When Farrago Divides
Notes
Transcript
Good morning church! It is great to see you back here to worship King Jesus together again this week. This morning we are wrapping up our study through 1 Corinthians by looking at chapter 12. If you have a Bible with you, go on and flip or click there.
We began this study by seeing that the work of Christ in the world today is much larger than any one man, church, or even denomination can claim! We are only PART of God’s big plan. This frames our church in such a way that we shouldn’t be so argumentative and fussy, but should work together for the kingdom!
Then we started looking at 5 specific issues that can cause rivalry in the church.
When Factions divide - We all have preferences regarding music, preaching, and teaching, church programs, events, etc. But we can’t allow those preferences to rise to a place of division. We have to keep them in check.
When Family Issues Divide - We saw that the health of the families in a church will directly affect the health of the church. That’s why Paul gives authority to the church to speak into its families. We saw that a mutual humility is key in family relationships.
When Friction Divides - This was some of yall in the second service’s favorite because my balloon example didn’t work, but we saw in Scripture that arguments and disagreements in our relationship do not have to divide or destroy us. They can actually work like friction and draw us together once we seek reconciliation according to God’s Word.
When Frivolity Divides - Last Sunday, we saw what happens when we don’t focus on the right things and take things very lightly. Some folks from the church at Corinth were more well off financially. They seemed to hold it over those in the church who weren’t as wealthy. Then when they took the Lord’s Supper, and everyone got the same thing, it seemed very hypocritical.
And today we are looking at When Farrago Divides.
Our Children’s Minister, Mrs. Terry is the one that helped me come up with this F-word for our study. It’s the perfect word for this because it’s an imperfect word… That will make sense as we go through here...
Farrago means: a confused mixture; hodgepodge; medley. (according to dictionary.com)
Let me read part of chapter 12 to you, then I will pray, and we’ll come back and study this thing together, AMEN?
Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit.
There are different ministries, but the same Lord.
And there are different activities, but the same God produces each gift in each person.
A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good:
PRAY
There are sometimes that we come to a text in the message and I want to ZOOM all the way in with you! We will look at individual words and phrases and how they should change the work we are doing. However, just as important is to often times ZOOM OUT. When we zoom out, we see the bigger picture. This is important in Paul’s letters so that we understand the major argument being made within the larger context.
I want to show you today what Paul says was a problem in Corinth, but how a right view of God’s involvement in their lives should change those thoughts. So, I will read a few verses and then I will pray and come back to break this down.
VERSES.....
PRAY
There are sometimes that we come to a text in the message and I want to ZOOM all the way in with you! We will look at individual words and phrases and how they should change the work we are doing. However, just as important is to often times ZOOM OUT. When we zoom out, we see the bigger picture. This is important in Paul’s letters so that we understand the major argument being made within the larger context.
So, today, I want to show you what’s going on in Corinth, what it means for us, and how Paul explained the remedy. Alright?
1. The problem: diversity
1. The problem: diversity
We wrapped up the last chapter by looking at the Lord’s Supper. We saw that Paul’s beef with them in that was a socioeconomic issue. You had such a diverse group of people financially, that it was causing issues in the church. You had the haves showing up for worship with incredible food and expensive wine and devouring it right in front of the have-nots while they had little to know food. This strained relationship between the two groups caused the Lord’s Supper (though taken in equality) to be nullified through hypocrisy.
There were clearly socioeconomic differences between those in Corinth. But Paul points to here that there is even more diversity than that!
Paul says the people of Corinth were different. But he doesn’t just say that, he uses a list to say that. (If you are in my group on Wednesday, you know the importance of lists when reading the Bible! Paul says there are different...
GIFTS
MINISTRIES
ACTIVITIES
The focus doesn’t seem to be on these three words because besides the word GIFTS, they don’t convey anything extremely unique and important. The focus is on the repetitive word DIFFERENT! Paul is helping them see that the socio-economic differences already addressed is nothing compared to the plethora of differences! There is no end to it! He points that out.
But then he couples those “different” comments with 3 “same” comments. Yes, you are vastly different, but there is something that binds you together that is greater! It is GOd himself! And the words he uses here are much more important because they point to the three persons of the the Trinity...
He says...
Different Gifts, Same Spirit. Paul says, don’t forget the same spirit of God is at work in every one of you.
Different Ministries, same Lord. This word “lord” is a term Paul uses almost exclusively for Jesus, who is God the SON.
Different Activities, same God. When Paul says God he is most often referring to God the Father.
So what is Paul’s argument?
Sure, you are different as night and day, but you have been called by the same God to unity. That’s what makes unity so important and beautiful! If two things are identical, there is no beauty in their unity. But when two things that are very different can be unified, it is beautiful.
