1 Cor 12:12-26 Growing in Jesus – One Body

21-02-28 – Growing in Jesus – One Body – 1 Cor 12:12-26

HBI: The diversities that make us unique, that God has given to us, we are to use them as one body for the edification of the church and for the glory of God.

Intro

Church of the bedside Baptist According to Urban Dictionary, it’s the church you go to when you decide to sleep in. 

Also known as Pillow Presbyterian; this church is one that you attend in your dreams. Members of Bedside Baptist may be labeled as heathens by members of other denominations. “dude, I overslept this morning, so I ended up going to Bedside Baptist.”

I read a story of a college student who gave the excuses why He worshipped at bedside Baptist. 

I tried out a couple churches around the university and it was just too weird. One didn't have a band and sang all their songs by organ from a hymnal! The people there were really kind and had tons of food for visitors from the school but I didn't like the service at all. The other one played the same music as the one at home but no one said “Hi!” or talked to me. Well, the usher was nice, but that's it. After finally making the effort to get up early and take the bus to try out these two churches, I wasn't going to try anymore. Sunday mornings in dorm were quiet,

The need for a lie in or whatever the excuse is becomes the priority. For whatever reason church is not so much a priority and they do not see the need to meet together. They do not always need people, so they do not always see the point of going to church every Sunday. 

I have known people that do not go to church, one of these people give their reason for not attending is they do not learn anything in church and do better watching pastor’s online. 

Whatever the excuses are there are many people who would rather forsake meeting together with any flimsy range of excuses. 

But wait a second that is what lots of churches are telling people to do right now, so what gives? I will not get into it all that much today for what we are going through right now is different. 

Churches are temporarily telling people to not meet together for Church but rather commit to doing it digitally. 

In his book A Christian Directory, the old Puritan pastor Richard Baxter addresses this very issue:

Question 109: May we omit church-assemblies on the Lord’s day, if the magistrate forbid them?

Answer: 1. It is one thing to forbid them for a time, upon some special cause, (as infection by pestilence, fire, war, etc.) and another to forbid them statedly or profanely.

Some people think we should not be obeying the Government like we are but there is more to it then that. If you want to know more about why we have not fought back or why we have decided to do what we have been doing, then please come talk to me and I will gladly explain our point of view. 1

But back to meeting together. During normal times, or whether from home meeting together from the comfort of our homes we are called to join together, to be unified together amidst all the diversities that comes with many people meeting together. 

Why is it important that we always remember to join together in unity? Because the diversities that make us unique God has given to us so we can use them as one body for the edification of the church for the glory of God.

Scripture Reading 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 and prayer

One Body – 12-14

We have started into Growing in Jesus. Once we know Jesus, as in once we have a relationship with Him then we need to grow in Him. 

This means that we need to be obedient to what God asks us to do, no matter the cost. One of the first steps of obedience that we are to take is taking a step of faith in Baptism and joining the local church. 

One of the next steps of obedience that we are going to go through is the fact that, at least during normal times, that we are not to forsake meeting together Hebrews 10:25 (CSB)25 not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.

Again, what is going on now is different, I am not being contradictory but if you want to know more about why we are using this as an exception right now please come and talk to me. 

We are called to meet together as the body, for now though, right now, that sometimes looks like meeting online or over zoom or something like that. 

However, it looks we are called to be the body of Christ together. To try and go it alone does not work, a Christian on an island alone will not last long. 

But why are we supposed to do this anyways? That is what we are going to go through, the “why” or purpose behind us joining together as one body of Christ. 

1 Corinthians 12:12–14 12 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. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all given one Spirit to drink. 14 Indeed, the body is not one part but many.

The purpose behind not forsaking meeting together, whether it is a temporary online meeting together or actually in person is because we are the body of Christ. 

Unity through diversity this is talking about using the imagery of a body. This is continuing the thought of the previous passage talking about spiritual gifts. 

Like the body that contains many parts and is still one so is the Body of Christ. What this is telling us is that we are Christ’s body here on earth. We therefore represent Christ here on earth. 

The body of Christ, that we are a part of is many parts consisting of the many gifts that we have received through the Holy Spirit in us. 

