The Need of Spiritually Gifted Individuals in the Church (1 Cor 12:12-31)

Announcements

Bible Study & Prayer on Wednesday at 7pm. This Wednesday, we’ll be working through Psalm 25 together, we’d love to have you join us as we worship Jesus, equip believers, and make disciples.

This Saturday, June 4th at 10:30am, we’ll have a church workday in our building. We have several projects to do, including the installation of a cabinet for storage in the Activity Room, cleaning throughout the building, sealing gaps with spray foam, and spraying for bugs around the building and in the basement. We could use some help, if you’re available, please plan to stop by at 10:30am.

Last week, I mentioned that we were looking ahead to starting a children’s ministry in the fall. We definitely need volunteers for this, but there are two requirements that need to be met for volunteers:

One of the requirements is that all volunteers needs to be background checked. This includes a state police check, child abuse clearance, and FBI fingerprinting. The state police check and child abuse clearances are free, but the fingerprinting now costs $22.60 per person. That fee needs to be paid when the fingerprinting is done—if you need help paying for them, please feel free to let me know and we’ll arrange for that cost to be handled. If you make it to the church workday on Saturday, I can help you with the background checks after we finish up everything in the building. We need to get the background checks started just in case they take longer than usual.

The second requirement is that all children’s volunteers need to come to two days of training. This is regardless of any previous experience that you may have working in children’s ministry. This is to make sure everyone is on the same page regarding the mission and goal of our children’s ministry and it is to make sure that we’re all on the same page concerning policies to keep both the children and the adult volunteers safe. This training will happen August 20th and 27th from 9am-2pm—we’ll provide coffee, snacks, and lunch on both days. We just need to know how many people plan to join us those days so we know how much coffee and snacks to provide.

Let me remind you to continuing worshiping the LORD through your giving. To help you with your giving, we have three ways for you to do so: (1) in-person giving can be done through the offering box at the front of the room—checks should be written to Grace & Peace, if you’d like a receipt for your cash gifts, please place it in an envelope with your name on it. Debit, Credit, and ACH transfers can be done either by (2) texting 84321 with your $[amount] and following the text prompts or by (3) visiting us online at www.gapb.church and selecting Giving in the menu bar. Everything you give goes to the building up of our local church and the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Prayer of Repentance and Adoration

Call to Worship (Ps 51:7-12)

Our call to worship is Psalm 51:7-12, which is a continuation of David’s psalm of repentance after he sinned with Bathsheba. He cries out to the Lord to cleanse him from his sin and asks God to create a clean heart within him. He ends this section of the psalm by asking God to restore him to joy as he revels in his salvation. The prayer that David prays is a prayer that all Christians ought to pray in times when there is genuine repentance. Please stand and read with me Psalm 51:7-12—I’ll read the odd-numbered verses; please join me in reading the even-numbered verses:

Psalm 51:7–12 ESV

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Congregational Singing

O God, My Joy (100)

The Power of the Cross (272)

Jesus Paid it All (281)

Scripture Reading (James 2:14-26)

Our Scripture Reading this morning is James 2:14-26, which was written by the apostle James and confronts the idea that you could claim to have faith, but not have the fruit to back up your claim to believe. Don’t think that James is teaching a salvation of works in vv. 14-26, but rather, he’s teaching that if there is genuine faith, there will be good works as a fruit of genuine faith.

Genuine faith results in good work. Natalie can you read for us, James 2:14-26?

James 2:14–26 ESV

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Sermon

Introduction

If you have your Bible with you, please turn it to 1 Corinthians 12:12-31.

