Grove Street was lined with lovely mature trees, manicured lawns, and three churches—all right next to each other. The three churches were each built in different styles and shapes, but they each posted a sign out front, proudly displaying the name of the church. The three churches were named First Community Church, Second Community Church, and Third Community Church.
One day the pastors of these three houses of worship all happened to meet on the sidewalk in front of their churches. Said one pastor to the others, "Maybe we need to define what we mean by community” (Ed Koehler, The Best Cartoons from Leadership Journal, Volume 1, Broadman & Holman, 1999; www.Preaching Today.com).
What DO we mean by community? Churches sometimes have trouble with the concept, but God designed the church to come together for His glory. So how do we make that happen? How do we get along to enhance the reputation of Christ in Rice County? Or as the Apostle Paul put it in Ephesians 4, how do we “maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3) when we’re so different?
If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to 1 Corinthians 12, 1 Corinthians 12, where the Bible addresses how to maintain unity in the body when there is so much diversity.
1 Corinthians 12:12-13 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit (ESV).
No matter your race, no matter your socio-economic status, God’s Spirit has immersed every believer into one body, the body of Christ. The word “baptized” literally means “immersed,” so the moment you put your trust in Christ, God’s Spirit immerses you into a world-wide community of believers known as the church. Black or white, rich or poor, young or old, male or female, every believer belongs to the one body of Christ, and every believer has the one Holy Spirit dwelling within. So start there to enjoy community in the church.
ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU BELONG TO ONE BODY.
Recognize that one Spirit has placed you into one church with every other believer in the world. Accept the fact that despite your differences, God has put you together in a single organism, whose survival depends on every part learning to work together.
The Pentecostal/Charismatic movement has certainly had its excesses, and some within the movement have incorrectly associated tongues with the baptism of the Spirit. Even so, God has used the Movement in a powerful way to bring millions of people all around the world into the body of Christ.
The movement began at Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas, on January 1, 1901, when a handful of students, after a New Year’s Eve prayer vigil, had an extraordinary experience with the Spirit and began to speak in tongues.
The school closed less than a year later and its founder, Charles Parham, moved to Houston, Texas, where he started another Bible school. One of the students in that school was William J. Seymour, an African American. In 1906, God used him to launch the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, California, from where the Pentecostal movement spread around the world (https://romans1015.com/1901-topeka-outpouring).
In the decade prior to 1906, lynchings of African Americans in America had skyrocketed. Historians estimate that well over one thousand blacks, mainly men, were lynched—hanged, shot or sometimes buried alive—in the United States. On top of that, millions of people in the United States had joined the Ku Klux Klan.
However, in 1906, God poured out his Spirit in a powerful revival at the Azusa Street mission in Los Angeles, California. Under William Seymour’s leadership, tens of thousands of people from all over the world and all walks of life—rich, poor, men, women, Americans, non-Americans, black, white, Asian, Latino—came by car, by horse and buggy, by train and by boat. They all encountered the Spirit. In a year of lynchings, blacks and whites were embracing each other as beloved brothers and sisters in Christ. Frank Bartleman, a historian of the Azusa Street Revival, said, “The color line is washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ!” (Rich Nathan, Both-And, IVP Books, 2013, page 48; www.PreachingToday.com).
That’s what the Holy Spirit does! He breaks down the barriers and brings different kinds of people together in one family. So if you want to enjoy community in that diverse family, acknowledge that you, as a believer, belong to that family; recognize that you are part of one body, the body of Christ.
20 years ago (2002), 20th Century Fox produced Drumline, a movie which explores the development of Devon Miles, a talented hip-hop percussionist from Harlem. He receives a full-ride scholarship to Atlanta A&T University to play in the marching band, which is very different than the hip-hop street drumming to which he’s accustomed.
Devon consistently deviates from the protocol outlined by Dr. Lee, the band director. He fails to read the band rulebook; he provokes a fight on the field at halftime, and he violates the philosophy of band unity by showing off.
