Members of One Another
Message 1 in “One Anothers” series
Chuck Sligh
September 1, 2013
TEXT: Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 12:5
INTRODUCTION
Illus. – After World War II, a group of German students volunteered to help rebuild an English cathedral that had been severely damaged by German bombs. As work progressed, they became concerned about a large statue of Jesus, whose arms were outstretched, beneath which was the inscription: “Come unto Me.” They had particular difficulty trying to restore the hands, which had been completely destroyed. After much discussion, they decided to LET THE HANDS REMAIN MISSING and changed the inscription to: “Christ has no hands but ours.” (John MacArthur Jr.)
The work of Jesus Christ in the world is in the hands of those who belong to Him.
I love the way Casting Crowns puts it in their song, We Are the Body, where the chorus says:
If we are the body
Why aren’t His arms reaching?
Why aren’t His hands healing?
Why aren’t His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren’t His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?
Yes, the work of Christ in the world is in our hands. But how can the church—a collection of people from varying walks of life and different backgrounds—do the job God has called us to do? Over and over again, the New Testament writers exhort believers to engage in specific activities and attitudes to help local churches function effectively and grow spiritually so that they would be healthy and be able to carry out the church’s biblically mandated tasks.
Frequently these writers, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, employed a unique word in the Greek language to describe this mutual process. It’s the Greek word allēlōn (Grk: αλλήλων) usually translated as “one another.” This single Greek word, which translates into two words in the English, is used 58 times in the New Testament. Paul utilized it most often, using it 40 of the 58 times it’s found in the New Testament.
Actually, these references make up 23 separate “one another” statements or commands. Over the next weeks, we’re going to look at some of these significant actions or attitudes Christians ought to have toward one another to help build up the local body of Christ in particular and the larger Body of Christ so it can be Christ’s hands in the world.
Let’s begin with the foundational “One Another”: FIRST, THE BIBLE SAYS WE ARE “MEMBERS OF ONE ANOTHER” This statement is found in our text Romans 12:5 where Paul says, “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.” In Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, and Colossians Paul used the word body 30 times to illustrate the functioning of the church.
Now go with me in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 12:14-27, where the concept of being members of a body is explained in detail: This won’t be an exhaustive look at this passage, but note the following:
I. FIRST NOTE THAT PAUL TEACHES THAT THE BODY IS MADE UP OF MANY DIFFERENT MEMBERS – 1 Corinthians 12:14 – “For the body is not one member, but many.”
There are many of us, and we’re all different.
• We’re tall and short; thin and not-so-thin; attractive and plain; some are ACADEMICALLY smart and others are more HANDS-ON smart.
• We also have all kinds of different personalities: Hard charging, laid back, outgoing, or quiet.
• We come from all sorts of backgrounds—lower-, middle-, and upper-class.
• Some of us can sing; some can play instruments; others can teach; some can organize socials; others can fix things at the church; and on and on we could go.
The point is this: God accepts all kinds of people into His kingdom and calls all kinds of people to a local church. Each of us has a UNIQUE CONTRIBUTION to make to our church and we all add our own UNIQUE FLAVORS. We should value EVERYONE God brings into our local church body.
II. THE SECOND THING PAUL TEACHES IN 1 CORINTHIANS 12 IS THAT EACH MEMBER OF THE BODY IS VITALLY IMPORTANT FOR THE PROPER FUNCTIONING OF THE WHOLE BODY – 1 Corinthians 12:15-21 – Let’s look at those verses one by one:
Verses 15-16 – “If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?” – You see, the foot and the ear are NOT AS VISIBLE as the hand or the eyes. But Paul reminds us that the foot and the hand are NO LESS IMPORTANT than a hand or an eye.
Verse 17 – “If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?” – Each part of the body may be different in role or function, but it is NO LESS IMPORTANT!
Verse 18 – “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.” – What an awesome thought!—God put you in this body as it pleased Him! Maybe you’ve never thought of it that way, but if you’re part of Grace Baptist Church, you’re a SPECIAL GIFT to us from God.
Verse 19-21 – And if they were all one member, where were the body? 20 But now are they many members, yet but one body. 21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.”
Nor can the preacher say to a nursery worker, “I have no need of you.”
Nor can a children’s teacher say to a worship leader, “I have no need of you.”
