Title: What’s A Body To Do?
Series: Discovering God’s Special Gifts
Text: 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; 31
Theme: Understanding spiritual gifts unifies a body and enables it for service.
Introduction: The Heretic
I was walking in San Francisco along the Golden Gate Bridge when I saw a man about to jump off. I tried to dissuade him from committing suicide and told him simply that God loved him. A tear came to his eye. I then asked him, “Are you a Christian, a Jew, a Hindu, or what?”
He said, “I’m a Christian.”
I said, “Me, too, small world . . .Protestant or Catholic?”
He said, “Protestant.”
I said, “Me, too, what denomination?”
He said, “Baptist.”
I said, “Me, too, Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?”
He said, “Northern Baptist.”
I said, “Well, ME TOO, Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?”
He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist.”
I said, “Well, that’s amazing! Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist or Northern Conservative Reformed Baptist?”
He said, “Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist.”
I said, “Remarkable! Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region or Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Eastern Region?”
He said, “Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region.”
I said, “A miracle! Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?”
He said, “Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912.”
I said, “DIE HERETIC!’ and pushed him over the rail. (Source unknown)
I. A BODY FUNCTIONS AS A UNIFIED ORGANISM. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13)
A. A Body Has Many Members That Function As One (12)
Illustration: What Do You Mean ‘We’?
Tonto and the Lone Ranger were riding through a canyon together when all of a sudden both sides were filled with Indian warriors on horses, dressed for battle.
The Lone Ranger turned to Tonto and asked, "What are we going to do?"
Tonto replied, "What you mean ’we,’ white man?" (Edward Dobson, In Search of Unity, p. 20-27, http://christianglobe.com/illustrations)
1. Race is insignificant.
2. Social status doesn’t matter.
3. Political affiliation is unimportant.
4. Educational background irrelevant.
5. Rich or poor.
6. Fat or thin.
7. Beautiful or ugly.
B. I Am A Member Of Christ’s Body (13)
1. We become part of the body as we are baptized by Christ with the Holy Spirit.
Note: Paul is not speaking of water baptism here.
2. Being part of a body emphasizes the unity of all believers. (Ephesians 4:4-6)
3. Being made to drink into one Spirit or being baptized by the Holy Spirit (refers to the same thing) is not an experience to seek, but a reality to acknowledge.
a. At salvation, all believers become full members of Christ’s body.
b. At salvation, the Holy Spirit is placed within each believer. (Romans 8:8-9; Colossians 2:10)
c. There is no need for a second blessing.
II. A BODY ACKNOWLEDGES ITS MANY MEMBERS (1 Corinthians 12:14-17)
A. No Member Of The Body Is In Control (14)
1. There is no such thing as a dictator in the body of Christ.
2. There are pastors, deacons, leaders, prophets, etc., but there are no dictators.
3. Jesus Christ is the head of the church.
B. Every Member Has An Assigned Function (1 Corinthians 12:15-17)
Note: Some members of the Corinthian church were jealous of the spiritual gifts of others. They somehow didn’t feel as if they had anything to contribute. Their perception (which became their own reality) was that since they didn’t possess a more prominent gift that they really weren’t a significant part of the body. In this thinking they were totally wrong.
1. We must both recognize and accept God’s gift to us and use it appropriately.
2. In seeking gifts that we may feel are showier, we are acting in the flesh and may misuse the gift God has given us.
a. The tongue can be used to spread the gospel or spread gossip.
b. The eye can be used to read the Word or view pornography.
c. The ear can be used to listen to the gentle sounds of a rainy afternoon or listen to the latest dirty joke.
d. The feet can be used to take us to church or to take us to the local bar.
3. Even worse, we may try to counterfeit gifts that we do not have.
III. NO MEMBER OF THE BODY CAN FUNCTION ALONE. (1 Corinthians 12:18-21)
Note: Some members of the Corinthian church who had the more showy gifts were looking down on those who did not. They gave the impression that the showier gifts were more important, and that they could carry on without the lesser gifts. Again, this was wrong thinking on their part.
A. Every Gift Is Assigned By God For A Purpose (18)
1. If you don’t do your part, who will?
2. If you don’t do your part, you handicap the body.
3. There should be no such thing as an inactive member.
B. Every Task Is Important To God (19-21)
1. All the gifts are important and useful, else God would not have given them.
2. Possessing the gifts that we perceive as being more showy and powerful should not make us look down on those who have gifts that seem less significant.
3. The body cannot function properly without all of its parts.
C. The Parts That Seem Weakest And Least Important Are The Most Necessary (22-24)
1. The parts of the body that are not publicly “presentable” (speaking of the internal organs) are actually of greater necessity.
Illustration: Who’s Most Important?
In March of 1981, President Reagan was shot by John Hinckley, Jr., and was hospitalized for several weeks. Although Reagan was the nation’s chief executive, his hospitalization had little impact on the nation’s activity. Government continued on. On the other hand, suppose the garbage collectors in this country went on strike, as they did at one time in Philadelphia. That city was not only in a literal mess, the pile of decaying trash quickly became a health hazard. A three-week nationwide strike would paralyze the country. Who is more important--the President or a garbage collector? In the body of Christ, seemingly insignificant ones are urgently needed. On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.” (David Parsons, http://www.christianglobe.com/illustrations.)
2. Remove a hand, arm, or leg, and the body remains alive and continues to function, though handicapped.
3. Remove a heart, the lungs, or the brain and the body dies.
Conclusion
1 Corinthians 12:25-31
Illustration: We Don’t Always Have To Agree To Have Unity
There are those who feel that if we can’t agree totally, then we can’t have fellowship. That is false. That kind of thinking is why some people who were once on the rolls of this church are no longer here. We don’t need to be in total agreement in order to have unity of the faith.
Proverbs 6:16-19
We can have unity in spite of our differences, first of all because we are secure in our beliefs. But most importantly we can do this because we dwell together in a spirit of unity, not of conflict. Disagreements are not only allowable, they are healthy when exercised in a spirit of love.
