Once again, the Apostle Paul discusses the unity of the local church. Here he uses the picture of a body to speak about how we are to function in unity. From Paul’s discussion of how God sees His church as being like a body, we learn four things about how the body (the local church) is to function. Let’s consider these four laws that relate to how God has designed us to function as a body - the body of Christ.
1. We must each accept our responsibility – vs. 15-16
Each of us has a responsibility within the life of the local church. Therefore the degree to which our church becomes all that it ought to be is determined by the degree to which each of us is willing to find and fulfill the responsibilities that God has uniquely gifted us to carry out as part of this local body of believers.
Often, when we think of who is responsible for the state of the church ,we look to the pastor. After all, wasn’t he supposedly called by God to serve our local church? But it is important to understand that the pastor isn’t the only one who should be called to be serve a local church. EVERY MEMBER should be a member because he or she has felt the call of God to serve as part of that local church. That means that we are each responsible to some degree for our church’s condition.
‘Sez I to myself, as I grumbled and growled, “I’m sick of my church,” and then how I scowled. “The members unfriendly, the sermons too long; in fact, it seems that everything’s wrong. I don’t like the singing; the church - a disgrace, for signs of neglect are all over the place. I’ll quit going there, and won’t give a dime; I can make better use of my money and time.”
Then my conscience sez to me, sez he, “The trouble with you is, you’re too blind to see that your church reflects you, whatever it be. Now come, pray, and serve cheerfully. Stop all your
faultfinding and boost it up strong, you’ll find you’ll be happy and proud to belong. Be friendly, be willing, and sing as you work, for churches are not built by members who shirk.”
2. We must each accept our limitations – vs. 17-18
While we must each accept our responsibility, we must each also
accept our limitations.
God did not intend for one person to do everything - even if that person is the pastor! His intention is that as each of us does his part, our church will better reflect Christ.
Sad to say, though, in most churches, 10% of the people do 90% of the work. In this respect, too many churches can be described in the same way that Bud Wilkerson, legendary former coach at the University of Oklahoma described a professional football game: “A happening when 50,000 people desperately needing exercise sit in the stands watching 22 people desperately needing rest.”
While this state in a church can be due to each member not being willing to accept their responsibility, it can also be true because certain ones within the church are not willing to accept their limitations.
One of the barriers to growth in a church is often that of opening up leadership circles. Indeed, often, one of the ways God uses to give a church new direction is through the new people He sends its way. As new folks come into the church fellowship who have different ideas, gifts, skills, experiences, etc. God may be wanting to use them to lead the church in a new direction or to a new ministry. Therefore, to limit the contribution that can be made by new members can sometimes, mean we are limiting the work God wants to do among us!
As members of the body of Christ, we can be compared to pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. Each piece has protrusions and indentations. The protru sions represent our strengths (gifts, talents, abilities), and the indenta tions represent our weaknesses (faults, limitations, shortcomings, un developed areas). The beautiful thing is that the pieces complement one another and produce a beautiful whole.
Just as each piece of a puzzle is important, so each member of the body of Christ is important and can minister to the other members of the body. Just as, when one piece is missing from the puzzle, its absence is very obvious and damages the picture, so also is the whole weakened when we are absent from the body of Christ.
Just as, when each piece of a puzzle is in place, any one piece is not conspicuous but blends in to form the whole picture, so it should be in the body of Christ.
3. We must honor one another – vs. 19-24a
Here Paul tells us that we should honor one another because each of us is needed, whether we realize it our not.
The key here is for us to be willing to respect one another’s
contribution to the body and realize there is something of value that we can each receive from the other.
“Apart from the body, you cannot fully know God’s will for your
relationship to the body. Without the eye, the hand does not know where to touch. Without the ear the rest of the body may not know when or how to respond. Every member needs to be listening to what the other members are saying. If the members are not talking about what they sense God is doing, the whole body is in trouble.”
- Henry Blackaby
This is especially true today when it comes to the different generations of believers listening to each other. We must all respect and honor one another, believing that older can learn from younger and visa versa. Younger members must respect the experience of the older members and older members must respect the perspective of the younger members; and every member must have as our priority concern what God’s will is for our church and how we can best honor Him!
4. We must be aware of one another – vs. 24b-26
Note what Paul tells us here, “God has combined the members of the body . . . so that there should be no division in the body.” He then speaks of the fact that because of who and how God has placed
members within a local congregation, there are just the right people there to care for one another. In other words, part of the reason why God has placed me within a local body of believers is not just for myself and the meeting of my needs, but for others and how He wants to work through me to meet their needs.
Every local church has the potential to either be a condemning,
judgmental fellowship or a caring, Christ-like fellowship. It just
depends on where the focus of the members is. Is it on “me” and “my needs” or on others and their needs. Sadly, when everyone’s focus is on “me and my needs,” there is no one left to care about me but
myself. However, if everyone’s focus is on others and their needs, then we each have the entire fellowship caring for us.
(Show video - "Judgmental Church")
Why were all these people hurting? Why were they all judgmental of one another? Where was their focus? On themselves and their needs. What might turn that church around and transform each and every member’s life? A changed focus!
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” - Luke 6:37-38
(NIV)
“If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care - then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.” - Philippians 2:1-4 (The Message)
Conclusion: God designed His church to function in a mutually
interdependent way, which means our focus cannot be on
ourselves, but it must be on one another. Certainly my flesh and blood body would not operate properly if my cells each chose to go their own way.
Do you know what we call a rebellion of the cells of your stomach? We call it indigestion! A revolt of your brain cells is called insanity. Any time the cells in our body don’t operate properly, it means that the body is sick, that something is wrong with it.
Many of the problems in the church today are a result of our
forgetting that the church is a body with a head, Jesus Christ.
Instead we sometimes try to operate the church as an organization. As a result, the church has no more power than any other human organization at work in the world.
Instead, let’s listen to the head, to Jesus, and take note of these four laws of function described here by our Lord’s servant, the Apostle Paul. Let’s commit ourselves to functioning as the body of Christ by: 1) Each of us accepting our responsibility; 2) Each of us accepting our limitations; 3) Each of us honoring the other members; and 4) Each of us putting the needs of the other members above our own.
