The Body of Christ

Human body. It's really amazing. The complexity, all the nuances that we have involved in how we are designed and built. But we often take it for granted. I read that four out of ten things we do daily, we do mindlessly, out of habit. So we don't really pay much attention to all that's happening going on inside of us. If you'll turn to Psalms 139 and verse 14. And while you do, let me share some fascinating facts about the body. The brain operates with the same energy as a 12 to 15 watt bulb. But information travels along the nervous system to the brain that speeds up to 350 miles per hour. Your brain remembers 50,000 cents. You can smell in stereo, so you can kind of know where something is coming from. The brain's storage capacity is considered virtually unlimited. It's estimated at 2.5 petabytes, million gigabytes, for those numbers mean something, too. Processing sight is this remarkably complex process. Eye functioning is the second most complex organ after the brain. And roughly 65% of the brain's energy is to process visual information, which is another fascinating fact. The heart beats around 2.5 billion times in an average lifetime. It only takes about 10 seconds for blood to get from the heart to your big toe and back, in case you ever want to time it. And if all the blood vessels in the human body were laid end to end, they would stretch 60,000 miles, which is enough to circle the earth twice, just in your body. And finally, human bones are five times stronger than steel, and it takes 200 muscles to simply take a step, with all of the muscles working in opposition. Yes, I could have found so many other things. Just fascinating. David clearly never took the complexity of his body for granted. Psalms 139 verse 14 says, I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows very well. So with that perspective about how complex our bodies are, I would like you to turn to 1 Corinthians 12. You don't have to work too hard today. Most of this message is going to be 1 Corinthians 12. And this chapter talks about the church functioning as a physical body. So what I want us to do is to focus on what application that metaphor is supposed to do for us. What does God want us to learn from that? And we'll start by reading verse 27, because I think that kind of succinctly grabs the concept that we're supposed to learn. It summarizes it well. 1 Corinthians 12 verse 27, Now you are the body of Christ and members individually. So you and I, Christians around the world, over time, we all make up the body of Christ. Now go back to verse 12, and let's continue from there. What we're going to see is that Paul's going to start to illustrate how many parts in this one church body have to work together, remember how complex we are, for a common Christian purpose. 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 12, For as the body is one and has many members, so all the members of the one body, being many, are one body. So also is Christ. So we first recognize that the human body, the spiritual body, they're to be viewed as one unit. You look at somebody and you don't say, Hi, left elbow, hi, right elbow, hi. You know, they're one unit. And regardless of there being many members, we see them as such. Well, when a person is brought to repentance, when they have faith in Christ, when they're baptized, they're not only placed in Christ, but they're also placed as members into his one body, the church.

If a person is baptized in Christ, then they're with us as part of this one single body. Next, just as our physical bodies have many parts, each with unique roles, so does the body of Christ. And Paul wasn't only, of course, referring to Corinth. He was referring to the worldwide church and the church over time.

Christ's church body is made up of many different members. And if you look around this room, you see that some people are tall and some people are short. Some people are male, some are female. There's different cultures that we have here. There can be different races. We all have different personalities. You know, some people who are laid back and chill. You know, some people who are high energy, some aggressive. We can go on and on.

God accepts all kinds of people into His kingdom. And so we need to recognize and value the diversity of talents that we inherently come with and that make up the church community. Because each of us has this unique contribution that we make to our church. You could say we all add unique flavor to the soup of Northwest Arkansas. The last four words of verse 12 are very critical, though. So also is Christ.

Now, I think if we were to write that, our natural inclination would be to say, so also is the church.

But Paul didn't do that. Paul substituted Christ for the word church. And he did that in order to impress us that it's impossible to speak about the church apart from Christ.

Keep that in mind.

Christ has a flesh and blood body in order to accomplish His work these days. You and I represent that flesh and blood body that are carrying on the work of Christ physically in the light we shine and the examples we set. And it's through all that diversity that He makes Himself known to the world. So, of course, you know, put that into a mirror. Do we reflect the level of unity with Christ, with God the Father, with each other that makes us look to others as one united, cohesive body? Do we equally value everyone God brings into our local church body, representing we're all required and essential? Verse 13. By one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. This fits well with the sermonette we heard. What unifies us as a body is not a corporate name. It's not a dynamic leader. It's God's Holy Spirit. It's His essence being in us.

So being baptized within a church of God and full understanding of what's being committed to, and expected, is critical to being part of Christ's body.

We cannot be in the body if we aren't baptized and have God's Holy Spirit.

So it complements the sermonette we were given. And that starts the journey. Now, if you read the verses we're going to go through next, it talks about the importance of how the body parts are supposed to work together. That's our lifelong journey of getting along and living in a righteous way. Pentecost, coming up in two weeks, it represents God using His church to operate as Christ's new body in this current age. A different way to look at it, if you think about that.

