Illus: Our difference reminds me of the three women who were convicted of criminal charges and were brought before a firing squad.
• One was a redhead, and all the guns were pointed at her and the Captain said, “Ready, Aim…,” and the redhead hollered “Earthquake”. They all looked around and she escaped!”
• One was a brunette, and when all the guns were pointed at her, the Captain said, “Ready, Aim…,” and the brunette hollered, “Tornado”. They all looked around and she escaped!
• One was a blonde, and when all the guns were pointed at her, the Captain said, “Ready, Aim…,” and the blonde hollered “Fire!”
We are all different in many ways.
• EMOTIONALLY
• PHYSICALLY
• INTELLECTUALLY
We are all different.
But while we have our DIFFERENCES, we also have our SIMILARITIES. For example:
• WE ARE ALL BORN WITH THIS ADAMIC NATURE
• WE ALL HAVE SIMILAR PROBLEMS
• WE ALL HAVE SIMILAR TRAGEDIES
• WE ALL HAVE SIMILAR DISAPPOINTMENTS
• WE ALL HAVE TO FACE DEATH
We are DIFFERENT, BUT ALSO WE ARE VERY SIMILAR!
Because of our differences, the church has a problem. How can you take all these differences that we have, and bring them together to function in a way that will bring glory to the Lord?
WHAT IS THE SOLUTION? The solution is for the DIFFERENT MEMBERS of the body of Christ to learn to function as ONE BODY.
For example, when babies are first born, they go through many discoveries and adjustments.
• When their eyes are open, they are laying in their little crib and all of a sudden a little hand appears. They do not have the slightest idea where it came from. But as they lay there, that little hand appears again. And soon they discover that little hand is attached to their body, and they learn how to make it go up and down and all around. They learn that the hand has little fingers, and soon they learn how to make every one of them move and function.
• Later on as they are laying in their little crib, they have the impulse to move some muscles in the lower part of their body, and they start to see a couple of little feet appear. Again, they do not have the slightest idea where those little feet came from. But later on they discover they are attached to their body, and they must learn how to use them. They first learn to crawl with them, and eventually they learn how to walk with them.
This is where the church has problems. The church today needs to discover the many members in the body of Christ, and learn how to work together as ONE BODY! This working together is called UNITY!
Unity is a must if a church is to function as the body of Christ.
• Look at what Jesus said in Luke 11:17, “But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, EVERY KINGDOM DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF IS BROUGHT TO DESOLATION…”
• Look at what Paul said in 1 Cor. 12:25,26, “That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.”
Let’s look at the UNITY that we should seek to find in God’s church:
I. WE MUST BE UNIFIED IN OUR MINDS
1 Cor. 1:10 "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be PERFECTLY JOINED TOGETHER in the SAME MIND and in the SAME JUDGEMENT."
God had a purpose when He created these bodies of ours and put only ONE MIND in each of them.
Illus: (Humor) I have never heard of anyone being accused of having two minds. I have heard of some who thought perhaps God forgot to give someone a mind.
It is essential that we, the body of Christ, have only ONE MIND and that we are going in the same direction.
A church has the same basic problems a marriage has.
Illus: That is, you have two people who have come from two different backgrounds, and now for the marriage to be a good marriage, they must become one. Each marriage partner has to discover their role, and carry out the responsibilities of their part in the marriage.
Illus: In the "Peanuts" comic strip, drawn by Charles Schulz, Charlie Brown says to his friend, "My Grandpa and Grandma have been married for fifty years!" The friend replies, "They're lucky, aren't they?" Charlie Brown answers. "Grandma says it isn't luck--it's skill!" (Robert C. Shannon, 1000 Windows, (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1997).
And for a church to achieve ONENESS, it has nothing to do with luck, but skill in knowing how they, being MANY MEMBERS, can function as ONE BODY! In order to achieve this, they must be-
A. ONE IN WORSHIP
• Listen, if you come to church to bestow glory and honor on the Lord, and I come to church to bestow glory and honor on myself, then WE ARE GOING TO HAVE SOME PROBLEMS.
• If you come to church to make this a place to worship God, and I come to make it a place of entertainment and want to turn it into a country club, then WE ARE GOING TO HAVE SOME PROBLEMS.
The only way the church can function as the body of Christ is for us to be LIKE-MINDED.
Look at Rom. 15:5-6, "Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may WITH ONE MIND AND ONE MOUTH GLORIFY GOD, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
One of the reasons that we are having problems in the churches today is because we are not LIKE-MINDED. We need to seek for unity of MIND.
