Interdependence Day
Text: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31
Introduction
Good morning! Today we continue with part two of our series of looking at the Church, the household of God – Oikos tou Theo. And we’re going to look at a famous and probably familiar portion of Scripture found in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31. And so please turn with me to this passage and let us hear the Word of the Lord…
I’m about to say three words that may be hard to hear or may perhaps offend some of you. I want to give you ample warning so that when you hear them you won’t be disturbed or set off emotionally...OK, you ready? Here they are:
I NEED HELP
There, I said it. I – Need – Help. Did that hurt? In a country such as ours and on a day especially like today – Independence Day – these three words go against everything that our society values and against many things that we were taught growing up. As a man, it almost sounds unmanly to utter these three words because we’re told that in order to be mature and responsible, you and I have to become independent of others.
Even little kids who are told to ask for help if they’re stuck, quickly want to learn how to do something for themselves. Some of our kids may ask for our help once or twice, but pretty soon after that they want to do things on their own – like tie their own shoes or button up their own shirts. They don’t want our help as much anymore – and although we may miss their need or dependence upon us, we also feel proud that they are learning to do things on their own.
And this independent, “I don’t need help” mentality carries over from childhood into our adult years as we learn to become independent individuals who are competent and responsible and who don’t need to rely or depend on anyone else. And if we ever (God forbid) have to ask for help from someone, we make sure to apologize profusely for bothering them.
BUT THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS THAT WE DO NEED HELP FROM TIME TO TIME AND THAT IT’S NOT WRONG TO ADMIT TO OURSELVES THAT WE NEED HELP NOR IS IT HUMILIATING TO ASK FOR HELP BECAUSE GOD NEVER INTENDED US TO BE ISOLATED, SELF-SUFFICIENT, INDEPENDENT BEINGS IN THE FIRST PLACE.
YOU AND I WERE CREATED FOR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND ONE ANOTHER. WE AS HUMAN BEINGS ARE BY GOD’S SOVEREIGN DESIGN RELATIONAL BEINGS.
• Studies show that newborn babies either thrive or shut down based on whether or not they have close human contact or not within the first few minutes and hours after birth.
And this morning we see that Paul understands this about us as people and corporately about us as the church. And he describes or likens to the church to a body – a human body – that is one unit comprised of many different parts. And we want to reflect on this simple analogy this morning and think about our relationship to one another as the church, the body of Christ.
Teaching
Verses 12-13
• The body is one unit made up of many parts
Paul has been speaking about the variety of spiritual gifts within the Church and how the Holy Spirit gave and distributed these gifts for the common good.
o Anytime spiritual gifts get mentioned in the church way back then and today, controversy is always around the corner. Nothing seems to be as volatile and divisive an issue as spiritual gifts – what they are, who has them, and why don’t I have more…
Apparently, the Corinthians were divided about this area and peoples’ feelings were getting hurt. Paul had to figure out a way to shepherd the Christians back to a place of unity instead of division…and so he used the analogy of the human body to explain the oneness of the Church while taking into account its diversity.
• Baptized by one Spirit into one Body to Drink of one Spirit
Paul links the analogy of the physical human body to the Spiritual Body established by Jesus Christ. It is into one spiritual body that all of us in Christ were baptized, and it is the one Spirit that all of us in Christ are given to drink.
o Paul brings up the walls of hostility that the peace of Christ established to make us one. And so whether we were Jewish or Greek (Gentile), slave or free – all of us are brought together and baptized by one Spirit of whom we also partake and drink. (This is a reminder of what we discussed last week...)
Verses 14-17
• HAND AND EYE ENVY
Paul uses the analogy of different body parts to raise up this issue of envy and jealousy within the body.
So there’s this foot, you see, and he doesn’t appreciate being a foot because he has his eye on the hand...oh, how he wishes he were a hand. Feet are smelly and only good for walking while hands get to do lots of things...
And the same problem is happening with the ear who wants to be an eye...