One morning, before sunrise, the incoming freshmen band members are lined up like Army recruits on the University's football field. Take a look (show video: One Band, One Sound)
The returning band members observe from the sidelines. The freshmen are all wearing white t-shirts except for Devon who is in a black one. Dr. Lee addresses them like a boot camp sergeant. When a few stragglers arrive tardy, the director asks one of them to identify his roommate. The embarrassed latecomer points to Devon.
Dr. Lee approaches Devon and asks him why his roommate was late. He responds that his roommate likely overslept. When the band director inquires why he didn't wake him, Devon flippantly answers, "I'm not his mother."
Dr. Lee, put off by Devon's smart mouth, repeats the dialogue he and Devon have just had loud enough for the entire band to hear. Then in military fashion he barks out, "Section leaders. What is our concept?"
The section leaders answer loudly in unison, "One band, one sound!"
Dr. Lee repeats the slogan: "One band, one sound!" and then continues to address the newcomers. "When one of us is late, we are all late. When one of us looks or sounds bad, we all look and sound bad."
Staring at the freshmen, he asks, "So, what's the concept?"
The freshman musicians reply, "One band, one sound."
Dr. Lee continues, “Now I want ten laps from all those who are 'not their roommate's mama’” (Drumline, 20th-Century Fox, 2002, rated PG-13, written by Tina Gordon Chism, directed by Charles Stone; www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7lu282MCr8; www.PreachingToday.com).
Dr. Lee knew that he had to bring the band members together as one band to produce one beautiful sound. In the same way, God’s Spirit brings diverse members of the church together in one body for the single purpose of glorifying its head, Jesus Christ.
Accept that if you want to enjoy community in the church. Acknowledge that you belong to one body. Then…
APPRECIATE THE DIFFERENT MEMBERS OF THAT BODY.
Value all the various parts of the body of Christ. Welcome their different contributions to you and to the church.
1 Corinthians 12:14-20 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body (ESV).
Every part of the body is important to the whole. Every member contributes something valuable, so learn to appreciate each one’s contribution. Learn to appreciate the differences every member brings, because God put them there. God is the One who “arranged the members in the body” (vs.18). Or better, God is the one who assigned each member his or her place.
I like what Warren Wiersbe said about the importance of each member of the body: He said, “No member should compare or contrast itself with any other member, because each one is different and each one is important. I suppose I could learn to walk on my hands, but I prefer to use my feet, even though I have not yet learned to type or to eat with my feet. The ear cannot see and the eye cannot hear, yet each organ has an important ministry. And have you ever tried to smell through your ears?” (Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary)
It just doesn’t work! Each member contributes something valuable to the whole body, without which the body would stumble along and fail to be all that God created it to be.
On January 21, 1925, the lives of countless children in Nome, Alaska, were at stake. An epidemic of diphtheria had broken out, and the gold rush city did not have enough antitoxin. Dr. Curtis Welch telegraphed Fairbanks, Anchorage, Seward, and Juneau, asking for help. There were 300,000 units of the serum at a hospital in Anchorage, and it was the only serum in the entire state.
The problem was to get it to Nome in the shortest time possible. With the Bering Sea frozen and no railroad or roads extending to Nome's remote location, dog teams were the only solution. Hospital staff packed the 300,000 units in an insulated container and transported them to Nenana on an overnight train.
Once the serum arrived, a 674-mile relay race by dog teams awaited. Mushers who delivered the mail normally covered that distance in a month. The first musher took the insulated cylinder of serum 52 miles, where he passed the lifesaving baton to the second musher, who traveled 31 miles. From musher to musher the relay continued until a total of 20 dog-sled drivers had cooperated to get the needed medicine to Nome by February 2nd. The lifesaving serum arrived in only 127 ½ hours due to the cooperative effort of individuals willing to brave the austere Alaskan wilderness, sub-zero temperatures, and blinding blizzards (The 1925 Serum Run to Nome; www.PreachingToday.com).
