Many Parts/One Body

INTRO

New series: BETTER TOGETHER

Church membership, what life is supposed to look like in the church.

LAST WEEK: Membership Matters

What church membership is, and why it’s important.

THIS WEEK

Looking at 1 Corinthians 12.

Going to see Paul make an analogy between the church, and a body.

This is why you hear people sometimes call the church the “Body of Christ”.

READ: 1 Corinthians 12:12-26.

PRAY

CONTEXT

The Corinthian church was a mess.

So much so that Paul had to write to them AT LEAST twice — we have reason to think it was more than that.

They were divided — to the extent that they were suing each other in open court.

They were abusing the Lord’s Supper.

Immorality was rampant.

They were arrogant — claiming spiritual superiority over each other.

Ultimately, the Corinthian church either couldn’t, or wouldn’t separate themselves from the world around them.

They were living just like everyone else.

Paul steps in to address it, showing them that the church isn’t supposed to operate like that.

They’re called to be set apart — different from everyone else.

In an effort to help them understand this concept, he uses a familiar object for them as an analogy — the human body.

He uses that familiar imagery to demonstrate 4 important truths to the Corinthians about how the church is put together.

1. Every part is different. (v. 14)

Paul starts off by reminding them that body has to be put together by many different parts.

He lists some specific examples. The whole body can’t be just:

Feet

Hands

Eyes

Ears

Noses

If you a body made up of just a bunch of feet, it would be like a circus act.

A body with a bunch of hands would be a freakish deformity.

Instead, the human body is made up of all kinds of different parts — some we see, and even some we don’t.

Lungs

Heart

Brain

They’re all different, but they all make up the whole body.

Think about it — no two parts of your body are exactly the same.

I have two hands, but they’re both different.

I have 10 fingers, but they’re all different.

I have two legs, but they’re both different.

No two parts of the body are exactly the same — they’re all different, even if they perform the same function.

The same is true of us in the body of Christ.

God made you 100% unique — you’re not the same as anyone else on planet earth.

You were created for a specific place and function in the body of Christ.

2. Every part has a role to play. (v. 15-17)

Every part of the body is unique, and every part has a job to do.

Think about those examples Paul uses...

Feet — walking

Hands — grabbing/gripping

Eyes — seeing

Nose — Smelling

Ears — hearing

Every part of the body has a specific function that only that particular part can fulfill.

In order for a body to function at 100%, all of those different parts have to fulfill the job they were made for.

If one leg is injured, you can’t walk properly.

If one lung isn’t working, you can’t breathe properly.

If a finger is broken, you can’t grip properly.

If you’re missing a big toe, you can’t balance.

There are no expendable parts of the body of Christ.

3. Every part is equally important. (v. 21-22)

With the human body, there are no pieces that we consider “disposable”.

There might be some parts that you can live without, but it’s never the first option.

Right now if one of the kids gets hurt — let’s say Thomas falls and skins his hand up.

I’ll joke with him, especially if he’s whining, that I’m going to cut it off.

Obviously I would never do that!

Could he survive life with one hand? Sure, but that’s not the first thing we reach for in treatment — let’s start with neosporin and a band-aid.

He would survive with one hand, but he would be hindered the rest of his life.

Point being, there’s not a part of the body that we can just “do away with”.

They all have a specific role/function that they’re designed to perform. When that part is no longer functioning, the body suffers!

Every part in the body of Christ has a role to play, and is equally important.

This was part of the problem with the Cor. church — there were some who were claiming to be “spiritually superior” simply because of the way God had gifted them, or the role they played in the church.

They were claiming to be more important than everyone else, and looking down on them in the process.

Paul’s argument to the contrary is this: Everyone is part of the body, and every part is essential.

So much so, that God himself designed it that way.

4. Every part is intentional. (v. 18)

Paul’s saying that God has put the body together in a specific way, for a specific reason.

It’s no accident that you are where you are.

God has a specific plan and purpose for your life, and for your life within the church.

When he brought you, or your family to FBC it was for a reason.

He has a place and a job for you to fill.

Our responsibility as members of the body is fulfill the role that he’s placed us in.

If we aren’t holding up our end of the bargain, the body as a whole suffers.

v. 24-26

That’s not meant to guilt or scare us, but to encourage and remind us that in many ways, the rest of the body is counting on us!

When we have a body full of lazy or non-functioning parts, the body is handicapped.

We’ll talk more in the weeks ahead about what it means to find and fill our roles in the body.

So as we move to small groups, think about this:

What role might God have placed you in? What do you think he might have called you to do?