Also, we need to seek for unity when it comes to being -
B. ONE IN SPEECH
1 Cor. 1:10, we read, “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but THAT YE BE PERFECTLY JOINED TOGETHER IN THE SAME MIND AND IN THE SAME JUDGMENT.”
Look at the word “Judgment”, this is the Greek word “Gnome”, pronounced as “Gno'-may”. It means resolve or agree.
We, the body of Christ, have to come to this AGREEMENT, that God’s church is placed here for God to be glorified.
• OUR TALENTS ARE TO BE USED TO GLORIFY HIM
• THE TITHES AND THE OFFERINGS ARE TO BE USED TO GLORIFY HIM
• THE SINGING IS TO GLORIFY HIM
• THE PREACHING OF HIS WORD IS TO GLORIFY HIM
• THE TEACHING OF HIS WORD IS TO GLORIFY HIM
• THE WAY WE DRESS WHEN WE COME TO CHURCH MUST GLORIFY HIM
• THE WAY WE TALK AROUND CHURCH MUST GLORIFY HIM
• THE WAY WE CONDUCT OURSELVES IN CHURCH SHOULD GLORIFY HIM
Paul said in 1 Cor. 10:31, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
In other words, if we can’t do a thing for the glory of God, we should not be doing it.
One of the problems in the church today is that you have some who:
• Want to turn Sunday School classes into classes where they talk about sports events and politics
• Want to turn the church services into entertainment, and practically do away with the preaching of God’s Word, replacing the Word of God with dramas and professional singers and comedians.
The devil is pleased with this, because he knows that God speaks through His Word. And the devil knows that if he can rob the church of the Word of God, he has cut off all the communication between God and His people.
And we need to RESOLVE that the things that ARE DONE and the things that ARE SPOKEN in the House of God should be those things that will glorify Him.
WE MUST BE UNIFIED IN OUR MINDS.
But also-
II. WE MUST BE UNIFIED IN OUR LIVING
Remember, the body of Christ is ONE BODY but MANY MEMBERS. As already stated, this can create some problems until we learn to work together in the UNITY OF ONE BODY.
What are some of the things that we need to AGREE on in order to have UNITY in the body of Christ?
A. UNSELFISHNESS IS A MUST
One the reasons that the New Testament church was so successful was because they were UNIFIED.
Look at Acts 4:32, we read, "And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but THEY HAD ALL THINGS COMMON."
Notice, they were UNSELFISH.
• Their attitude was not, “WHAT IS MINE IS MINE AND YOU BETTER NOT TOUCH IT!”
• Their attitude was, “WHAT IS MINE IS ALSO YOURS.”
We are many members, but we are one body!
The Bible says that whatever they had, they thought of their possessions in this way, “…neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was HIS OWN.”
Illus: If today’s church put all their resources together, it would probably be in the evening news because it would cause a riot.
For the church to function as the BODY OF CHRIST, UN-SELFISHNESS IS A MUST! As believers in the body of Christ we are ONE BODY but many members. We must learn not to be SELFISH, and learn to show the proper love and concern for the other members.
James 2:15-17 deals with that very thing. We read, “If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”
UNSELFISHNESS MUST BE PRACTICED FOR THE BODY OF CHRIST TO FUNCTION AS IT SHOULD. But also-
B. HUMILITY IS A MUST
We have so many proud people today in our society and churches.
Illus: A young man had just graduated from Harvard and was so excited just thinking about his future. He got into a taxi and said to the driver, "How are you on this lovely day?" "I'm the Class of 2001, just graduated from Harvard and I just can't wait to go out there and see what the world has in store for me."
The driver looks back to shake the young man's hand and says, Congratulations, “I'm Mitch, Class of 1969."
One member of the body of Christ cannot think they are more important than other members. This is PRIDE, something that divides the body, and something God despises.
Look at Rom. 12:16, we read, "Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. BE NOT WISE IN YOUR OWN CONCEITS."
There are people in our churches that think of themselves as GREAT, and they actually think the whole church should revolve around them.
Greatness is not going around tooting our own horn, but realizing that if it were not for the blessings of God, we would not even be here.
Illus: Many do not know this, but Irving Berlin, the GREAT composer, was a very humble man. “Even after he became rich and famous, Irving Berlin used to call performers and personally thank them for singing his songs!” (Robert C. Shannor in his book, “1000 Windows” Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1997).
If we are going to reach that level of greatness, IT IS A MUST THAT WE BE HUMBLE.
Illus: On his way to a reception in his honor, Ulysses S. Grant got caught in a rainstorm. He shared his umbrella with a stranger going to the same reception. The stranger, who did not recognize Grant, said, "I have never seen Grant, but I have always thought that he was a very much overrated man." "That's my view, also," said Grant. (Robert C. Shannon, 1000 Windows, (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1997).
