» 12:12-14
12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 14 For the body is not one member, but many.

I’ve challenged myself and am challenging you also to consider to what extent I function as part of a single body of Christ rather than as an individual Christian whose Christian address is at your church building.

If we function as independent Christians, we are disunited. If we function as a single body, we are united.

A faithful believer whom I’ll call Kevin once told me, “I’m not concerned about what the church does. I can’t change that. I’m only concerned about what I do.”

Kevin stated what seems to me to be an increasingly common yet damaging attitude among American Christians. It has caused many believers to abandon assembling as a body altogether. It has caused others to allow the work of the church to be “professionalized,” subcontracted out to “clergy,” as if such a thing even existed in the minds of Christ and His early followers.

My observation from consulting for churches and coaching pastors for a few years is that the primary solution most consider when the work isn’t getting done is to hire an additional minister. I’ve heard pastors of smaller churches express envy at the number of staff members in larger churches.

Can you find one iota in the New Testament where God called “professional” Christians to handle the work and affairs of the church? I can’t. If our modern church structure requires that, we have a faulty structure. If the work we’re doing requires it, we are doing the wrong work.

Paul is chastising those who think like Kevin in this passage, and he’s not mincing words. We are a SINGLE body, whether we act like it or not. You can’t remain faithful to Christ’s purpose if you isolate yourself from the rest of the body.

This calls to mind another Christian brother I knew decades ago. Grant was born with no working nerves in his left foot. When he walked, his left foot dragged behind him. He refused a wheelchair, preferring crutches in order to keep his good leg strong. A good natured guy, I once heard Grant say “My foot does its own thing, like it thinks it’s not part of my body.”

Point taken. If we think the condition of “the church” isn’t really our concern, or if we live our lives as Christian individuals and treat the church as a place to go to rather than as the body of Christ to be, we’re acting like Grant’s foot.

Christ has but one body. We can live in unity and leave Christ whole, or we can live as individuals and split Christ into pieces.

If I am ineffective with my gifts, I have made Christ Himself ineffective. If I refuse to know and do what God wants me to do, I am preventing Christ from fulfilling what the Father wants Him to do through me.

This is serious, folks! I do not want to be guilty of dividing Christ’s body into pieces! If I accept the truth that the church is the Christ’s body (see v.27) and that I am part of that body, then individualizing myself – acting independently from the rest of the body, believing that fulfillment of the church’s mission should be done by hired hands, etc. – is like me splitting Christ apart.

And I believe that is, frighteningly, the American way.

» 12:15-18 [BODY PARTS CAN’T EXCLUDE THEMSELVES]
15 If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.
I
 badly wanted to serve with my congregation, but I couldn’t find a way “in.” People were friendly, and I had a lot of “church friends.” But as available as I made myself, I couldn’t seem to get an opportunity to use my gifts.

And I found out why.

Divorce and remarriage. As a rebellious 18 year old, I married my girlfriend 3 months before graduating High School. 2 years later, very dissatisfied and with a later verified suspicion that she was having an affair with my best friend, I divorced her. A couple of years later (still not a Christian), I married again. Less than a year after that, Christ saved me in prison.

Back to church. As it turns out, in the Elders’ minds my divorce and remarriage disqualified me for serving. I was a teacher but couldn’t teach. I couldn’t even pass the collection plate on Sunday (though they didn’t mind me putting money in it!) So on my own I began going into the local prison, teaching God’s word, and baptizing several men. Many had prayer requests, and I tried to get those published in our church’s bulletin for others to pray for. Nope! My former sin evidently disqualified not only me, but anyone I led to Christ!

I was also in seminary at the time and was required to do a “practicum” as part of my coursework. That meant I had to do x number of hours of preaching, teaching, weddings, funerals, counseling, etc. to get my credits. I was forced to move to another church where I could serve.

Never once did I think I couldn’t serve God. The Elders may have rejected me, but that didn’t make me less of a part Christ’s body. It was Christ who called me, Christ who saved me, Christ’s work I was called to, and Christ’s body I needed to function within, even if other body parts rejected me.

Every part of the body is important and must perform its function. No exceptions. I don’t have the option of deciding that I don’t fit into the body. Neither does the rest of the body get to decide that. And if body parts are rejecting me, that doesn’t mean I don’t belong. This is Christ’s body, not the members’ body.

It’s an unfortunate truth that many people will have a greater challenge working their way into the body’s functioning. Many have to force the way in, not allowing their position and placement to be ignored, and generally causing a stir until people understand.

If that’s you, Paul says in the verses above that rejection by the body is not a valid excuse to lie down and rest. If you have a gift that the body rejects, you have the responsibility to help the body recognize its value. But nothing absolves you from using your gift.

The message of these verses is strong! Read them again before continuing.

If you are not working in the capacity that God gifted you to serve, the church is not accomplishing something it is supposed to accomplish. If you are the body’s foot or ear, you can’t quit walking or hearing just because the hands and eyes minimize your value. If the body is lame or deaf, it’s because you aren’t working. You must understand – and then you must make the rest of the body understand – that God arranged every single part of the body exactly the way He desires.

So if you have suffered at the hands of a church that has failed to consider your gifts significant, God has given you a higher calling to wake the church up!

» 12:19-26 [BODY PARTS CAN’T REJECT OTHER BODY PARTS]
19 If they were all one member, where would the body be? 20 But now there are many members, but one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; 23 and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, 24 whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, 25 so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

“Hey, nice legs!” “Thanks, but my feet did the heavy work.”

“That dude’s got some serious pecs!” “Yeah, but they didn’t do a thing. His arms and hands did all the work to build them up.”

We don’t have the option of deciding what body parts are most important. We will stand beside “less honorable” gifts before the judgment seat of God, giving answer to why the church didn’t fully and faithfully complete its purpose in all the areas God designed it to serve. And we’ll hang our heads low in shame when God points out that we minimized some of the gifts He gave His body.

I didn’t always, but today I have great respect for those who give of their time to clean our worship hall, arrange the seats for the service (it’s a multi-purpose room and all 700 chairs are put away each Sunday), drive the church bus, fill the communion cups, etc.…, yet the preacher and musicians get lion’s share of the attention.

God has evened out the scales. No body part is more or less important than any other. It’s like when you hit thumb with a hammer. Your feet start dancing, your face turns red, and your mouth loses control. We can’t impair one part of the body without the rest of the body suffering.

» 12:27-31
27 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues. 29 All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they? 30 All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they? 31 But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way

You and I are Christ’s body. Each part of that body is included for a purpose. Serve your purpose within the body. Don’t serve someone else’s purpose.

After all this talk about equality of gifts, v.31 is a big surprise: “Desire the greater gifts”. Huh?

That will make more sense in our next study.