• The Sins of Jealousy, Comparison and Self-Hatred
And by using these analogies, Paul brings up a number of sins and issues arising in and among the Corinthian church...there’s the sin of jealousy and envy...the sin of comparison and self-hatred. There’s a rejection or a refusal for people to accept their bodies, their lives and their part in the rest of the community...and as a result it’s tearing the church apart.
Refuse to live in self-hatred! Refuse to compare yourself with others! We are not enemies. We’re part of the same team. God has uniquely crafted who you are and how you are wired for his specific purpose and plan. Just because God gave someone else an extraordinary ability to speak or write or lead doesn’t mean that God has forgotten you.
God has nor forgotten you! God sees you. God knows what he’s up to and he did not make a mistake with you. Each of Us Has a Part to Play. We need to discover what our role or gift or part to play is instead of being distracted with what others are doing and displaying.
Verse 17 states it plainly – if the whole body were a hand, how would we get around? If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?
Verses 18-19
• God is Sovereign and Responsible for Every Part of the Body
God knows what he’s up to. He’s God, after all. He’s the boss, he gets to choose and he has composed our church the way it is for a reason. God deliberately didn’t make everyone the same. We are not meant to be clones of one another! God is a God of variety and diversity – not just for the sake of variety, but because our differences serve a purpose of functioning as a healthy community, a body.
Verses 20-26
• Emphasis on Unity
Whereas verses 14-19 had to do with the diversity of the Body of Christ, verse 20 flips it a bit and emphasizes the oneness amidst the diversity. And to explain this he again uses a hypothetical and even comical analogy of the body at odds with itself.
• THE ARROGANCE OF THE EYE AND THE HEAD
And so the eye is feeling pretty good about himself and he says, “I like being an eye. I get to see all kinds of stuff. I’m pretty cool. I’m important. I’m special!” And then he starts to think, “Hey, I’m so important that I have no need for the hand.” The same scenario is played out between the head and the feet.
• As ridiculous as this seems, you and I know that pride and arrogance has an easy time rearing its ugly head within the church...
o When a person comes to Christ and is recognized as being talented or gifted or beautiful, he or she gets attention from others and may get selected into a position of leadership or responsibility. And because of all the affirmation, he or she begin to think of themselves as special or privileged...and pride and arrogance arise.
o Or perhaps there’s a group of friends who all went to the same college or got married around the same time and they started to hang out exclusively with each other and to exclude others in the body out because they aren’t from our college or in our stage of life or aren’t married yet or...
I COULD GO ON AND ON, BUT YOU PROBABLY GET THE PICTURE BY NOW...PRIDE CAN EASILY ENTER INTO A COMMUNITY AND CAUSE DIVISION AS ONE PERSON OR ONE GROUP FEELS THEY ARE BETTER OR MORE SPECIAL THAN EVERYONE ELSE.
• BUT WHAT IF AN EYE DISCOVERED THAT THERE WAS A BETTER AND MORE GIFTED EYE IN THE BODY? The reverse or flip side of pride is that whereas once a person felt proud and special about who he or she was, pretty soon someone prettier, younger or more gifted comes around and pushes us off our pedestal.
And when that happens, you know what? We start to feel sorry for ourselves and start to feel jealous and envious of the newer eye and we also begin to hate ourselves all over again.
PRIDE AND JEALOUSY, IN THIS REGARD, ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN. ON ONE SIDE WE STRIVE TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT OURSELVES THINKING WE’RE ALL THAT, AND THEN SOMEONE ELSE MORE GIFTED AND TALENTED COMES AROUND AND WE START TO FEEL INSECURE AND HATING OURSELVES AND WISHING WE WERE LIKE THAT OTHER PERSON OR CHOOSING – AS SOME CHRISTIANS DO – TO LEAVE THE CHURCH IN ORDER TO BECOME THE ‘IT’ BOY OR GIRL IN THE NEXT CHURCH!
