talent or abilities.
Here in our study of 1 Corinthians 12, the Holy Spirit gives a sharp rebuke concerning this error of judgment.
We must be careful and balanced in how we treat all body members, especially those who are socially awkward, physically handicapped, or spiritually challenged.
Every person is essential and significant in the eyes of God.
Thus, they are to be equally important and meaningful to us.
The unfortunate reality is we often push aside or ignore the weaker members.
Instead, we celebrate and honor those with more talent and outstanding charisma.
That is a problem for many churches.
In fact, look at our text and note what the Holy Spirit says...
The Necessity of the Weaker Member
Without a doubt, some in local churches feel that they do not have much to offer.
Perhaps those feelings result from physical issues, social awkwardness, or an unawareness of their spiritual gift.
Many would view them as “feeble.”
The word “feeble” means sick or sickly.
Thus, the intent is that certain body parts appear to be unimportant.
The fact is they are not insignificant to the overall makeup of the body.
In much the same way, local churches have members who appear as if they are unimportant.
Yet, God says they are necessary.
We will come back to that thought in just a minute.
However, our focus is on those who seem to be “feeble.”
This word is found in 23 verses of the New Testament.
English translates it as sick, weak, impotent, without strength, weakness, or weaker.
I think you get a general understanding of the word “feeble.”
Within our context, God is speaking about those in our church who are not physically strong or able to function as others.
A condition often comes about due to physical issues, social awkwardness, or an unawareness of their spiritual gifts.
Despite their physical handicaps or social inabilities, we must understand that God sees them differently.
Isn’t it great that God sees things so much different than us?
What we see as feeble, God sees as necessary.
In Greek, the word “necessary” has at least two connotations.
First, it implies that this person is connected by bonds of nature or friendship with a strong emphasis on being an intimate or dear friend.
Essentially, this person is a dear and necessary part of another person’s life.
Any person who is a believer is connected to other believers by a bond that is greater than any other bond known to men.
We are bound by our faith in Christ and the fact we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.
Even those who are “feeble” or “weak” physically, socially, or spiritually are necessary.
We are all part of God’s family.
This principle is spread throughout the entire New Testament.
Note these verses.
All this ties right back into the overall context of 1 Corinthians 12.
Each member of a local church, regardless of their physical, social, or spiritual strengths or weaknesses, is part of God’s family and a necessary member of this local church.
A thought that brings back to the word “necessary.”
Remember, there are two connotations.
First, every member is necessary because of our bond with Christ.
The second connotation is how we often understand the word “necessary.”
Something necessary is something that must needs be.
Let me illustrate it this way.
What is necessary for you and me to live each day and survive?
We need food and water.
If we have no food, we starve.
If we have no water, we dehydrate.
They are necessary and essential.
Each is something we must have to live and cannot survive without.
That is the second understanding of the word “necessary.”
It is one thing for us to casually accept the idea that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.
Yet, many brothers and sisters grow apart from one another and, at times, may feel that they are not a necessary part of their life.
It is a terrible way to think, but it does happen.
It happens even in churches.
It shouldn’t, but it does.
This is why the Holy Spirit ratchets this up a notch here.
We must understand that every member of this local church, Calvary Baptist Church, is vital for survival.
No matter what you may think or feel about other members, they are necessary to us.
You might, in our mind, think, “So and so is definitely the weakest member of our church.”
Some might even think, “So and so is a really awkward person, and I do not enjoy being around them.”
Some might even think, “If so and so left this church, that would be great because we don’t need them.
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