What God Intended or us to Think & Do

There is no questions that one of the most difficult things to do is to change the way someone things, especially when they have thought that way for so long. Some have coined the phrase “You can’t teach and old dog new tricks.” Speaking of dogs...

Illustration: We have a shock collar that our dog wears. Once he figured out where the boundaries were, he did not go near them. What is interesting is that you can take the collar off of him and for the first few minutes he will still stay within the boundaries as if the collar is on him. He has learned a habit so much that he still lives a certain way.

As we approach this passage, it is critical that you allow God to change your thinking.

The difficulty with a passage like this in our context is that we will see it largely irrelevant, especially on a Sunday morning.

First, how do we know that we need this passage?

(1) We can learn our need by listening to what we “say” (v. 21)

(2) We can learn our need by observing our behavior (investment) (v. 23)

(3) We can learn our need by observing our cliques (v. 25)

Second, how do we know that we need it on a Sunday morning?

We need this on a Sunday morning for those who have gathered as followers of Jesus Christ.

For Christians, you need to be reminded that old patterns of thought do creep in and you need to be aware of them.

For Christians, you also should be made aware of how wonderful it is to be a part of a diverse body.

We need this on Sunday morning for those who have gathered who are not truly saved.

For unbelievers, you need to see how the church is NOT perfect, but the church is the place where the gospel of Jesus Christ is constantly being lived out.

For unbelievers, you need to see how the church is the place where unity is not based on what you bring to the table but based on who your Lord and Master is.

So in the passage, Paul is specific about the way God wants us to think and how this affects our behaviors!

Proposition: We must allow God's intention for the body to change the way we think!

1. The way WE think (v. 21 - 23)

(v. 21 - 23) WRONG THOUGHTS ABOUT OTHER MEMBERS OF THE BODY - All the parts of the body are necessary (even the dependent, needy parts)

(v. 21 - 22) They are the more feeble (weak, sick, without strength) parts

"are necessary" - indispensable

(v. 23) They are the less honorable (despised, unhonored; the opposite used in the later part of the same verse is honour which means value) parts

(v. 23) They are the uncomely (unmentionable, unpresentable; - folly something to be ashamed of) parts

Application:

What do these thoughts today sound like?

“I don’t know what the church will do if they lose me.”

“I am glad they left the body because I don’t want them influencing our kids.”

“Oh, I just can’t be in the same group with them because I saw what they did.”

Illustration:

By accident or by design, she believed, surgeons in their unit had been transplanting black-market kidneys from residents of the world's most impoverished slums into the failing bodies of wealthy dialysis patients from Israel, Europe and the United States. According to Scheper-Hughes, the arrangements were being negotiated by an elaborate network of criminals who kept most of the money themselves. For about $150,000 per transplant,

It's little wonder. The exchange of human organs for cash or any other "valuable consideration" (such as a car or a vacation) is illegal in every country except Iran. Nonetheless, international organ trafficking—mostly of kidneys, but also of half-livers, eyes, skin and blood—is flourishing; the World Health Organization estimates that one fifth of the 70,000 kidneys transplanted worldwide every year come from the black market.

#1. The way WE think

2. What's wrong with the way WE think (v. 24 - 25)

(v. 24 - 25) WHAT MAKES THEM WRONG THOUGHTS? This is how God has ordained the body to function so as to avoid division by having the same care for each other

(v. 24) God has composed/united the body together by giving more value to the member which lacked or was in need.

Thiselton and (evidently) Garland endorse Moltmann’s suggestion that “the gift of the weaker, unpresentable members to the church is that they give others a concrete opportunity to practice love and patience.” Ciampa, R. E., & Rosner, B. S. (2010). The First Letter to the Corinthians (p. 604). Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Ciampa, R. E., & Rosner, B. S. (2010). The First Letter to the Corinthians (p. 604). Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

(v. 24) Need: feeble, despised, unpresentable

(v. 25) "schism" - division, tear

* "schism" - division, tear

word schisma (“schism,” “division”) in v. 25 Paul reminds the Corinthians of the discussion in 1:10–17

Mare, W. H. (1976). 1 Corinthians. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Romans through Galatians (Vol. 10, p. 265). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

Historically, the one who had need would typically be the widow and the fatherless

Application:

What’s wrong with the way we think is that we are defying the One who composed the body.

Who is the person in the body of Christ that you often overlook?

Who, in your small group Sunday school, looks different than the rest?

Who are your circle of friends?

If an individual on welfare walks into your small group Sunday school, do you love them or do you automatically have a bias against them?

If a democrat walks into your group, do you welcome them or do you shun them?

If the woman comes in dressed immodestly, do you censor her?

If the young man comes in to your assembly with blue hair, do you keep an extra eye on him?

Isaiah 52:13–14 KJV 1900

Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, He shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonied at thee; His visage was so marred more than any man, And his form more than the sons of men:

Psalm 22:6 KJV 1900

But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised of the people.

Isaiah 53:3 KJV 1900

He is despised and rejected of men; A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: And we hid as it were our faces from him; He was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Believer, Jesus Christ was despised and rejected so that we would be accepted.

Believer, Jesus Christ was whipped and beaten beyond recognition so that we could be welcomed.

Dare we claim the rejected One as our Savior and in turn reject those who do not meet our level of gifting.

Unbeliever, when you see Jesus Christ brutally tortured, know that this was done so that you could be accepted with the Father and so that you could be welcomed into a new brotherhood.

#1 - The way We think

#2 - What’s wrong with the way WE think

3. The wonderful result when our thinking lines up with God's intention (v. 26)

(v. 26) WHAT IS LOOKS LIKE WHEN OUR THOUGHTS ARE CHANGED BY GOD'S TRUTH: The unity is seen when one individual suffers need and when one member experiences honor

(v. 26) WHAT IS LOOKS LIKE WHEN OUR THOUGHTS ARE CHANGED BY GOD'S TRUTH: The unity is seen when one individual suffers need and when one member experiences honor

Illustration:

We recently had one of our church members who had a tremendous need. He needed about $2000 per month for 10 months. I was made aware of the need and went to several other church members. By God’s grace, every one of them stepped up and helped to fill the need.

Conclusion/Application:

Why does any of this matter? It matters because when we were in desperate need, unworthy of God and his love, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.

(1) Some of you are unaware of your need for Jesus Christ. You are not truly saved. You need to come today and confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Will you please come today?

(2) Others of you have made this profession, but when you examine your thoughts, your words, and your deeds - You find that you are divided from people that don’t think, speak, or behave like you. Why don’t you humbly admit this and ask the Lord to help you to think, speak, and behave according to His intention?

(3) Still others of you do not see this as applicable for you. You think that because you sponsor an event or serve in a particular ministry like the Enabled Ministries, this is your duty towards those NOT LIKE YOU; but you miss the point. This passage is about those in the assembly with you. How do your thoughts, words, & deeds show God’s intentions right here? Are you still young enough that you can be humble and repent of these thoughts? (your small groups, cliques, people you talk to, Sunday schools…etc think, talk, and act like you.)