1 Corinthians 12:12–27 NASB95

12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 14 For the body is not one member, but many. 15 If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. 19 If they were all one member, where would the body be? 20 But now there are many members, but one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; 23 and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, 24 whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, 25 so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.

Unity in the Body

Pray

When speaking about unity we are often given the illustration of the need for unity for the structure of the Church, and rightly so.

A body that is out of sync finds itself in a state of unrest we call dis-ease. A body struggling through the fight with dis-ease enacts a sophisticated set of defenses that the world’s best military could only dream of…

Your body has a highly tuned mechanism used to track disorder and disease and react accordingly.

Let me give you an example. If I were to fall down these stairs and break my arm, my body would immediately jump into action:

The body’s primary set of defenses kick into action as the nerves in my arm send signals at the speed of light to my central processing system (brain). At the moment the brain receives the signals, it interprets the signals as a sign of danger and immediately begins to cause the rest of the body to react.

Now these signals are what I will experience as extreme pain. But the pain is designed to alert me to the fact that something is wrong and give me a meter as to how wrong it is.

At the same time as my conscious is reacting to the feeling of pain, my internal defense system deploys a complex set of corrective measures. The capillaries in around the break expand to allow for increased oxygen, antibodies, proteins and other fluids to help with the healing process. We experience this as inflammation.

The bones start to form new tissue almost immediately to begin the mending process that takes weeks and sometimes months to complete.

Now this is the normal case. But when a body is experience a disrupt in the unity between the complex systems that allow for this defense and healing to work, there is an interrupt in some portion of the process.

If the nerves cannot send the signal to the brain that something is wrong, there may be no healing process at all.

This is what happens when there is a lack of communication in the body. Progress is slowed, healing is limited, ad purpose is hindered. We can’t afford to have a lack of communication in the body, especially with the Head of the Body, who is the central point of control.

If, on the other hand, one of these pieces begin the recovery process, but then go into overdrive and try to do everything itself, the body will typically find itself growing parts that do not belong, draining the resources of the body without actually contributing to the body… We call this cancer.

To take the illustration one step further, cancer is a part of the body that looks like body, grows like body, but lack the contribution to the body that the rest of the body puts in. Eventually, this growth of useless body will either cause other parts of the body to act out of unity, slowly dismantling what the body is meant to accomplish, or it will grow to the place that it hinders the function of the body by its sheer size.

Cancer takes in and grows, but refuses to be in unity with the rest of the body… It looks productive, because it’s growing and developing, but it’s not developing into anything that is beneficial to the body. It’s a cancer.

So, We can clearly see that the structure of unity is very important in the functioning of a healthy body.

It makes sense why we hear so much about unity as a structure, but unity is more than structure.

Unity is the prerequisite of effective evangelism.

John 17:19-23

John 17:19–23 NASB95

19 “For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. 20 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.

If we can’t be unified in here, they won’t listen to us out there.

Unity is the prerequisite of effective evangelism.

The bigger the mission, the more unified we must be…

Genesis 11:4–6 NASB95

4 They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” 5 The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 The Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.

The people of the earth were ONE people, with a singular language and God said, “NOTHING which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.

This wasn’t even the will of God, it was simply the power of unity. Imagine what can happen if the body could get into a place of unity with the blessing of God!

“The church is not simply a religious body looking for a safe place to do its own thing within a wider political or social world. The church is neither more nor less than people who bear witness, by their very existence and in particular their holiness and their unity (Colossians 3), that Jesus is the world’s true lord, ridiculous or even scandalous though this may seem.” ― N.T. Wright, Surprised by Scripture: Engaging Contemporary Issues

Our unity, or lack thereof, is a flashing billboard to unbelievers declaring the authenticity of the Gospel we preach.

Repeat

If we proclaim to be Christian, yet cannot be unified with the Body, we preach a gospel of lies and deception.

Unity is so important that the NT spends more space and words speaking directly of unity than it does about heaven or hell.