That’s how God designed the church! He arranged every member to have a part in bringing salvation to people who need it. Maybe, you’re not the preacher proclaiming the Gospel. Maybe, you’re just a hand preparing a meal for a funeral dinner where the preacher will present the Gospel. Maybe, you’re just a foot showing people the way. Maybe, you’re just an eye noticing the needs of people. Maybe, you’re just an ear listening to their concerns, opening their hearts to the Gospel.
Every part, every member, is important, each bringing its unique abilities to help the whole body accomplish its God-given mission. So learn to appreciate your part in that mission and the part different believers play to help the whole body do what God called it to do.
If you want to enjoy community in the church, acknowledge that you belong to one body; appreciate the different members of that body; and…
DEPEND ON ONE ANOTHER.
Rely on different believers to supplement what you lack. Lean on those with different gifts to make up for what you need.
1 Corinthians 12:21-25 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another (ESV).
We need each part of the body, even those parts that are weaker and/or unattractive. In fact, we dress up the unattractive (or private) parts to make the whole body look good. God designed it that way so that we treat each member with the same care. For…
1 Corinthians 12:26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together (ESV).
When you stub your little toe, your whole body feels it. Or when your tongue tastes smooth, cool ice cream, your whole body revels in it. That’s because each part of the body is interconnected and interdependent. The same is true of the body of Christ, the church. When one member hurts, we all hurt. When one member receives honor, we all enjoy that honor. We’re interconnected and interdependent.
James Robinson, in his book Living Amazed, talks about the three smallest bones in the human body. They are the middle ear ossicles—the malleus, incus, and stapes—more commonly known as the hammer, anvil, and stirrup. He says, “The hammer is arranged so that one end is attached to the eardrum, while the other end forms a lever-like hinge with the anvil. The opposite end of the anvil is fused with the stirrup (so anvil and stirrup act as one bone).”
Though the middle ear ossicles work in obscurity, completely invisible to the outside world, they are absolutely essential to our ability to hear. Without them, only 0.1 percent of the sound energy that hits the eardrum would be transferred to the inner ear. But because God has arranged these tiny parts in a way that maximizes their leverage, they produce a sonic effect far beyond their diminutive size.
Just as the human body has no insignificant parts, the body of Christ has no small or unimportant members. We all have a sphere of influence—however large or small, however visible or invisible—and we all have a vital role to play in God's plan for redeeming and restoring the world. We may be as well-hidden as a bone in the inner ear, an internal organ, or a foot inside a shoe, but every person is absolutely essential to the eternal purpose of God (James Robison, Living Amazed, Revell, 2017, pages 203-204; www.PreachingToday.com).
Please, believe it! YOU are essential and so is every member of the church, no matter how weak or small.
Warren Wiersbe says, “In a healthy human body, the various members cooperate with each other and even compensate for each other when a crisis occurs. The instant any part of the body says to any other part, ‘I don’t need you!’ it begins to weaken and die and create problems for the whole body (Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary).
We need each other, so we must learn to depend on each other if we’re going to enjoy the diverse community God has created for us.
In a game between the San Diego Chargers and the Denver Broncos on December 10, 2006, Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson took his position the same way he had done hundreds of times before during the season. But this particular play was different. After receiving the ball and sprinting around two defenders for a seven-yard gain, Tomlinson found himself in the end zone for his NFL record-breaking 29th touchdown of the season.
But, as impressive as this accomplishment was, Tomlinson's selfless behavior after the run really stole the show. Instead of raising his hands in victory or dancing across the turf like so many other players, Tomlinson beckoned for his offensive line—those inconspicuous behemoths who cleared the path for his success—to join him. With over 67,000 fans cheering wildly, he helped his entire team bask in the glory.