Nor can an usher say to someone who serves by preparing the potluck or other fellowships, “I have no need of you.”
No, because we’re all part of the body and all our gifts and contributions are necessary to accomplish the larger task. In other words, folks, WE ALL NEED ONE ANOTHER!
III. THE THIRD THING PAUL TEACHES IN 1 CORINTHIANS 12 IS THAT NO MEMBER OF THE BODY SHOULD FEEL HE OR SHE IS MORE OR LESS IMPORTANT THAN ANOTHER MEMBER OF THE BODY – 1 Corinthians 12:22-24 – “Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: 23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. 24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked.”
What’s Paul saying here? When we use the analogy of the body, the EXPRESSIVE PARTS of the body—the mouth, the eyes, the hands, the feet, and so on—the OUTWARDLY visible and expressive—usually are the first things that come to mind.
But the HIDDEN parts—our bones, ligaments, muscles, glands, internal organs, and so on, are just as vital for a healthy body as the expressive, visible ones. It’s so easy to just honor those who can preach, teach, sing or play an instrument—those with the EXPRESSIVE gifts. But the nursery workers, toilet cleaners, fellowship organizers, church cleaners, garden and yard maintainers—these are the behind-the-scenes workers; yet they are JUST as important and vital to the work of God.
Illus. – Now I want you to think about something: In a fraction of a second, the marrow in your bones produces over 100,000 RED BLOOD CELLS. – You never see the marrow of the bones, but you could not live without it and its vital function.
Illus. – If you’re an adult of average weight, among MANY other things, here is just a sampling of what some of your body parts accomplish in 24 hours:
Your heart beats 103,689 times.
Your blood travels 168,000,000 miles.
Your lungs breathe 23,040 times.
You move 750 muscles.
Your nails grow .000046 inch.
Your hair grows .01714 inch.
Your brain exercises 7,000,000 brain cells.
What am I saying? I’m saying that all these LITTLE parts of the body—all these LESS VISIBLE parts—are absolutely VITAL to the body! We’re ALL important, no matter what we do in the body.
Illus. – A few years ago, my wife hosted a regional ladies retreat involving a number of churches.
At the end of it, Susan did something she does in every facet of our ministry: she recognized the ones who made the retreat a success. She had asked one woman from another church to do the decorating as she had for the previous ten years. This woman did an exceptional job, and everything was gorgeous!
So at the end of the retreat, Susan recognized her publicly and thanked her for her hard work and gave her a gift in appreciation. After the service, she came up to Susan and said, “Thank you for showing me your appreciation.”
Susan said, “Well listen, everybody’s telling me how wonderful the retreat was, but I didn’t do the decorating. All I did was give you the basic idea, and you made it turn out wonderful. How could I take credit for all this when you and many others have been the ones who made it possible?”
Hearing this, this lady began to weep.
Susan asked, “Mary [not her real name to protect the innocent], what’s wrong?”
She said, “It’s just that I do this almost every year and no one has EVER expressed gratefulness for what I’ve done. I can’t speak like the retreat speakers and workshop speakers, but I’ve actually done more work than any of them year after year.”
And she had done that with no thanks for YEARS, while the “big shots”—the expressive speakers—were showered with thanks and love offerings.
“Mary, listen,” Susan said, “what you do is JUST as important as what they did and I want you to know that’s how I feel about it.”
Praise God for the HIDDEN parts of the body who are so vital to its functioning—the behind-the-scenes people; the quiet, unassuming workers; the ones willing to do the dirty work; the ones who work for God alone, who only appreciate a thank-you now and then.
IV. THE FINAL THING I WANT US TO SEE THAT PAUL TEACHES IN 1 CORINTHIANS 12 IS THIS: THE BODY SHOULD BE UNITED. – 1 Corinthians 12:25-27 – “That there should be no schism [division] in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. 26 And whether [if] one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.”
Illus. – Suppose your eye wanted to go one way, but your feet wanted to go another. (COMEDIC DEMONSTRATION) Or suppose one of your legs wanted to go in one direction and the other leg wanted to go in another. (COMEDIC DEMONSTRATION) We’d be a mess, wouldn’t we?—We wouldn’t be able to function.
In verse 26, Paul says that we’re to be united and working together. If one member suffers in a body, the whole body goes into action to aid the suffering member.