If we are going to function as the body of Christ.
• UNSELFISHNESS IS A MUST
• HUMILITY IS A MUST
But also-
C. PEACEFULNESS IS A MUST
Illus: One man said this about his church, he said, “I am going to have to quit going to my church, because every time I get home from church I am so upset I have to take a pill to calm down.”
WHY DID HE SAY THAT? Because every time he went:
• PEOPLE WERE COMPLAINING ABOUT SOMETHING
• PEOPLE WERE JEALOUS OF EACH OTHER
• PEOPLE WERE PLOTTING AGAINST EACH OTHER
• PEOPLE WERE RUDE TO EACH OTHER
• PEOPLE WERE IGNORING EACH OTHER
• PEOPLE WERE LAUGHING AT EACH OTHER
• PEOPLE WOULD NOT COOPERATE WITH EACH OTHER
Listen, if the church was a train, we would say, “That’s no way to run a railroad!” But also, this is no way to run a church.
God cannot bless a church until the church learns to function as the body of Christ. And that means we have to resolve that we are going to do everything we can do to live peacefully with each other.
• Look at 2 Cor. 13:11, we read, "Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, LIVE IN PEACE; and the God of love and peace shall be with you."
• Look at Eph. 4:3, we read, "Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in THE BOND OF PEACE."
To function as the body of Christ, PEACEFULNESS IS A MUST!
D. COMPASSION IS A MUST
If the body of Christ is going to function properly, we must be filled with COMPASSION!
Look at 1 Pet. 3:8, we read, "Finally, be ye all of one mind, HAVING COMPASSION ONE OF ANOTHER, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:"
Illus: A little girl was sent on an errand by her mother. She took much too long in coming back. Mother, therefore, demanded an explanation when she finally did return. The little girl explained that on her way she had met a little friend who was crying because she had broken her doll. "Oh," said the. mother, "Then you stopped to help her fix her doll?" "Oh, no," replied the little girl. "I stopped to help her cry."
Phil. 2:2, "Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, HAVING THE SAME LOVE, being of one accord, of one mind."
Compassion is caring about how others feel. For example, every church has a Sunday School director. This is not the easiest job in the church.
A teacher who had all week to tell the Sunday School director that he would be out of town, waited until Saturday night to make the call. Now the director has a class full of children who have come to hear the Word of God, and there is no one to teach them.
That is not doing God’s work right, nor is it doing the Sunday School Director right.
What is it going to take in the body of Christ to get people to be COMPASSIONATE one to another?
Maybe this would help.
Illus: A loaded station wagon pulled into the only remaining campsite.
• Four youngsters leaped from the vehicle and began feverishly unloading gear and setting up a tent.
• The boys then rushed off to gather firewood, while the girls and their mother set up the camp stove and cooking utensils.
A nearby camper marveled to the youngsters' father: "That, sir, is some display of teamwork." The father replied, "I have a system. No one goes to the bathroom until the camp is set up.”
But actually the only thing that will cause a church to function as the body of Christ, is for the members to love the Lord as they should.
Conclusion:
The nearest thing to hell on this earth, is a church full of people who profess to be the body of Christ, but who are struggling and fighting each other all the way.
The nearest thing to heaven on this earth, is a church full of people who are right with God, and operating as ONE BODY WITH MANY MEMBERS, functioning as they are suppose to function.
Look at Psalm 133:1 "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for BRETHREN TO DWELL TOGETHER IN UNITY!"
Illus: Some missionaries in the Philippines set up a croquet game in their front yard. Several of their Negrito neighbors became interested and wanted to join the fun. The missionaries explained the game and started them out, each with a mallet and ball. As the game progressed, opportunity came for one of the players to take advantage of another by knocking that person's ball out of the court. A missionary explained the procedure, but his advice only puzzled the Negrito friend. "Why would I want to knock his ball out of the court?" he asked. "So you will be the one to win!" a missionary said. The short statured man, clad only in a loincloth, shook his head in bewilderment.
The game continued, but no one followed the missionaries' advice. When a player successfully got through all the wickets, the game was not over for him. He went back and gave aid and advice to his friends. As the final player moved toward the last wicket, the affair was still very much a team effort. And finally, when the last wicket was played, the "team" shouted happily, "We won! We won!"
That is how the Church, the body of Christ, should be. We're a team. We all win together. The church must move forward in unity. All of us must work together as one for the cause of Christ.
Amos 3:3 "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?"
I. WE MUST BE UNIFIED IN OUR MINDS
II. WE MUST BE UNIFIED IN OUR LIVING
Note:You can hear Dr. Odell Belger preach on Youtube. Please type Youtube Lykesland
