In scripture God often uses natural things to help us understand spiritual things. In 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 to help us better understand how God wants the church to operate, He likens the body of Christ; the church to the human body. Understanding the makeup or the composition of the human body, can help us understand some spiritual principles of teamwork.
Having a body that functions effectively is an indication that you are healthy, you have a healthy body. Having a team that functions the way God has designed the body of Christ is an indication of a healthy team, a team that will be effective. Having a team that functions in a way different from how God has designed the body of Christ is clearly an indication that the team is an unhealthy team, the team won’t be effective.
Today we want to look at 3 fundamental facts about the human body that can help us better work together as a team.
1. Every part of the human body is important, every member of the team is important
Look at yourself from head to toe, what is the smallest part of your body? Some may say my little finger or my little toe, some my eyelashes or the pupil of my eye. Now let me ask. Do you want to lose that part of your body? I know your answer would certainly be NO! Though it’s a small part of your body, it is still very important to you. Its size does not in any way reduce its importance. It’s a small part of your body quite alright but it isn’t just occupying space. As small as it is it is carrying out an important function. Your small eye lashes for instance help to protect your eyes from sand or insects entering into your eye. Apart from that your eyelashes add to your beauty. You would look odd without your eyelashes.
1 Corinthians 12:12 tells us that just as the many parts of the human body both the small parts and the big parts make up the whole body, so it is with the church, with a team. We are all part of the church, part of the team that God has carefully selected for the work here. If any part of your body is missing whether a small part or a big part, your body isn’t complete. If any one of us is missing whether old or young, whether mature believer, stable growing believer or baby in the Lord, the team isn’t complete. Just as every part of the human body is very important irrespective of the size of that part of the body, so also every member of the team is important irrespective of what the person contributes, the person’s level of commitment, spiritual level or social status.
But often times when you belong to a team, you find that there are some members of the team who aren’t considered as really important to the team. Let me give an example, you are the head of a unit or department like choir, ushering, fundraising or a minister in church. You are running late for church and you call to find out who is around and they tell you Bro. A is around. Your response which you may voice out or not voice out, depending on the unit you belong to, goes like this – is that the usher that will direct people, someone that can’t stand for more than 5 minutes, or is that the chorister that will lead praise someone that knows only two old songs that people don’t even sing these days, or is that who will help us raise funds someone that stammers when he talks, or is that the minister that will take the service, someone that knows only John 3:16.
Let’s be sincere with ourselves, we are all guilty of this. We consider certain people on our team not that important. It could be because of the person’s spiritual level maybe the person doesn’t know much of the Word, it could be because of the person’s age we consider the person too old or too young for certain responsibilities, it could be because the person lacks certain technical skills for example the person isn’t good with figures, or with managing time or in introducing songs. Or the person even has a physical handicap like a broken leg.
Why does God in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 lay emphasis on the fact that we should treat everyone as important just as every part of the human body is important? Firstly, when people are valued in spite of their weaknesses and shortcomings, you create an atmosphere for people to grow and improve. You bring out the best in them. Secondly, if you look and think deeply, you will discover that everyone on the team actually contributes something significant. For example, the choir member who may not be good in introducing songs or who for now knows only two old songs maybe the only one in the choir that remembers to call people on their birthday. The minister who knows only John 3:16 maybe the only minister who never misses anyone’s function whether birthday, house dedication, naming ceremony or baby dedication. Even if the event is outside town that minister would be there. So tell me, aren’t these people important, aren’t they contributing something important to the team? Everyone is important, everyone on the team is useful and needed for one thing or the other (1 Corinthians 12:21-22).
Looking at Matthew 10:42, we can see that we serve a God that appreciates and values little things people do. Even if the only thing a member of the team can do is to give a cup of water, a cup not a bottle, not a carton of water, God recognises, appreciates and rewards that “small” contribution.
Paul had a successful ministry because he valued and appreciated everyone who worked with him; everyone on his team. In Romans 16:1-14, he mentions specific things some people did and then there are those that he doesn’t mention anything at all that they did. Yet they are mentioned. Maybe they weren’t doing much compared to the others but he still mentioned them, he still said something good about them or to them, he treated them as important as those who had done outstanding things. Compare Romans 16: 1-3, 6-7 with Romans 16:8, 11.
The dangerous side to not treating everyone on the team as important, not valuing people is that we serve a God whose name is the Glory and Lifter up of our head (Psalm 3:3). Meaning that if God intervenes in someone’s life and situation, the person you are looking down on today could become your landlord or boss tomorrow. Imagine if you had someone like Mephibosheth on you team, someone who is crippled on both feet. Because of that physical defect, you may not consider him an important member of the team; one you can rely on to go out and win souls when there’s evangelism or hospital visitation. But what did God do for Mephibosheth? In one day, he became the owner of different choice lands; he became a man rich in property (2 Samuel 9:1-9). So the person you are looking down on today as not really important for evangelism or outreaches can tomorrow be the one you are asking to help finance and sponsor the major evangelism outreaches and projects of the church.
With this understanding God has given us of why it is important to treat everyone as important, to value every member of the team, I want you to go round and tell 7 people: YOU ARE AN IMPORTANT MEMBER OF THIS TEAM, WE NEED YOU.