Last week, we started a new series concerning what Paul calls spiritual gifts within the church. As an introduction, we worked through 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 and we learned about what the gifts were and what exactly their purposes are. We learned that they were all given by the Holy Spirit and that there were and are all sorts of different gifts that have been given to genuine believers within the local church—Paul lists a few examples of them in 1 Corinthians 12:7-10, but as he lists these examples, he makes it abundantly clear that they are all given by the same Lord, same Spirit, and same God. And they were all given for the same purpose, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

This morning, we’re going to continue in this series by continuing in 1 Corinthians 12. We’re going to work through vv. 12-31, which speaks again of the diversity of gifts within the body of Christ and actually Paul takes it a step further—he discusses the diversity of people within one local church and he utilizes an illustration of the human body to drive home his point. He speaks of the need of every body part in the human body and then he compares this illustration to the local body of Christ—that every believer within the local church is needed; just like every body part within the human body is needed. And thus, every gift within the local church is needed.

Let’s read 1 Corinthians 12:12-31.

1 Corinthians 12:12–31 ESV

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. 14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

As we study this passage together, we’re going to break the text into three parts: (1) The Diversity of the Body of Christ (12-19), (2) The Need for Every Person in the Body (21-26), and (3) Examples of the Need for Every Person in the Body (27-31). Paul will make it abundantly clear that the simple fact that every person within the local church is different, is actually a good thing—it’s a strength, but we need to be aware that every person in the local church is needed. No one person in the church is more important than any other, we need every person to utilize their spiritual gifts within the local church because God has appointed people within His church to serve in various ways. This morning’s sermon should build upon last week’s sermon and thus, the application is very similar—there are spiritual gifts, you’ve been given at least one, we need you to use it, so use it.

Prayer for Illumination

The Diversity of the Body of Christ (12-19)

Our text this mornings starts by continuing the passage from last week. V. 12, “For [or because] just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.”

There is a deep connection between this week’s passage and last week’s passage in that this is a continuation of what Paul has already taught us in vv. 1-11.

So, what he has said concerning spiritual gifts—the ideas that spiritual gifts are given to every believer within the church, that they are given, taken, empowered, and developed through the work of the Holy Spirit, and that they are to be used within the church is being built on in our text this morning.

Which is important for us to note because often the primary focus when vv. 12-31 is preached is simply on unity, when they reality is, that there’s something far deeper in the meaning of the text.

Paul emphasizes this by starting with an illustration of the human body. Just like the body is one, but has many members, so it is with the body of Jesus Christ.

And he points out the diversity of the members of the body of Christ, by first looking at socio-economic differences before digging deeper into the illustration.

I’d argue that he probably did this because socio-economic differences are far easier to see than most other differences.

V. 13, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”

The fact that there are different ethnicities within the church in Corinth can be seen clearly, so Paul utilizes it as an example of the diversity within the group. In our current location in Philipsburg, our diversity in ethnicity might not be as readily seen because we live in a rural area with little ethnic diversity. The reality is, we reflect the neighborhoods and communities we’re from, which is good.

Paul points out that there were slaves within the group and free persons within the group. We don’t have slavery in the same sense that they did, but we might point towards those within our congregation who are white-collar workers and blue-collar workers. The diversity of careers within our church is vast—we have some working in medicine, others working in manufacturing, others yet, working in Human Resources and even the postal service. The reality is, we reflect the neighborhoods and the communities that we’re from, which is good.

And yet, despite these socio-economic differences, Paul’s statement is still the same, “we were all baptized into one body . . . and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”

In every expression of the universal church within a local body of believers, there ought to be diversity that represents the local community—the people within the church, when it comes to ethnicities, careers, and maybe what we would call status should look like the community around them.

Because it isn’t socio-economic status that binds Christians together in the local church, it is a common belief in God through Jesus that binds the local church together,

“we were all baptized into one body . . . and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”

Since Christianity supersedes ethnicity, career, and status in life, it should be obvious then that the local church should be made up of all different sorts of ethnicities, careers, and statuses in life—at least, it should represent the diversity of ethnicities, careers, and statuses in life within the local community.

If the local church doesn’t look like the local community, then something is amiss.

Paul continues in his illustration in vv. 14-19. “For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body.”

The illustration that Paul chooses to utilize in this scenario is beneficial for two reasons: (1) everyone has a body, so everyone relates to the illustration and (2) it’s easy to see the absurdity in what he’s saying, which makes the point very blunt and clear.

