The Body of Christ
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Unity in Diversity
Unity in Diversity
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. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 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.
There are several designations, or names given to the church in the new testament; The bride of Christ, the temple of God, the Pillar and Ground of Truth and the Body of Christ. Each of these names tells us something vital about the nature of the church - they tell us what the Church is.
None of these names are comprehensive descriptions of Church, they must be taken together.
Today we are going to look at arguably the Apostle Paul’s favourite - the Body of Christ.
Paul uses this name for the church more than anyone else - it appears in 1 Cor. 10:17; 12:12–30; Eph. 1:23; 4:4–16; 5:23–30; Col. 1:18, 24; 2:19; 3:15
He covers it in detail in 1 Cor 12, Romans 12:3-8 is kind of a summary of that passage from 1st Corinthians.
Interestingly Paul uses this term, the Body of Christ to refer to the universal church in Ephesians 1:22
22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
And to the local church in 1 Corinthians 12:27
27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
So our first conclusion is that the church invisible is the Body of Christ, and yet also, the church visible is the body of Christ. We, Hope City Church are a manifectation of Christ’s body on earth.
FOR AS IN ONE BODY...
I) The Church is an organism, not an organisation.
Paul wants us to think of the church like a human body. A single living organism, consisting of a multitude of parts, organs and systems that all work in conjunction together to cause the body to function.
You can join an organisation, you can’t simply join an organism. You have to be grafted in to an organism. Only God can do that. The Body of Christ is not something you can join simply by signing a church membership form - it’s something you join by being grafted in to Christ, by being born again in Him.
The church is not like a piece of machinery - with lifeless parts, operated by a team of skilled engineers. The church is alive because it’s members are alive in the Holy Spirit.
When we have this picture of church as an organisation, or a business, which is being driven along by specialist leaders we do tremendous damage to the body. We begin to see Church as something that is done for us or done to us. We are spectators, punters, and the specialist leaders or clergy do our Christianity for us, they provide a service for us. But this is not Paul’s picture of church. Each member is an integral part of a living organism called the body of Christ, not just the clergy, the leaders, but everyone. Just like no part of the body is truly expendable, neither is one member of the church. A body in which only the brain works but nothing else is a body in paralysis! It’s not a healthy body.
You can’t treat your body like a machine - neither should we as a church be like a machine. Some churches behave like machines, not bodies. Expecting constant activity and output, driving the members to burn out. The body needs nourishment, the body needs rest and care in order to be productive. A church focussed entirely on mission and output to the exclusion of nourishing the mind and soul with teaching and allowing space for reflection and rest will burn the body out.
On the flip side, if we neglect excercising our bodies they inevitably become unhealthy and prone to sickness. The body wasn’t designed to just lay there all day, it was designed to be strong, to go to work. So a church that focusses solely on precise doctrine, excercising the mind but not being active in mission will waste away!
In a body, each part affects the whole. It’s all interconnected, it’s the same in the church. We must have balance in order to be healthy.
II) The Church is Christ’s body
The church belongs to Jesus Christ, it’s His.
Just as Christ took on a physical body to demonstrate the love of God demonstrably while He was on earth, now His ministry continues on earth through the Church, His body.
The Church is the continuation of Christ’s ministry on earth.
III) The head of the body is Christ
18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
Our bodies are put into subjection by our mind. In a healthy body, the body performs whatever the mind commands. The Church’s health is measured by her obedience to Christ her head. Not by numbers, not by favour with man, not by influence or prominence, but by her obedience to The Lord.
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.
A body that moves involuntarily, of it’s own accord is a body in spasm. A church that does whatever it wants, is not subordinate to the word of God and the command of Christ is a body which is in spasm, it’s out of control. We must always ensure that our activity, our mission, our teaching, our service is always according to the mind of Christ, and not our own.
19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
IV) We are made ONE Body in Christ
God wants unity in His church
11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
This name is a picture of that unity. We are made one in Christ.
Our unity together is not in our nationality, ethnicity or political affiliations. We have a union that over all of these - we are united in Jesus Christ, because we all share in His Holy Spirit.
V) We are one in Christ but individuality in the body is valued by God (Piper)
Our unity is not a unity of uniformity but a unity of individuals.
Your individuality traces back to God. He doesn’t intend for us all to be clones, He has made us all unique according to His preferences and has given us each gifts for use in the church which differ from one another.
The sign of a cult is that all of the members are like cookie cutter versions of each other -they all speak the same, act the same. Cults teach that individuality is a defect to be ironed out. Not so in the body of Christ. You are unique, and that uniqueness is God’s idea and it’s down to His grace on your life. Grace is the reason for differentiation in giftings, personality and ability.
The unique grace and gifting on your life is to be discovered through practicing it in the church. This is where we fit together, in this context.
There is a joy in accepting the measure of grace and gifting that God has given to you. So many spend their whole life wishing they had someone elses gifting - wishing that they were someone else. You need to believe that God has put a specific grace on your life which is according to His measure, and that His grace on your life is absolutely necessary here. Insecurity or disappointment with who we are and what we have to bring is ultimately because we haven’t fully believed this fully. This church needs you to show up and be who God made you to be, not a poor copy of somebody else.
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.
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.” 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,
You don’t need a microphone to be actively contributing to the church. Barnabas - son of encouragement.
VI) In the Body of Christ we are individually members of one another
Paul is teaching that we not only belong to God but that we belong to one another in the church.
The grace on my life in actually for you, and yours is for me and for us. You need me, I need you.
VII) We are to be active members of the body
Paul says in verse 6 ‘let us use our individual gifts’ whether prophecy, or service, teaching, encouragement, generosity, leadership or acts of mercy. God wants us to be showing up and actually practicing these gifts of grace that he has given us in church.
These gifts that God has given you are for the upbuilding of the church. Picture a bodybuilder - in order to get stronger he needs to train hard and train his whole body. He can’t accomplish this unless his whole body participates. He might have the strongest biceps in the world but without fingers he can’t lift a dumbell. He may have the worlds best quads but he can’t train them properly without feet. The whole body needs to present itself for the task of body building. When we consistently neglect attending the body of christ on sundays it handicaps the church. It doesn’t just affect you when you don’t attend, it weakens the whole body, because we are part of one system.
Equally, if one part of the body is injured or in bad shape, it affects the whole. We must tend to one another, pray for one another, look after one another is if that person was part of your own body.
We must also tend to ourselves, and recognise that if we allow the enemy a foothold in our life we are affecting those connected to us as well - our brothers and sisters in Christ, the church.
So let’s play our part in Christ’s body - let’s show up - let’s encourage one another - let’s believe that God’s unique grace on our life is crucial to this church.