Which Body Part Are You? (The Body Mini-series #2)

ATTN: If I were to ask you, which part of your body do you consider to be most important, how many of you would say, “Achilles’ heel?” I would not have said it either until I hurt it a couple months ago.  I’ve pulled it while trying to keep up with someone 15 years younger than me, playing tennis (In my mind, I’m still 19), and it’s not healing as fast as I want. It’s preventing me from running, which I’d like to do 3 times a week. It’s definitely preventing me from playing tennis like I want to. And it’s even changing how I walk because I’m favoring one side as not to pull it again. The body part I never thought about before is preventing me from doing things I really like.

Last week, we started a mini-series talking about individual members in a church as body parts based on 1 corinthians 12. I said that the main message there is: God’s excellency is displayed most beautifully when individual members use their time, talent, and treasure to build up the body of Christ, which is the church. I then broke it down and shared three ways we play a part in the body: 1) You have a unique contribution to make to the body because you have been uniquely and strategically gifted by God to serve the body, 2) You need the body to keep you alive, therefore, when you serve the church, you end up doing good to yourself, and 3) It is God who arranges and builds the church and therefore, we need to watch and see how He leads the body. One way, we said, is watch and see what kind of people God is adding to our body.

And then I had you fill out a form and some of you did. I will give you one more opportunity to do that. I want everyone over the age of 12 to fill it out – that includes the youth this time… So, today I want to continue looking at 1 Cor 12 that talks about the unity of the body. What will it look like if each member use their their time, talent and treasure to build up the body? How would we do it? More specifically, how would we achieve that oneness of the body – the unity? Two parts to this sermon: I. What will promote unity in the body? I will share 3 points. And II. What will NOT promote unity in the body, and I will share 2 points.

 

1. What will promote unity in the body?  
2. Unity needs diversity.

I know this is counter-intuitive, but for true unity to exist, there needs to be diversity. If there is no diversity and people are united, that’s uniformity and not unity. So, ironically, true unity can only happen when there is diversity.

1. 14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many…. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

Paul draws a hideous or funny picture of a body where all the members are the same. Imagine if you got complimented on your beautiful eyes, and so you decided to go to South Korea where cloning is legal and you cloned your eyes and replaced all your members with your eyes. So in place of ears, nose and mouth, you have eyes everywhere! Well, you may be able to multi-task better than anyone else but you will die soon because you have no mouth to feed yourself! Do your remember Mr. Potato head? Take out everything and put eyes on all its holes… That would not be beautiful. That would be hideous.  

Unity that happens when everyone looks the same is uniformity and not unity. If our church consisted of only white, young, single people who are from the South, we would be perfectly uniform, but we wouldn’t call it achieving any kind of unity.

But true beauty happens when different parts that look and function differently work together to accomplish a complex task like cooking a wonderful meal, or hitting a tennis ball, or playing an instrument to make music…  So, it is with the church. When people of diverse background and ages and talents and gifts come together as one toward a common goal, there is true unity that glorifies the body of Christ. Not surprisingly, Paul assumes diversity within the church. 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.

Jews and slaves? That’s ethnic diversity. Slaves or free? That’s socio-economic diversity. Unity needs diversity.

 

2. Unity needs choosing peace over separation (battle) on non-essentials.
3. 21-22, 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,

Well, which are the parts of the body that seem to be weaker? The ones we might be at odds with. The ones we think, “I would like it better if they weren’t at our church,” or at the least, “It wouldn’t matter if those people left our church…” I know none of you ever thought that about another church member, but if it ever happens here, pursuing unity means striving to live at peace with those we disagree with rather than separating. Now, is this an absolute command? That, we are to live at peace at all cost no matter what the differences are? No.

Romans 12:18  If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. When does it become impossible? When they will not recognize the head as the head, for example. In other words, if they did not believe Jesus to be the Son of the living God who came in the flesh to die for the sins of the world. Then they are not in the same body as we are. Mormons, JW’,s for example.

But we need not separate over our preferences such as the type of worship music, or the type of food we eat for fellowship or how we are to dress on Sundays – causual or formal… These are non-essentials that we do not need to separate over.