The primary thrust of the majority of the New Testament letters is teaching these newly birthed communities of believers how to live and to live in unity.

For example, Paul speaks again in Colossians:

Colossians 3:1–16 NASB95

1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. 5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, 7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him— 11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all. 12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. 14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Therefore if you have ben raised up..

i.e. if you’re a Christian; if you’re a member of the body…

We shouldn’t expect those who haven’t been raised up to be in unity with the body.

In fact, I would take it a step further and say I sincerely question if you have been raised up at all if you cannot be a part of the body.

Set you mind on things above…

I think one of the primary reasons for disunity in the body is because we focus on the wrong things…

Paul is telling them, keep the main thing the main thing. LOOK UP.

If you spend more time looking up, it’s harder to get focused on the flaws of those around you.

In fact, our lives are hidden with Christ in God. So to find our life and purpose and meaning, we have to LOOK UP!

When Christ returns, He should find us looking for His return and the revelation of His glory… LOOK UP

Therefore… Because our focus is on Him… consider the members of your earthly body dead to

Immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed

Notice, all these not only have an effect on your relationship with God, but also with one another.

All of these things drive a wedge between people and cause major disruptions in the functioning of the body.

The wrath of God will be on those who are the sons of disobedience, who indulge in these things.

And in them, YOU ALSO ONCE WALKED…

What we have to remember is that we also walked in these things at one time. There was a time when walking with God was impossible for us.

There was a time when unity with a community like this was impossible for us, but these things are provided because of our salvation.

It’s still work, but we are empowered by the Spirit to accomplish this.

Here’s another list: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech…

Paul takes it a step further here and tells them if they are going to live as a Christ centered community, we have to get along!

Notice where we have to put them away from… our mouth!

And not only do we not get to backbite and gossip and slander and talk down on people, but we don’t get to lie to each other either!

Why? Because we claim to have laid aside the old self…

And have put on a new self which is being renewed according to the image of the One who created us…

And here’s what Paul says about that renewal: in this renewal there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all and in all…

If we are what we say we are, we should be advancing in our knowledge of Him, in our pursuit of His word, in our working in the ministry, and in UNITY WITH ONE ANOTHER!

Growing in Christ does not just look like bible knowledge and prayer time, it also looks like verse 12 describes:

compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, patient

BEARING with one another; FORGIVING each other;

PUT ON LOVE.... which is the PERFECT BOND OF UNITY

I would suggest today that we are blessed with such a unified body because we have a lot of love.

There are congregations I have visited and been a part of that constantly struggle with disunity and disruption and I think their issue is not just strategic, it is a lack of love…

This is a thing that cannot be faked forever. Authentic unity only comes from a bond of love. That is why we spend so much time in this church finding ways to fellowship and grow our bond.

The love we have will also determine our level of unity.

I honestly think we do a great job overall of maintaining a bond of unity that reflects the love of Christ.

Here’s the challenge: in case you haven’t noticed, we are growing. As we continue to grow, it will be important that we deepen our bond with those who we already have relationship with.

But beyond that, it will be important that we begin to form relationships with others in this congregation.

The only way we continue to maintain unity, and even strengthen our unity is to step outside our comfort zones and widen our sphere of influence.

The scary part about this is that there’s a level of vulnerability that comes along with this.

You can’t form genuine relationships without some level of vulnerability. But if not here, then where? If not us, then who?

This is the gateway to effective evangelism. Grow our relationships, and build new relationships.

Find someone you don’t usually pray with. Ask that person how you can pray for them, then pray.

Now that you’ve had time to pray for that person, I want you to take this a step further. Take the need you’ve been praying for, write it down. Put a reminder on your phone, hang it on your refrigerator. Whatever you have to do to remember it, and pray for that person for the next 7 days. Periodically follow up with them throughout the week. Ask them how they are doing. If you don’t have their phone number, get it. Pray for their need for the next 7 days. Next week I expect to hear some testimonies.

One final prayer.