We all have bodies, so we all understand what he means when he says a foot can’t say that he doesn’t belong to the body and not be a part of the body.

Regardless of how the foot feels or thinks, regardless of what the foot says, it’s still a member of the human body. It’s the same idea with an ear and it’s the same idea with an eye.

One part of the body can’t just decide that it’s not a part of the body simply because it doesn’t want to be that part of the body.

But it extends further than that body and its desire to be a different part or to not be a part of the body.

In fact, in v. 17, he starts in on this issue, that if any part of the body was missing or was something else in the body, the body would have a significant lack. “If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?”

Already, we pick up on the idea that every part of the body is necessary within the human body. So, much so, that one body part couldn’t choose to be another body part. And not every body part can be the same body part.

You can already see some of the implications that are at hand in this illustration. The idea itself is unusual—to think that any part of the body would want to be another part or would even want to leave the body is abnormal.

In addition, it’s clear that there would be something vitally missing within the body if one part decided to be something else or even leave the body.

No, every part of the body is necessary and according to vv. 18-20, “God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.”

Every part is necessary because every part has a role and He chose every part’s role. It is God who chose that the eye could see and not hear or smell. It was God who chose that the ear could hear and not see. It was God who chose what the hand could do and couldn’t do.

The human body is made up of various parts that all exist to work together for the growth and benefit of the one body. Every diverse part is necessary for the body, “If all were [the same] where would the body be?”

Now, it’s clear just from a cursory reading that this isn’t actually talking about the human body—this isn’t an anatomy lesson. Again, Paul is utilizing the illustration of the human body to help the believers in Corinth understand how the church is supposed to function. We must keep this in mind throughout this text.

Thus far, we’ve learned that the human body has many different and diverse parts, but every part is essential and every part makes up one body.

And because we know that it is an illustration, we can apply that to the local church.

The local church is made up of many different and diverse people, but every person is essential, and every person makes up one body of Christ.

Paul then continues in the text by emphasizing the essential nature of every part of the body. Let’s re-read vv. 21-26.

The Need for Every Person in the Body (21-26)

1 Corinthians 12:21–26 ESV

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

Every part of the the human body is so essential that no one part of the body can disdain any other part of the body, which again, knowing the human body, the very idea that one part of the body could say to another that they don’t want them there, is absurd. And that’s the point.

Paul makes it abundantly clear that every body part is necessary and that no one part of the body could think of other parts of the body as unnecessary.

His illustration is that an eye cannot say to the hand “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet,” which again, anyone with any basic knowledge of the human body could see just how absurd this idea is because it literally cannot happen within the human body.

Every part of the body is absolutely necessary and no one part can disdain or disregard another.

In fact, in vv. 22-24, he explains just how vital every single part is. Those that seem weak are indispensable. And parts of the body that are less honorable are treated with greater honor; and parts that are unpresentable are treated with greater modesty.

Every part of the body is treated differently because every part of the body is important in its own way, but note that every part has its own purpose and every part has its own importance.

Which is why no one body part can ever say that there is no need of the other parts. No, vv. 24-25, “God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.”

Every part of the body is necessary, even though many parts of the body might be hidden from view or might seem weaker than other parts of the body. Every part has been put together by God, which means there is a certain amount of honor that ought to be given to every part simply because God put it all together.

And because God put the body together with its diversity of parts, there really shouldn’t be a division within the body because every part of the body should care for one another.

Every part of the body should care so extensively for one another that according to v. 26, “if one member suffers, all suffers together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.”

Now again, of course, this is a simple illustration to help the believers in Corinth understand how the church itself functions and how despite the fact that every person within the body of Christ is different in various ways, there should still be unity because one body is one body even with the diversity of parts.

Applied to the church, what this shows us is a uniquely diverse organization of genuine believers who are all different—different socio-economic backgrounds, different spiritual gifts, and different personalities.