2. The parts of your body need to be in the place God has designed them to be for you to be healthy. Stay in the place God has designed you to be for the team to be healthy
There is a reason why God didn’t put our brain on our feet. The brain is very delicate and sensitive. It can’t be in a place that it would be subject to pressure like people stepping on it. People have stepped on your feet so many times and your feet are still in good shape. If someone should step on your brain, it will be a different story that’s why God put it in your head so no one gets to step on it. To move the brain to the feet is altering God’s plan for the human body. The moment you move from where God has designed you to be, you alter God’s plan for the church, you make the team an unhealthy, inefficient team.
When you join the body of Christ, there is something the body helps you to do. It helps you to discover your place of ministry. How do you know your eyes are functioning well? Because you can see properly. How do you know your nose is functioning properly? Because you can smell well. There are people who their part of the body of Christ, their role in the church or team is to help the team smell well, see well or walk well (1 Corinthians 12:17-20). The body, the team knows you are the shepherd in that team not necessarily because you came to announce to them that I’m your pastor or you wear an ID card with pastor on it, but because of the way you nurture them, care for them, are ever ready to protect them from anything that will bring shame and disgrace to them. The body, the team knows you are a teacher not because you said so or you told them a revelation of how you saw yourself teaching hundreds of people in a lecture hall but because when you minister, you easily explain God’s word to them. So if the body for instance is telling you that when you minister in songs, they feel the presence and anointing of God or no matter how they are feeling down when they come to church, their spirits are lifted after you lead worship, then take time to devote yourself more to worship, build yourself up in worship and stay committed to worship. Don’t alter the shape of the body, don’t alter God’s plan for the body by insisting you be the head of evangelism or get upset that the church doesn’t even recognise you as an evangelist when you have had several revelations of you ministering at crusades all over the world. Some of these revelations aren’t the whole picture of who you are or of God’s plan for your life. That’s why Paul said there are some things that for now we just know in part (1 Corinthian 13:12). Besides, God is not an author of confusion.
3. No part of the human body is competing with each other; each part is happy and comfortable doing what they have been created by God to do. A healthy team is free from carnal comparison and competition
God has not called us to a contest or competition to determine who amongst us is the best usher, counsellor, teacher, preacher, singer or sound engineer. We don’t have to compare and compete with one another because we all have different grace upon our life (Romans 12:3, Matthew 25:14-28). Some people have the grace to do just one thing, some two, some five. If God has given you grace for one particular thing and you start doing five other things you don’t have the grace for, you will just destroy yourself and the team. If for instance you are an usher and God has given you grace to stand all through the service, don’t compare yourself with the ministers and start telling yourself ‘what is it, am I police, why am I the only one that must stand throughout the service. Then the next thing is you start trying everything possible to be made a minister so you too can sit down and ushers will be carrying a tray with water or juice to serve you’. If God has given you the grace to teach, sing, dance and act or the grace to do so many things in the church, don’t say to yourself ‘what is it, am I the only person in the church? Why am I the one they keep giving all the work to do? As from today, I’m only going to be coming for men’s meeting which is once a month’. By these actions you are abusing and misusing the grace of God upon your life. Carnal comparison and competition makes you abuse and misuse the grace of God upon your life.
Carnal comparison and competition breeds sins like envy and jealousy which makes us an unhealthy team. Envy makes your bones rotten, envy makes a team rotten and unhealthy (Proverbs 14:30).
Carnal comparison and competition can turn you into a photocopy not the original person God created you to be. The human body and a machine have some similarities. For instance, they both have many parts. Both the human body and a machine have parts that are connected or linked to one another. Today scientists have created machines that can imitate the human brain; machines that can even play games like chess, machines that can solve problems, understand ideas and languages. Scientists have created robots that you can easily be fooled into thinking is a human being. But this is where the human body is superior to a machine. A machine no matter how sophisticated it appears can only do what it has been programmed to do. A machine just has artificial intelligence. A machine just imitates or copies, a machine is not the original.
God wants the church to operate like the human body not a machine who is imitating or copying someone or something. God wants everyone on the team to be original; the original you. Don’t say it looks like anytime Brother A is leading praise and he waves his hand the anointing flows and you too start waving your hand when you lead praise. Nothing will happen because you don’t have the revelation or secret behind why Brother A waves his hand. If anything, people will just be looking at you and wondering what’s wrong with this brother why is he waving his hand like it is broken. Do ministry the way God wants you to don’t copy another person’s personality or ministry style. Be the original you. And if you are doing ministry in your own style; the way that comes naturally to you and you aren’t getting results, ask God what you should do. Don’t just think copying what another person is doing that is working for the person is the solution.
MORE, MORE AND MORE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT TO BE TRULY HEALTHY
Sometimes when you aren’t feeling well, the doctor may say you need to rest more, or you need more vitamins. For us to be and remain a healthy team, we need more and more of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our church.
1 Corinthians 12:13 tells us that in the body of Christ you have people of different tribes and culture, some are Jews, some Gentiles. You also have people of different social status, some are free some are slaves. But there is one thing all these different people have in common. They have been baptised by one Spirit, they all drink from one Spirit. So the thing we have in common is that the Spirit of God is inside all of us and wants to help every one of us. Therefore to make it as a team, to be a healthy team, we need to focus more on what we have in common – The Holy Spirit. We need to give more place to what we have in common – The Holy Spirit. We need to be filled to overflowing with what we have in common – The Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the helper of every strong team. He is the one that can help us love and value everyone on the team, the One that can help us know our ministry and stay faithful to our ministry, the One that can help us to complement one another not compete with one another. More and more of the Holy Spirit simply means that despite our differences, we would be an effective and healthy team.