Part of being a part of Christ’s body is that we will be showing these gifts, that they will be coming out of us. If they are not, then you need to ask God to search your life and see why. 

The list given is not meant o be an exhaustive list and I am not going through it today, but you can read through it later. 

So, we are all one body, part of the body of Christ. We become part of this body upon receiving the Holy Spirit upon salvation. 

It tells us here that the Holy Spirit comes in us, and changes us, connects us to each other and Christ. We are all given the same spirit, so no matter whop you are or what you have done, if you have come to have a relationship with Jesus you are now part of Jesus body here on earth. 

Diversity – Vs 21-26

We are all part of the body of Christ as we have been going through, and one of the beautiful things about this is that we are all made differently. 

1 Corinthians 12:14–16 (CSB)14 Indeed, the body is not one part but many. 15 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. 16 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.

We are all different but that does not mean we are not important. If the Holy Spirit has made us part of the family of God, there is nothing that can make you less important then any other person in the family. 

You may have a different role but that does not mean you are any less important. We all have a role to play within the body of Christ. 

Sometimes we look to the gifting of those around us and see people who have gifts that we wish we had and get a little down, or a little jealous even. 

But just because we do not have the gift that someone else has does not make us any less important, every person is important in the body of Christ. 

Diversity in the body of Christ. Is what this is saying. We need all those gifts working together. The problem is that often that is not the way that it happens. 

Warren Wiersbe says it well in his commentary on 1 Corinthians. Unity without diversity would produce uniformity, and uniformity tends to produce death. Life is a balance between unity and diversity. As a human body weakens, its “systems” slow down and everything tends to become uniform. The ultimate, of course, is that the body itself turns to dust.2

We need to be unified in our diversity, all the different parts of the body working together as one. We have to often separated our churches into the college and career church, the seniors church, the young family church, the church with the good youth group and so on. 

We sometimes try to go to a church that fits well with the age we currently are. I understand a young family not wanting to attend a church that does not have any other young families in it. 

But we have gotten ourselves into a bit of a pickle by doing this. We are lacking quite seriously when we do this. In the church that all the seniors like going to, where is the next generation of leaders. 

In the young family’s church, where is the Godly wisdom from those that have gone through life following Jesus? 

Think of it like a salad. If the body of Christ is like a salad then what the church has become over the years is you have a ceaser salad, or a garden salad. Just a lot of the same thing mixed together. 

But what it is meant to be is like a fruit salad. All sorts of different things mixed together. Not just a bunch of lettuce but all different shapes varieties and colors of fruit mixed together to form one diverse beautiful salad. 

It is all about working together as one body, helping each other grow. Giving honor to the less honored

1 Corinthians 12:22–26 (CSB)22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that are weaker are indispensable. 23 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, 24 which our respectable parts do not need. Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable, 25 so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other. 26 So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

So What? 

To me this is a beautiful thing. One big body, a church of differents working together to form the body of Christ in the world around us. 

But what happens sometimes when we do this is that people are different, they have different likes and dislikes, styles of worship they like better or do not like as much and they start to fight for what they are comfortable with. 

But what the bible tells us is that it is not about you, it is about working together as a bunch of different people for the Glory of the Lord for the furthering of the K of G 

We are not meant to be an island amongst ourselves but we are to find a way to join together as the body of Christ to further the K of G. 

We need each other, we need the diversity and need to learn to work together in unity for the glory of the Lord. 

So, the first thing we learn is that we need the body of Christ. The second is that we each need to work together at unity so the different do not win out and turn into a big fight. 

But what is a diverse unified church supposed to do? We are called to share the gospel. But how do we do this in a time when we are not really supposed to be out meeting with people? 

That is where the beauty of diversity comes in. be creative! I was on a zoom call with pastors from around the province the other day and heard how God is working even in the midst of a pandemic. 

People may be stuck closer to home, but God is still moving. We are the body of Christ; we are still called to work together. This building is not the church, it is a place where we meet as the body of Christ. 

So how can we still use all the differences, all the gifts God has given us to share the gospel, even now when it may be more difficult. 

We need each other and we still need to work together to fulfill the mission God has given us, Especially now.