But because the local church has been brought together not because of their differences, but rather because of their mutual belief in Jesus Christ, the diversity turns out to be a great strength for the local church.

There’s a strength in the local church simply because we’re all different, which means that each one of us, though different, must realize that every other person in this room is necessary for our church.

And just like the eye can’t say to the hand “I have no need of you” nor the head to the feet, I cannot say to any of you that we don’t have a need for you or vice-versa.

If everyone in our church was like me, we wouldn’t be a body; and if everyone in our church was just like you, we wouldn’t be a body.

We’re all different from different backgrounds with different gifts and personalities and that is a good thing.

Because where one of us might be weak, another of us might be strong—a perfect example of this is the difference between Natalie and I. More than likely, if you think about the relationship that you guys have with us, you’ll probably remember that it was probably quicker and easier to get to know Natalie than myself.

Natalie, though she claims to be introverted, has a gift with connecting with others and she can develop relationships easily because she’s outgoing. It’s a great strength of hers. I’m also introverted, but I don’t have that same strength and gifting that Natalie has. It takes me much longer to connect with others and develop relationships—not because I don’t want to, but because it just takes me a little longer to get to know someone. This is a big reason as to why I ask Natalie to head up a lot of our outreach and evangelism. We have different gifts and different personalities and it’s a good thing because where I am weak, Natalie is strong and vice-versa.

As a body of believers, you are weak in certain aspects of your ministry and life; that’s why we surround ourselves with a like-minded church with believers that seek to use their strengths and spiritual gifts. Where you are weak, someone else within our church is strong; where they are weak, someone else in the church might be strong.

The point is that in our weakness, we are cared for by others; and in our strength, we care for others.

This is why Paul can make the statement “if one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.”

The local church is a body of believers that are all different and it is good that we’re all different. I gave you one example, but Paul gives us many more as he wraps up this passage in vv. 27-31. Take a look at the last five verses with me:

Examples of the Need for Every Person in the Body (27-31)

1 Corinthians 12:27–31 ESV

27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

Now, we’ve discussed a bit of how this illustration applies to us within the church, but v. 27 is the first time since v. 13 that Paul, himself, talks about how this illustration applies to the local church, “now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”

This is the statement that sort of hammers the head of the nail. Now that he’s given this illustration of how a body functions and all the people reading the letter are thinking, “yes, that definitely makes sense; how a human body is all united as a singular body with different parts, but how does that apply to us?”

Paul answers it. Just like the human body is made up of different individual parts, but they’re still one body; so are you. You also are a body made of different individual parts, but you are one body of Christ.

You’re all different, but you’re still part of the same body of Christ. And in their minds as they’re reading this, they might think, “well how do I know what part of the body I am?”

Remember all the way back in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11? All of the different spiritual gifts that are given for genuine believers to utilize within the church are what dictates what part of the body of Christ you are.

1 Corinthians 12:4-7 “4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. 6 There are varieties of [activities], but the same God who works all things in all persons. 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

What part of the body of Christ are you? Well, what are your spiritual gifts? Your spiritual gifts determine where you are in the body of Christ because they determine what you do within the body of Christ.

And let’s not be silly about this. Don’t go home this afternoon wondering if you’re the foot or you’re the hand. That isn’t the point, though some have tried to determine what would be the foot or the hand within the body of Christ.

Here are the examples that Paul gives when he turns this conversation into the individuals being the body of Christ. In vv. 28-30, “And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.”

These roles and gifts within the church, give us examples of how the differences amongst believers ought to be used within the church.

And just like the spiritual gifts listed in vv. 1-11, which are gifts empowered by the same Spirit and apportioned by the same Spirit, so are these roles chosen and given by God himself.

Paul, again, points at the fact that all this is in God’s control because it is Christ’s body, not ours. As individuals that make up the church, which is Christ’s body, we are not in control of the body, Jesus is. God makes the decisions as to who does what.

And in this instance, this concerns God appointing people within the church to be apostles, prophets, and teachers. And it is God through the Holy Spirit who empowers miracles, gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.