Illus. – For instance, if I hit my thumb with a hammer, the whole body sympathizes with it, and goes into action to aid it— The other hand holds it to aid it and alleviate the pain. the heart pumps faster and blood rushes to it to nourish it. The feet jump up and down in sympathy to it. The mouth yells, expressing the thumb’s pain.
And that’s EXACTLY what should happen in our church body. – When someone is in serious pain, we should all join in in sympathy and love to help and comfort the hurting member of the body.
Also, at the end of verse 26, Paul says that if one member of the body is honored, the whole body rejoices. So if a K.I.D.S. Church teacher, for instance, is honored, the ushers aren’t supposed to sulk and become jealous because they’re not also being honored. They should REJOICE with the teacher because she’s part of the same body they’re a part of.
CONCLUSION
Well, this morning we’ve examined briefly the first “One Another” statement in our series. Let’s close by pulling it all in and making some applications to our lives personally:
• A pretty obvious staring point is…You should GET INTO the body.
God wants you to be a part of a local body of believers called a CHURCH. We’ll not have the time to document it today because we’ve done it recently, but membership in a local church is biblical, and it’s something you need.
God doesn’t want you to be unattached from a body. In the natural world, something that gets unattached from a body DIES.
Illus. – For instance, suppose one of your fingers was cut off. – It must be reattached quickly, or it will die and not be able to be reattached. In the same way, if you’re not vitally attached to a local church body, you’re spiritual life will shrivel up and die. Fortunately, you can always come back and be reattached to a church body.
• My second application is this: As a member with other members, you should value the diversity within the body.
Love and appreciate and value those of different ETHNIC BACKGROUNDS; those with different PERSONALITY-TYPES; those in different RANK or SOCIO-ECONOMIC levels than you; those with different SPIRITUAL GIFTS than you; those with different PERSPECTIVES ON DEBATABLE ISSUES. In Christ we’re ALL part of one body and so it should be in a LOCAL body!
• Third, recognize YOUR importance in the body.
EVERYONE in the body has a place—including YOU. You NEED to be IN the body, FAITHFUL to the body, and FUNCTIONING in the body—being in your place, doing your part. You might say, “Well, my part’s not very important.” There’s NO part of the body that is not important! Try losing a finger, and you’ll see what I mean. Try living without a liver, or a kidney.
You see, no matter how seemingly small or insignificant or unseen you may think you are in the body, in reality, you are really VITAL.
For instance,
> Every week, different people come and clean this building from top to bottom. What would we do without them helping in that way? By the way, we can always use more helpers on the cleaning team, and if you could lend a hand in this important task, Rosy would be overjoyed.
> Every week, our worship team members practice at home the songs we’ll sing Sunday, and then show up at 8:30 Sunday morning for practice. – Thank God we have no prima donnas in our midst; just regular folks who love the Lord and are willing to sacrifice and want to use their talent for God.
> Each week, our homegroup and small group leaders and hosts prepare for their homegroup and small group meetings; and our kids teachers and helpers in GrowGroups and K.I.D.S. Church prepare for their classes. – Praise God for the many people who are not only willing to teach and help, but who spend countless hours preparing so that they can be, as Paul told Timothy, “a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
> Every week, we have a nursery volunteer team who watch our littlest ones so we can worship in peace here in the main service. Did you know that the nursery is one of the most important ministries in any church, especially a military church with so many young families? How could we function without those workers? By the way, we need as many volunteers as possible so that no one has to work in the nursery more than one service every month or two!
> Every month, folks cut the grass, maintain our garden plots, fill and empty the baptistery, do building and ground maintenance, and a number of other things around the church. – Thank God for every one of them!
Listen—YOU are important to the church body! Do your part! If you don’t have a place of service yet—FIND ONE! Do what you can do for God.
> If you’re a HAND in Grace Baptist Church, then put your HAND to the plow.
> If you’re a LEG, then GET A GOOD RUNNING START FOR GOD.
> If you’re the LIVER, then get busy SECRETING WHATEVER YOU SECRETE TO KEEP THE BODY PURE. (Okay, maybe that’s not the best metaphor I could have chosen!)
> If you’re a MOUTH, start TALKING UP JESUS!
> If you’re the HEART—then get busy BEATING FOR JESUS.
In other words: GET IN THE BODY!; FIND your place of service to keep the body healthy and strong; and get BUSY doing your part in the body.
