A few weeks ago, Dallas had the opportunity to preach about the Body of Christ at our home church, The Healing Place. We wanted to share the Online Gathering version with you devoted geeks today! If you’d like to invite Dallas and Celeste to speak at your church or event, feel free to reach out!
For more information about The Healing Place, visit https://www.thpshreveport.com/
Notes
Over the last several weeks, we’ve been discussing kingdom language. We are discussing Biblical terms often misused in the church or perhaps have been forgotten by the church. Today, we are digging into a commonly heard word: Body of Christ.
The first time that word was penned into scriptures is
1 Corinthians 12:27 (ESV) “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”
What is the context of the vocabulary?
Corinth was known for its sinfulness. The church was in complete disarray, and Paul was writing to correct what was happening. There was fighting, incest, adultery, and lawsuits taking place among those in the church.
Before this verse, he brings correction to various things, including the use of gifts. It would appear that people not only abused the gifts, but some seemed to have despised others for having certain gifts. Here, he begins to see the idea of “The Body of Christ” begin to form.
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.
1 Corinthians 12:12-13 (English Standard Version | ESV)
The first thing we learn about the Body of Christ, the Church as a whole, is that we are all on equal ground. It doesn’t matter what race you are or your social status is in life; if you profess Christ to be Lord, you are family.
As we read on, it’s not just one person who makes up the body of Christ. Each person and their giftings make up the body of Christ and are needed.
As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 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. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
1 Corinthians 12:20-26 (English Standard Version | ESV)
TS: Considering this principle, we must consider a few things.
- We can’t have the Superman Syndrome.
- Far to often, peole think they are the only ones who can do thing. This mentality leads to elitism and isolationism, and more times than not leads to a spiritually dead leader and a hurt community
- They are hurt because they have been let down by someone who over-promised or hurt because the leader, in an attempt to be the single person in charge, made everyone else feel like they could do nothing.
- We can’t have a “It’s his job” mentality.
- Sadly, some in the church get to a point where it’s always someone else’s job. – Toilets – Kids Church – discipleship – evangelismIf I suddenly decided that I didn’t want to use my left hand ever and force my right hand to do everything, my left hand would become weak, and at the same time, in time, it would cause my right hand to become fatigued, causing more pain.
- Some come to church to get their blessing, forgetting that they are called to be a blessing.
- God has a purpose for you.
- Verse 18 says, “But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.”
- God has a place for you in the body. The trick is being willing to step into it. Being willing to come to leadership and ask, “how can I serve?”
TS: Some, however, feel like how they serve is not important.
Looking at the question of importance through the lens of our passage, what can we learn?
- Each portion of the body is essential, and we are told that we should be sure to give honor to each portion and care for each portion.
- We should individually honor the place God has us because it’s important to him.
- If one portion of the body is in pain, the entire body is in pain, and we should respond together.
- If one portion is honored, we are all honored.
TS: Now that we understand what the Body of Christ is? What do we do?
- We love each other
- 1 John 3:11 (ESV) For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
- Where did this message come from? JESUS
- John 13:35 (ESV) By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
- If you have difficulty loving someone, I encourage you to pray for them and to serve them.
- Loving them means not allowing their pre-Christ days to dicate who they are today. We have to give people the opportunity to grow
- Some feel unloved and unseen and need others to go out of their way to see them and let them know they are, in fact, part of the body.
- Some make it hard for others to love them. Some of that comes from a place of wanting to protect yourself. You have to let go of something and let God heal you.
- We Encourage each other
- Colossians 3:14-16 (ESV) And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
- We are called to love each other and encourage each other
- We need to celebrate the victories of others
- We need to lift each other up when we see we are down
- We don’t need to be sideways talking bad about each other or the body as a whole
- Some people have a bad habit of making broad statements about the church based on isolated incidents and do nothing to offer solutions to the problem.
- Some people have a bad habit of making broad statements about the church based on isolated incidents and do nothing to offer solutions to the problem.
- We mature together in love
- Ephesians 4:14-16 (ESV) so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
- We are not called to stay where we are when we first get saved. We must grow in our understanding of the scriptures, obedience to Christ, and outward actions as Christians
- Far too many people have walked away from the Lord because no one was willing to LOVINGLY disciple them and walk them through hard questions.
- We should help each ohter grow, but do so in a loving way. Not in a demeaning task-master way.
- When we said YES to Christ, we also said YES to the Body