Notice, that not all of these are spiritual gifts, the first three are actually offices within the church; and arguably, the first two offices, most people in our tradition of Christianity would argue that they were only utilized in the first century of the church.

Everything else listed in vv. 28 are spiritual gifts given, “miracles, gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.” And again, most people in our tradition of Christianity, would argue that three of the five gifts listed here were only utilized in the first century of the church.

The point here, though, isn’t for us to nitpick the gifts or even to really define what every gift is, it is yet another reminder that these gifts are given by God through the Holy Spirit for a specific purpose.

God appoints where His people serve and how they are to serve; and the Spirit empowers them to serve with specific spiritual gifts.

This is how God chose for His church to function, which means that every individual within a local assembly of believers needs to absolutely rely on God concerning how they serve within the church and every believer within the church needs to rely on one another to serve them in the ways that they can’t serve others.

Or put another way, because God appoints both the gifts and the roles with the church; and because the Holy Spirit empowers the gifts, no one can choose for themselves how they want to serve and no one can choose for themselves what their spiritual gifts are.

God chooses and the Holy Spirit empowers and He does this by utilizing the differences within the local body. How do we know?

Because of vv. 29-30. We know that God chooses who serves in what roles and we know that the Holy Spirit empowers people with certain spiritual gifts because God utilizes differences within the local body intentionally. “Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?”

No one has every gift and not every gift is utilized by every person. No one serves in every role and not every role is for every person.

This was intentional because it causes everyone to have to rely on both God and for others within the local church context.

The final verse concludes this chapter in a way that might sound a little cryptic, but it’s really nothing more than a transition statement into chapter 13 because even though chapter 13 is commonly only focused on when discussing love, the reality is that the overarching point in that chapter has to do with spiritual gifts and using them within the local church context.

The last verse says, “But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.” The question that we must answer to understand this verse is “what does Paul mean by “earnestly desire the higher gifts?” What are the higher gifts?

The answer to that is found in 1 Corinthians 14, which we aren’t going to read this morning because we’ll spend a whole service on it in a few weeks, but let me just give you the gist.

Paul essentially states that what he calls higher gifts are gifts that are utilized for teaching and his reasoning is actually really simple, its because the person who teaches teaches everyone else how to serve and how to use their gifts and how to worship and the one who teaches helps to build up the church.

And notice, that while he says that these are “higher gifts” he doesn’t mean that these gifts are better than the other gifts by any means. How could he say that they’re better when he just finished a whole discourse on how God has gifted everyone within the church in different ways for the same reason—to build up the church?

In addition, let me explain that when he says “earnestly desire” he is not saying that everyone should want to be teachers within the church, in fact, James 3:1 directly contradicts the idea that everyone should want to be teachers within the church “1 [not many of you should become teachers], my brothers, since you know that we who are teachers will incur a stricter judgment.”

What Paul states by saying that we should all desire the higher gifts is not necessarily that we should desire having those gifts themselves, but rather the fruits of those gifts.

David Lowery suggests that Paul has already listed the higher gifts when he speaks of apostles, prophets, and teachers and then he says, the “gifts may have been greater because of their extensive value to the whole body of Christ. This may be why he listed them first and then said that the church should eagerly desire the exercise of those gifts in the assembly. Gifted apostles, prophets, and teachers characteristically ministered to a whole church.” (David K. Lowery, “1 Corinthians,” The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An exposition of the Scriptures, Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985, 534)

Regardless of what the individual’s gifts are, there should be a desire for the proper exercise of teaching and preaching within the local assembly.

And regardless of what an individual’s gifts are, there is “a still more excellent way” that Paul sort of teases at before ending this chapter. We’ll discuss what that “still more excellent way” is next week because it leads into next week’s passage, but let me go ahead and spoil the surprise. The still more excellent way that Paul is speaking about—what supersedes gifts and roles within the church is the simple requirement to love one another. The more excellent way is that of love.