ILLUSTRATION: I know I have been using the political sphere a whole lot, but it’s just so prevalent and easy to see. Is it beautiful to see two staunch Republicans or 2 Democrats working together in unity? I am sure you have your preference, but that is expected. What is not expected is to see two or more politicians from both sides of the aisle work together. How can they do that? They lay aside their differences for the sake of the sameness!
The only time I remember seeing this very clearly in most of my lifetime was in response to 9/11. In response to the terror attacks, there was a small window in which the divisions of the parties were not discussed. There different policies were left at home. What permeated the news for a season was unity. And it was beautiful because they focused on what they had in common not what divided them.
Paul is urging the church at Corinth to do the same. Don’t focus on your differences! Remember what unites: God! It is God that produces each gift in each person! There is a sameness that is infinitely greater than their differences!
But Paul knew that they would at times focus on the difference. He needed them to see how dangerous this mindset can be. He uses a common analogy to do so: the body. He compares the church at Corinth to a body. This somewhat silly analogy would have been really important though. Because there are two responses to differences that can cause division...
Paul then uses a common analogy to point to this importance… The body. He compares the church to a body. In this analogy, he shows how this rivalry can split the church...
a. feelings of inadequacy
If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body.
1 Cor. 12:15
1 Cor. 12:
And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body.
If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body.
And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body.
If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?
You see? The foot and the ear are a little self-conscious. They feel inadequate in comparison to these more “important” parts of the body. But Paul’s point is that it is a good thing that there are many body parts. If the whole body were an eye, we would have some sort of weird monster not a body! Everyone has a role to play in the body though!
But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted.
And if they were all the same part, where would the body be?
Paul doubles down on this by saying that “God has ARRANGED” each one of the parts just as he wanted. There is intentionality to what God is doing in the human body!
IN the same way, there is intentionality in what God is doing in the body of Christ, the church! God is actively involved in the roles he has prepared us to play in our local church. He PRODUCES the gifts in us (verse 6) and now we see that he is ARRANGING the members in such a way that everyone has a role to play.
If you feel you are inadequate in this local church because you are not a teacher or team leader, you need to know that every role is important.
Do you know how many people are serving on a given Sunday morning? It varies from week to week, but there are between 35-50 people serving every sunday morning to pull off what we do here! And guess what, most of those are not teachers or upfront leaders. They are simply serving in background ways that are vitally important! If you would like to be on one of the teams, Mrs. May Beasley will be next to the Welcome Desk on your way out today, let her know!
Feelings of inadequacy are not the only issues to look out for, we also have to guard against neglect.
b. Neglect
The second
Everyone has a role to play.
b. Neglect
Paul presents another set of comments from the body parts...
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”
On the contrary, those parts of the body that are weaker are indispensable.
And those parts of the body that we consider less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unrespectable parts are treated with greater respect,
which our respectable parts do not need. Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable,
1 Cor. 12:21-
Here, we see an issue between parts of the body that are considered important and others that are not. Paul is reminding the Corinthians that we are really dumb with our bodies. Often times, we give all of our attention to weird parts of our bodies. We spend tons of time fixing our hair and looking in the mirror. We make the outside parts as pretty as we can, but the most important parts of our body, we often don’t worry much about.
That’s why Paul says “the weaker” parts are “indispensable.” And again, he says God has set it up this way.
which our respectable parts do not need. Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable,
1 Corinthians 12:
God seeks to level out the honor in our bodies. He knew that we would put so much focus on some parts of our body while ignoring the more important background organs and parts. Those are the ones God seeks to honor.
Again here, God has “put the body together” in a specific way.
IN the church, there are some roles that get all the attention. Myself and the worship team are up in front of you guys every week. We get to engage with you and receive encouragement from you. But we have people serving all over our campus that never get that “Hey, good job buddy! Thanks for serving today!” Because their job is one you only notice if something goes wrong.
The first way I served in my home church was as a computer guy, running the slides. Our joke was, no one notices that we are even doing that until a word is misspelled or we go to the chorus instead of the verse. How important is it to have
Parking lot, Greeters, nursery and preschool, kids min workers, two Sunday morning group leaders, people who set up cones, those who fix coffee, those who come in and straighten chairs, check for cards and pencils in every seat, media team, worship team, security team, and the folks that are down front each week ready to talk and pray with anyone who may come forward during the invitation. You see, we have teams for everything here!
Just a sidenote, every one of our teams needs more volunteers on it! If you are willing to serve every week or on a rotating basis, we want to know it! You can fill out the card in the back of the seat and give it to me or Mrs. May Beasley after the service and we will get in touch with you and get you the training you need to serve well.
