If you have a choice, which part of your body can you live without? I think you would answer with the famous line of the vitamin commercial, “I want to be complete.” Well, according to 1 Corinthians 12:27, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” [1] I believe God wants us to enjoy our completeness as the Body of Christ. By the Spirit’s sovereign choice, every believer is uniquely gifted to serve his or her place in the Body of Christ. Let us open our Bibles in 1 Corinthians 12 as we continue our series on spiritual gifts, “Empowered to Engage.” Let us pray first…
We already saw that we are to acknowledge the significance of our gifts. Verse 1 tells us, “Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.” God does not want us to be ignorant about our spiritual gifts. Second, we need to accept the sovereign choice of the Spirit in giving us gifts. Verse 11 tells us, “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.” When we accepted our Lord Jesus as Savior, the Spirit joined us into one body. He chose which part of the body we would become. He did this by giving us spiritual gifts, that is, supernatural abilities or skills that empowers us to serve effectively in our part of the Body. Verses 12 and 13 go like this, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” This brings us to our third point. We are to appreciate our SPECIAL PLACE in the Body of Christ. We show our appreciation by discovering and developing our spiritual gifts.
How do we do that? First, each one of us must see ourselves as a significant part of a bigger body. The Message version has paraphrased a potion of verse 13 this way: “We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything.” We are not on our own. We are a body. Romans 12:4-5 tell us, “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Note that last clause, “each member belongs to all the others.” We belong to each other. One of the songs I like is “Can’t Smile without You” by Barry Manilow. You know the song. “You know I can’t smile without you / I can’t smile without you / I can’t laugh and I can’t sing / I’m finding it hard to do anything / You see I feel sad when you’re sad / I feel glad when you’re glad / If you only knew what I’m going through / I just can’t smile without you.” Yes, brothers and sisters, the Spirit has intertwined our lives together.
Let’s go on 1 Corinthians 12:14-20. “Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.” We have to appreciate the unique role we play in the church. No one can play that role better than you. Each one of us is important in the Body.
If you are gifted with leadership, you can lead even better than those who have MBAs. Of course, as I’ve said, we can serve not only in areas where we are gifted but also where we are needed. However, I pray that each one would serve where we are gifted. We are more effective in the area where we are gifted. Yes, there are times we are forced to serve where we are not gifted but where we are needed. But we can’t do it better than those gifted to serve in that function.
When we break for example our right leg, we compensate by putting all the weight on the left leg. By doing so, we end up hurting also the left leg. We cannot really walk because we were designed to walk with two legs. In the same way, two things happen as a result when we fail to serve where we are gifted and just focus on areas where we are needed. We can’t do it well because we are not gifted to do it in the first place and we can’t serve in the area where we are really gifted.
Read verse 18 again. “But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.” When we fail to function according to our role in the Body, we are actually telling God that we disagree with His decision to assign us our part. But, God knows best where are supposed to be. When we function according to the role God has assigned us, we bring Him honor. We are saying that He made the right choice. Come to think of it, He really made the right choice. It’s all up to us to agree with Him.
How do we appreciate our special place in the Body? First, each one of us must see ourselves as a significant part of a bigger body. Second, each one must seek to build up one another. It is because we need each other. That’s why verse 21 tells us that “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’” We are dependent on one another. If one part of our body does not function well or shuts down, we could end up sick or, worse, dead.
Not only that we are to appreciate ourselves, we are also to appreciate others. Let us read verses 22 to 24 from the New Living Translation. “In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other.” Note the last purpose clause, “so that all the members care for each other.” We are to care for each other. We pay special attention to the part of our body that appears to be weak. We protect for example our backs from cold by covering it with warm clothing.
I may be the one up front and onstage here. But, I am part of a team. Our ushers made sure that we are seated comfortably and even prepared the snacks for our fellowship afterwards. Our praise team made sure that they led us to worship God. Our sound technicians make sure we can hear all that is sung and spoken here. Our computer people up there make sure that the PowerPoint is running smoothly and that it is projected properly so we can concentrate on the word of God. Our visitor’s team makes sure our guests would feel welcome. Our maintenance group makes sure we have a clean place of worship. Our Sunday school teachers prepared well so they can teach all of us the word of God. According to our survey, most of our guests are invited by friends and relatives. Those of you who did just that are part of the team also.
Everyone can come on board. There’s plenty of space in our team. We need people who would help us follow up our visitors. If you invited somebody, please help us by inviting them again. You can open your home to host a small group meeting. You can also lead a small group. If you know anyone who is sick, feel free to call or visit that person. Even if you are not trained to counsel, you can always lend a listening ear. If you know someone who is in need and it is in your power to help, please do so. Let us work together as a team. Look at verse 26. “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” My wife Ellen once said, “A burden shared is a burden halved. A joy shared is a joy doubled.” Let us share our tears and our joys together.
Allow me to rewind to the question I asked at the start. If you have a choice, which part of your body can you live without? Brothers and sisters, we can’t really enjoy life without each other. So, let us acknowledge the significance of our gifts, accept the sovereign choice of the Spirit in giving us gifts and appreciate our special place in the Body of Christ. Let us pray…
[1] All Bible verses are from The Holy Bible: New International Version, electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, c1984), unless otherwise noted.