• I think Paul understands the insidious nature of jealousy, pride, comparison and self-hatred because he’s seen it in the church and he probably struggled with it himself growing up.
o Remember his resume in the book of Philippians? (3:5ff – circumcised on the 8th day, from the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee, a persecutor of the church – all displaying his gifts and zeal to be the best) Paul knew what the sin of pride, arrogance and comparison was like from personal experience.
o But by the grace of God, Paul came to discover the uselessness of pride and arrogance and comparison... he rejected all of it for the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus his Lord.
YOU AND I NEED TO KICK OUT OF OUR MIDST ANY SENSE OF PRIDE, ARROGANCE, JEALOUSY AND COMPARISON. WE KNOW THE TOXIN IT CAN BE FOR US PERSONALLY...AND IT CAN BE LIKE AN AGGRESSIVE CANCER IN THE COMMUNITY AND BRING A ONCE-LOVING AND CLOSE CHURCH INTO DIVISION AND ENMITY.
o EXAMPLE OF LUPUS
Brothers and sisters of Oikos Community Church – the person sitting to your left or your right is not your enemy. He or she is no more valuable than you and no less valuable than you. EACH OF US HAS A PART TO PLAY IN THIS THING CALLED THE CHURCH!
Look at verses 27 and following...
Verses 27-31
• You are the Body of Christ and Each One of You is a Part of it
THIS IS ULTIMATELY WHERE PAUL HAS BEEN HEADED DURING THIS DISCUSSION OF THE BODY. HE POINTS TO EACH OF US AS BEING A PART OF THIS BODY AND HOW EACH OF US HAS A PART TO PLAY IN IT.
o Some may be called to be eyes and hands – like the elders or leaders in the church. That’s fine with me. Even though I’m not one of them. God has a plan for my life in particular and my part has an important role to play in the church.
Implications
The Body of Christ Needs You
• Instead of comparing yourself to others or opting out of involvement because you aren’t in a specific role, realize that God has uniquely formed and crafted you to play a specific role in the body
• GET IN THE GAME!!! QUIT FEELING SORRY FOR YOURSELF! INSTEAD, PICK UP A BAT AND START SWINGING! YOU ARE NOT AN UNECESSARY APPENDAGE TAKING UP SPACE, BUT INSTEAD YOU ARE A PART IN THE BODY AND YOUR PARTICIPATION IS NEEDED AND IMPORTANT!
o Sign up, become available, let your interests and desires be known! I’m praying for a team of 3-4 people to head up a youth group. One person has approached me so far…just one. I need 2-3 more. The Body needs those of you gifted and set apart with a heart for the youth in our church to make yourself available.
o If you’re an experienced small group leader, the church is looking for men and women to lead them
o The church is healthy only when each part of the body functions and operates
Once upon a time Oikos had a staff of four to six people – some full-time, others part-time. We had specialists and pastors appointed to one ministry or another. This is the way it was done over at Evergreen as well…
But now we’re in a season where not only would this be challenging to do budget-wise, it may not reflect the teaching we see here in 1 Corinthians…instead of hiring a youth pastor, perhaps we are called for a season to encourage a few faithful hands and feet and spleens in the Body to start functioning in their normal, healthy way in order for the young and precious kids in our church to have a context to learn about Jesus and grow in their faith.
YOU ARE IMPORTANT AND VITAL AND NEEDED IN THE BODY OF CHRIST TO SIMPLY FUNCTION AS A PART OF THE BODY – WHICH YOU ARE A PART OF. YOU’RE NOT DOING GOD, THE CHURCH OR PASTOR JAN A FAVOR BY GETTING INTO THE GAME, YOU ARE MERELY FUNCTIONING AS YOU NORMALLY SHOULD.
You Need the Body of Christ
But not only does the Body need you, YOU ALSO NEED THE BODY.
We must repent and reject pride and arrogance and a spirit of independence thinking that we can do it on our own – that’s a lie and it’s not what the Bible teaches
• YOU NEED HELP!
• You need the eyes of the church to take a look at your soul…
• You need others to speak the truth in love and bring you forward in Christ.