God levels the honor
2. The solution: perspective
2. The solution: perspective
We have really answered the solution to each problem as we’ve gone through. But it needs clarifying that to live in unity as a diverse body, Paul is saying the answer is to see things from God’s perspective instead of ours.
If we were to look at the church of Corinth or our church, we would expect to see a FARRAGO: a hodgepodge of people. A confused mixture. But that’s the problem! We only see our diversity. We only see the differences! We neglect to acknowledge that God has been actively involved in this process of diversity. So it isn’t a confused hodgepodge of people with little to no purpose. IN fact, we have seen here in this text that there is great purpose in our diversity. God has given, distributed, arranged, and put together this body here. When we see our church the way God does, our diversity is no longer a hindrance or barrier to unity. It’s the source of it!
And when we view it that way, we see the...
3. The outcome: ONE BODY
3. The outcome: ONE BODY
Look at how Paul ends this section of text…
which our respectable parts do not need. Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable,
so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other.
So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it.
1 Corinthians 12:
Those two words SO THAT are so important. Why has God put the body together in the ways that he we have discussed here today?
SO THAT there would be no division! INstead, the members would have concern for one another. If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. If one member is honored, all rejoice! YOU ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST! That’s Paul’s train of thought here.
You see, when we begin to see our church here as a family, as a body that is to move and live together, we will naturally care for one another better. We will get to know one another more deeply. We will suffer when others suffer and rejoice when others rejoice!
Now, what are we gonna do with this text? What are you gonna do with this text? I’ll tell you what I hope this text does in hearts today...
1. I pray it changes the way you view this body.
We are a body here at East! We are one body here! Every member has a different role to play, but we are all important and we all matter!
2. I pray it moves some from sitting to serving.
When I’m asked how can I get plugged in here at East? I say, “Be at the gathering, be in a group, and be a part of the movement of God.” Every part of my body plays a role in my overall health. What role do you play here? It’s OK if you aren’t serving here at East for today, but you need a role to play! No matter how old, what your health looks like, or how long you’ve been a Christian, we want to help you find how you can begin serving at East! Sign up today to begin serving. We will find the place that fits you best!
3. I pray it causes some to dwell on who Christ is.
Before Lindsay Lane East was the body of Christ, Jesus literally lived in a physical body on earth. He lived here perfectly like you and I couldn’t pull off in a million tries. Then he died the death that we deserved a million times over. And he did it all so that we might be saved. If you have never trusted in Jesus Christ as Savior today, you can! I will be down front to talk through that with you! The good news is that we will have the baptistery full of water on Easter and we are praying that God will fill it up with people!
In light of that, if you are a Christian but have never been baptized or you were baptized as a child before you actually believed for yourself and haven’t been baptized as a follower of Jesus, we would love to talk with you about that too! We will get you lined up for Easter Sunday morning! That’s gonna be a fun day!
No matter how God may have used this text this morning, you respond as God leads here.
How might God use these truths to change the way you view our church here?
Our church is little in difference to the church at Corinth. We, too, have a diverse group of people gathered together.
a. many levels of diversity (not just socioeconomic: chapter 11)
b. feelings of inadequacy
c. Neglect
The first thing we can see here very simply is that
There is a unique diversity in the church among its members: a diversity that finds its origin in one source.
There is a unique diversity in the church among its members: a diversity that finds its origin in one source.
Paul shows us a list of three different types of differences among us. (And if you are in my group on Wednesday nights, “Are lists important?” ABSOLUTELY!) These three words Paul uses are not in themselves that important. When you look at the original language, they don’t seem to be conveying anything of significance. The CSB renders them GIFTS, MINISTRIES, and ACTIVITIES. Again, Paul doesn’t seem to be drawing our eye to those words, but the repetition of the word DIFFERENT that accompanies each one! The church at Corinth was made up of very different people. That is Paul’s focus!
But, in typical Paul fashion, this list does give us something good to dwell on. He doesn’t just point to the diversity, but he lets them know that this diversity comes from a common source.
Just as he presents three types of uniqueness, he offers three sources of sameness: SAME SPIRIT, SAME LORD, SAME GOD.
The same
Now, these terms are supposed to draw our eye, right? What do we see here? Paul is making it clear that though each person is unique and different from one another, there is a sameness that is stronger than the differences. That sameness is rooted in God himself.
There is a theological word that we have come up with to define God’s unique nature. It’s the word “Trinity.” That’s a whole sermon we will look at later this year in detail, but a quick definition for now...
God exists as three distinct persons who each engage with creation in unique ways, but each is equally and fully God. We define these three as Father, Son, and Spirit.
Let’s look at Paul’s list in reverse order...
