1 Corinthians 121231
6/19/2004
Text: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31
Herman Ostry’s barn was under 29 inches of water because of a rising creek. The Bruno, Nebraska farmer invited a few friends to a barn raising. He needed to move his entire 17,000 pound barn to a new foundation more than 143 feet away. His son Mike devised a lattice work of steel tubing, and nailed, bolted, and welded it on the inside and the outside of the barn. Hundreds of handles were attached. After one practice lift, 344 volunteers slowly walked the barn up a slight incline, each supporting less than fifty pounds. In just three minutes, the barn was on its new foundation (Fresh Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching)
It is amazing what can be accomplished when people work together. The same can be said about the body of Christ. The body of Christ can accomplish great things when we work together. God has placed us here in this community to be his church. He has given to us certain gifts that we are to use to build up one another and to touch those we come in contact with. We exist as part of the body of Christ to heal the broken hearted, to give deliverance to captives, to open the eyes of the blind an, to set people who are bound in prisons of doubt, fear, anxiety and selfishness free and to proclaim the good news to the poor and the despairing of heart; to lead them into liberty, freedom and power.
We exist to encourage, strengthen and help people. To help people find deliverance from guilt, loneliness and misery of sin, to set them free from the bondage of foul tempers and evil habits and the rack and ruin of life. We are able to do all this because God has given us spiritual gifts that we are to use in reaching out to those outside the church and in strengthening those within the church.
I am sure all of us here this morning could be doing something else. So why do we gather together? We do not gather just for the sake of having something to do. We gather as a body so that God can use us to help each other grow up. We gather together so that we can share the same life, to worship the same Lord God, be open to the work of the same Spirit among us, and use the gifts that God has given us to encourage, strengthen and shore up our faith in Jesus Christ. We gather together to make a statement about our commitment to Christ and to his church.
To help us understand the need for one another and the necessity of the diversity of gifts Paul uses the example of parts of our body. He says the body is made up of many parts, eyes, ears, hands, and feet. He uses these as just examples. How ridiculous it would be for a hand to say to the feet I do not need you. I am complete in myself. Or the eye saying to the ear, I am complete I do not need the ear; or the feet saying it wishes it were a hand, or eye or ear. Even though each of these body parts have an important function without the other parts they are incomplete. How funny would we look if we were all eyes, or ears, or hands! Think of what we would be missing- the ability to taste, to smell, to travel.
The point is that God has created us to work together in order for the church to be able to help set people free. God created us to need each other in order to worship, and grow in our relationship with God. Having a particular spiritual gift does not mean we are better than those who do not have our gift. People in the church can get so caught up in their own interests their own gifts that they think other believers who do things differently are not doing God’s work. This attitude defeats God’s desire for unity within the body of Christ.
Why is this worth our time discussing anyway? Because I believe that unless we understand the need for each other we will be ineffective in ministry. I think the reason that church attendance is declining and people are finding it boring or irrelevant is due to the failure to understand who we are in Christ and what our work is to be. Too many people go church hopping looking for a church that will meet their needs rather than looking for a church to attend where they can serve God. We do not come to be entertained, to hear things that are to make us happy. We come together to direct our thoughts to God, to open ourselves up to God in a community of faith. We come together to learn from one another, to rub against each other so that we can grow and change.
Here are seven reasons that we need to know our gifts. These are not original with me. But I think they help us to see why this is important and why we need to understand this important biblical teaching.
1. Knowing your spiritual gifts helps you understand the will of God for your life. Knowing the gifts God has given you helps you to set priorities for your life.
2. Knowing your spiritual gift helps you understand how the Holy Spirit works through you. Your spiritual gift is the primary channel by which the Holy Spirit works through you.
3. Knowing your spiritual gift helps you know what God has not called you to do. This can bring freedom from guilt.
4. Knowing your spiritual gift relieves you from serving out of duty.
5. Knowing your spiritual gift fills a deep inner need.
6. Knowing your spiritual gift build unity among Christians. We complement each other.
7. Knowing your spiritual gift adds to your self acceptance. By knowing our gifts we know our strengths and weaknesses. We know our limitations and learn to work within those boundaries.
From "the Team philosophy of ministry" handbook from Church Growth Institute.