• You need to be in a place that worships the Lord God Almighty without apology because the rest of the world worships idols
• You need to hear the Word of God taught, preached and delivered into your soul to remind you of God and the truth and to dispel the lies that eat away at us throughout the days.
• You need the body to make your healing complete.
DO YOU THINK SPIRITUALLY MATURE PEOPLE JUST BECOME SPIRITUALLY MATURE IN ISOLATION? (SORT OF LIKE A BOTTLE OF WINE GETS BETTER BY JUST SITTING AROUND DOING NOTHING?)
Never! The way God teaches you patience and liberates you from your self-centered ways is to put you in a spiritual family with some people who will drive you bonkers. The Lord mandates that you love them and learn to demonstrate patience and forbearance towards them. And as you trust in God and the power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord will chisel out of your life this thing called patience and forgiveness and love…and as he develops these things within you, you are closer to his healing and spiritual maturity in your life.
AS YOUR PASTOR, YOU NEED ME TO LEAD YOU AND I NEED YOU TO FOLLOW. YOU NEED ME TO BE YOUR PASTOR AND I NEED YOU TO BE THE CONGREGATION.
This sounds so strange saying this! But it’s true. I need you to be patient with me as I learn to lead you and gain vision and direction for the church. I need you to also trust that God is in control of our church and that he has appointed me in this season to be your lead shepherd.
Likewise, you need me to lead you, to be your shepherd, to teach you God’s Word, and to lead you into the will of God for our congregation. You need spiritual covering not only from the chief shepherd, Jesus Christ, but also from those he’s appointed.
Our church will go by the wayside if we don’t get our relationship straight. And so pray for me as I seek the Lord and learn to lead. I’m praying for you that God would cover you, heal you, and raise you up to be a people of faith and zeal for God’s glory.
BECOMING AN INTERDEPENDENT COMMUNITY
Stephen Covey, author of books like The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People writes about the concept of INTERDEPENDENCE and he describes it as something that makes teams and organizations great. The presence of it creates an atmosphere of mutuality, respect and “espirit de corps” or a team spirit.
• Each of us are born dependent upon our parents for life and nurturing and support. We depend upon our teachers and mentors to train us up.
• As we mature, we emerge out of our dependence upon others to a sense of independence. We learn to make our own decisions and are able to take care of ourselves.
• But independence is not the sign of maturity and as we’ve seen here in 1 Corinthians – it leads to division and disunity in the church. The real goal is INTERDEPENDENCE and it signals a departure from being lone ranger Christians to becoming a body and knitted and weaved together by the Holy Spirit.
o Interdependence requires independent people because dependent people haven’t developed the character or maturity that interdependence requires.
You and I must come together as relatively mature and competent, independent people – but not leave it there – we must come together under the guidance of the Holy Spirit – for God to create within us a healthy, thriving and functioning people of God where roles are understood and respected, where pettiness, envy and jealousy are put away, and where each of our eyes are on the prize – glorifying and honoring our God together.
Conclusion
Admitting Our Need For Others Is Tough, Huh?
It almost seems un-American to admit our need for each other. It breaks us of our veil of pride. It’s a little hard to swallow…but we must admit to ourselves, to God and to each other…In fact, let’s turn to our neighbors around us and say this to each other:
I NEED YOU AND YOU NEED ME. YOU ARE AN IMPORTANT PART OF THIS CHURCH. LET’S WORK TOGETHER.
Let’s start admitting this to one another, to God and to ourselves. Let’s not let pride and independence influence us spiritually. INSTEAD, LET US HUMBLE OURSELVES BEFORE GOD AND ONE ANOTHER AND DECLARE OUR NEED FOR ONE ANOTHER. WE ARE NOT DEPENDENT ON EACH OTHER...WE ARE NOT INDEPENDENT OF EACH OTHER. INSTEAD, LET US DECLARE OUR INTERDEPENDENCE AS THE UNIFIED BODY OF CHRIST.
LET’S PRAY.