Even more surprising, he refused to acknowledge any individual accomplishment when talking with reporters after the game. Instead, he consistently used plural pronouns to include his teammates: “When we're old and can't play this game anymore, those are the moments that we're going to remember, being able to tell our kids and tell our grandchildren. We made history today, and there's no better feeling than to share it with the group of guys in that locker room” (Mark Bergin, "Head of the Class," World magazine, 12-23-06, p. 33; www.PreachingToday.com).
That’s a winning attitude not only on the football field, but also in the church. When we depend on each other, we accomplish the mission God called us to do; we succeed in equipping people to follow Jesus.
If you want to enjoy the diverse community God created for you, acknowledge that you belong to one body; appreciate the different members of that body; depend on one another; and…
DO WHAT GOD GIFTED YOU TO DO.
Accept your appointment in the body of Christ; and with His help, accomplish the task He assigned to you.
1 Corinthians 12:27-28 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues (ESV).
Here, the Apostle Paul ranks the gifts in order of importance, which I find very interesting, because he just got finished saying, “They’re ALL important and necessary.” I think Paul does it, because his original audience, the Corinthian believers, ranked them in reverse order. They preferred the flashier gifts like miracles, healing, and tongues over the foundational gifts like apostles, prophets and teachers (Ephesians 2:20; 4:11). After all, a miracle worker makes a bigger impression than someone like Robert John teaching the book of Romans in a small classroom at Faith Bible Church. Miracle workers fill stadiums. Teachers minister in obscurity.
However, God uses both to grow His church. In fact, God uses all the spiritual gifts, but no one believer has them all, nor does God expect every believer to have any one gift.
1 Corinthians 12:29-30 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? (ESV)
The obvious answer is “no.” Not every Spirit-filled believer speaks in tongues, just like not every Spirit-filled believer teaches. However, God’s Spirit uniquely gifts every believer. So don’t seek a gift you don’t have. Instead, use the gift you do have for God’s glory and for the benefit of the church.
And to the church as a whole, God says…
1 Corinthians 12:31a But earnestly desire the higher gifts (ESV).
The higher gifts are the gifts the church sometimes minimizes, at least the Corinthian church did. They are the foundational gifts like teaching and preaching. So, if you’re going to rank the gifts, then pursue those gifts above the others. However, better than pursuing any gift, is pursuing love!
1 Corinthians 12:31b And I will show you a still more excellent way (ESV).
The more excellent way is the way of love, described in the next chapter, 1 Corinthians 13. So exercise whatever spiritual gift God has given you with love!
A conductor was rehearsing his great orchestra. The organ was rolling, providing a beautiful melody. The drums were thundering. The trumpets were blaring out. The violins were singing beautifully. Then something went wrong. Someone in the orchestra dropped out, thinking, “With all this going on, I can rest a while. This is a rehearsal anyway.”
The conductor threw up his arms and said, “Where's the piccolo?”
The piccolo player said, “I play just a little instrument, which doesn’t amount to much. With everything else going on, I don't have to keep playing, do I?”
To which the conductor replied, “Every one of us is necessary” (Gordon Johnson, "Finding Significance in Obscurity," Preaching Today, Tape No. 82; www.PreachingToday.com).
You may feel small and unimportant, but God has an important place for you. You are necessary for the proper functioning of the church. So, please, don’t drop out. Instead, play your part for all its worth, so that, together, we can make beautiful music for the Lord.
If you want to enjoy the diverse community God created for you, acknowledge that you belong to one body; appreciate the different members of that body; depend on one another; and do what God gifted you to do.
In the fourth century, when Saint Basil the Great gave his brother Gregory of Nyssa the opportunity to become bishop of Cappadocia, Gregory objected. He didn't want to be stuck in such an out-of-the-way place. Saint Basil responded, “I don’t want you to obtain distinction from the church, but to confer distinction upon it” (Eugene Peterson, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places; www.PreachingToday.com).
That’s what God wants for you—Use your gifts to confer distinction upon the church not to receive distinction from the church. Serve humbly in the small places God puts you for His glory and the good of His church.