Striving for unity is choosing peace over separation on non-essentials.

3. Unity needs proper order according to their gifts.
4. 28 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.

In other words, God has placed specific individuals in strategic places to serve His people. Now, this is not according to their intelligence or education level, nor by their wordly standings, nor by their wealth, but according to their calling and gifts. I’ve said this many times before. I’m not the pastor of As One because I’m the smartest or even the most spiritual. I probably am not even the most knowledgeable of the Bible. But because of the calling and my gift set. I would not mind at all if As One hired a new lead pastor and I work with the young adults… But God has not allowed that to happen yet, and I will faithfully carry out the work that He has given to me until He tells me to do something else.

Hebrews 13:17 “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

What brings joy to our hearts? When we see you contributing to the body rather than seeking just your own and striving to keep the unity in spite of the differences and making decisions that will honor God.

TRANS: Let’s recap. Three things that promote unity are 1) Diversity 2) striving for peace rather than separation, 3) Proper order according to gifts. Now, I want to state two things that do not promote unity from this text. What unity does not need….  

1. Unity does not need self-sufficiency.
2. 21. 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.” In today’s vernacular, this means NOT saying, “Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t need help. I’m good all by myself,” I am guilty of thinking and saying this when someone ask to help. And here was my reasoning and why it was wrong. It’s because I do not want to burden anyone else. I would rather sacrifice myself and serve you than have you sacrifice. But where I am wrong is that when people are serving and living for others that they feel most fulfilled and happy. So, when I  deny you of the opportunity to help and serve, I am denying you the opportunity to grow. I shouldn’t think I’m burdening you when I ask you to help. Rather I am involving you in the work of the ministry to contribute to the things of God that will be to your credit in the end. So I should not have deprived you of that opportunity. If I and a few others are doing all the work, not wanting to burden anyone else, I might just be selfish. I’m hoarding all God’s blessings. I should be sharing God’s blessings by having you come alongside to serve next to me.  

We stunt our children’s growth when we do everything for them. I’m guilty of that and I ask for forgiveness. And now I am asking you to engage in the ministry. Not so that my work will become lighter, but so that your faith and joy will grow.

 

2. Unity does not need favoring one group over others.
3. 25 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.

“Same care” here means “equal concern for the wellbeing of all the rest of the body.” This means we should not show favoritism toward a certain group that we happen to like. Now, please, this does not mean that if you like children and gifted in teaching, you should not work with children because you would be favoring them. But we should not be favoring a wealthy retirees because they could be beneficial to us financially, for example, or the youth members favoring certain guys or gals because they resemble a certain pop star, ignoring the rest.

ILL: when I was a youth pastor, it was easy to tell if a new girl was considered attractive or not. You just count the number of guys surrounding her after service, checking her out. How would that make the other girls who are not getting the same attention feel?

Teachers have their favorites – they naturally like the students who keep quiet and listen well, turn in their work on time, and study hard for quizzes and tests. That’s natural. But good teachers will keep their neuturality and encourage the less than ideal students to perform up to their abilities. Bad teachers will stick with his favorites and further alienate the non-favorites. In ministry, too, if we are not careful, it is easy to favor the ones who are actively and visibly helping with the ministry, and neglect the ones who have less visible talents and gifts.

That is exactly what this passage is teaching. Although we would rate some gifts and characteristics as more important and valuable than others, in God’s book, all are important and interdependent on each other. Let me ask you. Which is more important? My fingers or my forearm? Well, you can’t really say, can you? Because without my fingers, my forearm couldn’t do much good and without my forearm, my fingers would not exist! They have different functions in the body and they need each other.

So is every individual in the body. Whether they are visibly gifted or not, all are gifted in their unique and god-honoring ways and all are needed in the body. Therefore, let us not favor one group over other that have the characteristics we happen to value.

CONC: I am super-excited about what this new church year might bring. Many of you are motivated to serve. Some of you already shared with me your brilliant idea about how to bring the body closer-together. I so appreciate that because that shows your love for this local body of Christ. Continue giving us feed back and the leaders will be meeting and brainstormnig ways to truly bring our church to strive As One!