In the remaining few minutes, let’s discuss how we can apply what Paul has written in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31. And I think the best way to do this is to look at it as one unit because each section of the text sort of builds on one another with the last portion simply being examples of how this works within the local body of Christ.

Application

What Paul has written to the Corinthians is that just like the human body, the church is the body of Christ; and just like the human body, with its diversity of parts, the church has a diversity of people within it. And just like the human body, every person within the church is vital; each and every person is essential within the local church and what they’ve been gifted with is vital to the growth and mutual upbuilding of the local church.

It is clear in this passage, that the local church is to be made of multiple different people with different personalities and different spiritual gifts. If we were to utilize the illustration that Paul uses—some of us are hands, some of us are feet, some of us are ears, and some of us are eyes.

We’re all different personality-wise and we’re all different when it comes to our giftedness, to try and make everyone within the body of Christ perfectly homogenous or the same when it comes to personalities neglects the truth that we’re supposed to be different according to 1 Corinthians 12:12-31.

We are supposed to be different—with some of us being introverted and some of you being extroverted. We are supposed to be different—with some of us more hands-on and others of us more strategy or intellectually-minded. We are supposed to be different—with some of us more vocal and others more subdued.

Just as long as we aren’t being sinful within our personalities, there isn’t anything wrong with us being different personality-wise. And if you need help determining when our personalities become sinful, let me give a few examples:

It is perfectly fine to be introverted, but it is sinful to neglect the Great Commission because you’re introverted. It is perfectly fine to be extroverted, but it is sinful to be rude and brash and act unlovingly toward those around you because you’re extroverted.

It is perfectly fine to be more hands-on, but it is sinful to neglect the spiritual disciplines that are more intellectually focused (like reading Scripture and studying it). It is perfectly fine to be more strategy or intellectually focused, but it is sinful to refuse helping and serving your neighbor because you’re not a hands-on type of person.

God created us all differently when it comes to our personalities and those differences ought to be celebrated within the local church, but we can’t allow our differences to be excuses for our sin.

So, our application starts with this idea—celebrate your differences of personality; differences of spiritual gifts are to be celebrated, but be sure that you don’t allow your differences of personality to be an excuse for sin.

We’re all different and that’s good because where I’m weak, you guys are strong; and where you’re weak, I’m strong.

We need one another within the body of Christ because our diversity brings strength.

Celebrate our differences of personality and our diversity of spiritual gifts—the diversity is good.

Clearly then, if God has created us all differently with different personalities and a diversity of spiritual gifts, then clearly, God thinks that every difference is necessary for the local church.

So, consider your differences of personalities and diversity of spiritual gifts. Consider what makes you unique from those within the local body of believers and consider how you can serve the church in light of these differences.

If God has created us all differently, which clearly He has, then your unique personality and your combination of spiritual gifts (which by the way, were given to you to use for the common good within the local church) were given to you for your service within the church.

What this means is that you, as an individual provide something that is absolutely necessary for our church and for a church our size, you might be the only person gifted with your spiritual gifts and your personality.

So, the question really becomes, “are you utilizing your unique personality and your spiritual gifting for the common good of our church?”

If you’re gifted with helping, are you helping?

If you’re gifted with administration, are you administrating?

If you’re gifted with teaching, are you teaching?

If you’re gifted with exhortation, are you exhorting?

And regardless of how you’re gifted; are you leveraging your personality to utilize your spiritual gifts in a way that brings glory and honor to God?

Put simply, what we learn from 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 is that we are all uniquely different in personality and spiritual giftedness—this is a good thing, which means that we should, as believers in a local church today (1) celebrate our differences and celebrate our diversity of spiritual gifts, (2) we should understand that these differences are necessary, and then (3) we need to be sure that we are using our unique personalties and differing spiritual gifts for the common good of the church.

We’re all different, this is a strength in the local church. Let’s use our differences for the glory of God and the common good of the church.

Pastoral Prayer

Congregational Singing

The Church’s One Foundation (354)