The same God - Most often, when Paul uses the term “God” he is using it interchangeably with the person of the Trinity we often call “The Father.”
The same Lord - Paul makes it very clear in his letters that Jesus is himself the Lord. This term is almost used solely for Jesus in his letter. This is the “Son” in the trinity.
The same Spirit - Paul is of course here referencing the person of God that we think of as the “Holy Spirit.”
Paul is showing the church at Corinth that there is a vastly unique nature to the members of their church, but that diversity is rooted in a sameness that is eternally healthy in God Himself.
This leads to point number 2...
2. God’s involvement in this diversity.
2. God’s involvement in this diversity.
Paul explains to the Corinthians that God is actively involved in this diversity. We can see that right in verse 6 that God PRODUCES each gift in each person. Then in verse 11, we see that the Spirit distributes to each person as he wills.
Paul says that God does what God does. You are uniquely different because God wanted it that way.
And it’s almost as if Paul can hear them beginning to grumble! Why would God give them that gift or that ministry and not give it to me?
I know you don’t know the eating habits of my children, but play along with me for a moment...
If I were to give my daughter a gooey, warm, chocolate chip cookie and a glass of milk, then turn to my son and give him some pineapple and water, what will his response be?
THAT’S NOT FAIR! Right? I WANT A COOKIE DADDY!
Apparently that’s what the kids talk about in Kindergarten is what’s not fair, because that’s all Elsie Jo talks about at home!
This is how the Corinthians might have felt reading Paul’s letter. But Paul goes further. He tells them in verse 7:
A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good:
Well, isn’t that interesting! Paul says that it is actually for the good of all the church that everyone receive something from God. This still doesn’t help with the “not fair” crowd. So, he puts it into an analogy that we are very familiar with.
Paul says, “Your church is similar to the way God put the body together.”
How has God done that?
For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ.
You see there that uniqueness, yet sameness that Paul has already established.
Then he goes on to provide some scenarios for us in this analogy. Each one is to drive home point number 3...
3. This is more than a benefit. It is a NEED
Paul can almost hear them fussing about this, right?
In chapter 12, we see that God produces each gift in each person, distributes to each person as he wills, arranged each one of the parts just as he wanted, God has put the body together,
Diversity/sameness
God’s involvement
More than benefit…NEED
There are two sets of thoughts the body parts are having in Paul’s imagery. The first is a series of body parts that feel they are inadequate to be a part of the body because they are not other parts...
a.
Paul gives us the meaning of this by saying,
If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?
But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted.
And if they were all the same part, where would the body be?
As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
1 Corinthians 12:
Then Paul introduces the second set of statements from the body parts. In these thoughts, one seemingly important body part is saying to an arguably less important part, “I DON’T NEED YOU!” Paul then makes the point that we worry about the indispensible parts of our body. We are more worried about how we look in the mirror than we are the organs that keep our body alive? We are more worried with whether our hair is fixed than whether most parts of our body are functioning properly, right?
Paul says that God knows that some parts of the body will get more praise than others. But God honors most those who are honored less. WHY?
which our respectable parts do not need. Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable,
so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other.
So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it.
which our respectable parts do not need. Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable,
1 Corinthians 12:24
Paul says that God put the body together giving his honor to the less honorable WHY? So that there would be no division in the body! How can that happen? If the members have the same concern for each other! What concern? The same concern God has! It takes a whole bunch of people to pull off a Sunday Service here at East! Every morning, there are 35-50 people who are serving in some capacity. Whether that’s directing traffic in the parking lot, greeting at the doors, altar counselors ready to pray with someone, kids ministry workers, security team keeping us safe, the worship team, media team, Sunday morning small group leaders, the Parvins who fix the coffee each week, or any of our staff who get here early and stay late to make sure things run smoothly. It takes a whole bunch of people to do this!
1 Corinthians 12:
The first thing you need to understand is that the church is not really a FARRAGO.
VERSES.....
VERSES.....
PRAY
There are sometimes that we come to a text in the message and I want to ZOOM all the way in with you! We will look at individual words and phrases and how they should change the work we are doing. However, just as important is to often times ZOOM OUT. When we zoom out, we see the bigger picture. This is important in Paul’s letters so that we understand the major argument being made within the larger context.
So, today, I want to show you what’s going on in Corinth, what it means for us, and how Paul explained the remedy. Alright?
1. The problem
a. many levels of diversity (not just socioeconomic: chapter 11)
b. feelings of inadequacy
c. Neglect
2. God’s Thoughts
a. There is a “sameness” that supersedes the differences.
b. Uniqueness is mutually beneficial
c. God honors the one with no honor.
3. The solution
God’s Involvement
The