And that works regardless of our backgrounds, our racial distinctions, our social distinctions. The unifying factor that should be here with all of us is God's Holy Spirit. Notice the verse also says, believers drink into one spirit. That word for drink can carry a connotation of being irrigated. Think of a farmer or a gardener. Right? Irrigated. They have to water and saturate things for them to grow. So it's not talking about just taking this tiny little sip. It's talking about deeply drinking in, being watered by God's Spirit. And when we do, that brings unity. That brings togetherness, which is really what this whole chapter is about. And that's why when you travel around the world to the feast, right, you can see church members who feel like family. They feel familiar.

It doesn't matter their age or their color or their backgrounds. They feel like family. And it's because of the Holy Spirit. And so since we're one body, we should not allow schisms or divisions to happen.

Next, Paul illustrates the proper regard that you and I are supposed to have for all the parts that make up the body. All the unique differences that are out there. And he does so by presenting two scenarios. You kind of get the feeling he's implying things that were happening in Corinth. Verse 14, for in fact, the body is not one member, but many. Lots of pieces and parts working together, right? If the foot should say, because I'm not a hand, am I not of the body? Is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, because I'm not an eye, I am not of the body? Is it therefore not of the body?

So Paul is intentionally highlighting that in the church, there is both unity and diversity. We struggle with that sometimes, I think, as humans. But he's highlighting there is both unity and diversity. Now, any child who looks into a mirror, right, has no problem recognizing they have one body and a lot of parts. That's one of the first things a child will figure out. And while body parts are different, it doesn't diminish their value or their unity. We wouldn't think of that of our own physical bodies, but you know, we do it more when we talk about and think about the spiritual body. The Spirit has not only joined us to Christ, it's placed as special and unique parts of the body. And because the church is united in Christ, then all of us believers are supposed to be one in Him.

Do we think that way? Do we reflect on that enough? And meanwhile, believers in the church are never called for uniformity. Many body parts, right?

The church's ability to function properly depends on the diverse manifestations of the gifts of the Spirit, because it's when they're combined that it makes up the beauty and the glory of the body of Christ.

That's where we struggle as humans, right? That's where we kind of, eh, how do we bring about unity when there's diversity?

We can struggle with that.

We can't, at least to our own strength. But again, the Holy Spirit can, which is where we have to remember what's the unifying force that brings us into the body and that makes us effective as the body. Picture what was happening in Corinth. They compared themselves among themselves. The impression you get.

Maybe that they were saying things like, well, I'm so much better than you.

You're just a slave. I am a Roman citizen. And you know what?

I was baptized personally by a famous leader.

You kind of get the feeling. And then you can even imagine some people were thinking, oh, they must be better than me. I'm just a foot. I am not even a meaningful part of the body. See, parts of the body are more visible. Yeah, sure. The foot and the ear are not as visible as the hand or the eyes. But Paul is reminding that both are important to God's plan.

Then Paul specifically highlights things that are also interesting. He did the foot and the hand, right? And then he contrasts it the eye and the ear. Both those parts kind of work together, don't they? They're similar functionality. We associate them. I read an interesting quote that said, we're prone to envy those who surpass us a little, rather than those who are patently in a different class.

Which is interesting. Typically, people have a problem with each other because they're in a close proximity with the other. So we envy or we compare our values with those who, if you're going to use the example, are similar body parts. And say, well, they surpassed me a little bit. I don't know. I'm a little bit jealous of this one. So what happens is speakers compare themselves with speakers. And food preparers compare themselves with food preparers. And song leaders with song leaders, or, you know, take it wherever you wish to take along those lines.

There should be no schisms and no divisions in the body. That's what's being emphasized. And each part of the body may have different roles or functions, but each is vitally important.

Imagine trying to enter this building if you didn't have feet. It'd be hard. You'd have a tough time. Never feel inferior with whatever part of the body you are. Paul next pivots to the thought.

Let's just say God decided to do it a different way. What if there was no diversity? There's the solution. Verse 17. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole body were hearing, where would be the smelling? All right. So what if I looked out and all I saw was a bunch of eyeballs, just these big irises out there. We could have brown and blue and green. You wouldn't hear me. You'd have nothing to hear with. You'd be able to sing special music. You wouldn't have a voice. It's kind of ridiculous. Whenever any feeling of inferiority creeps in, just laugh at that visual. Just remember we're all critical and needed, and we're different.

We can't say to each other, I don't need you because all members are necessary. Verse 18. Verse 18. But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body, just as he pleases. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now, indeed, there are many members, yet one body. I love verse 18. Because it's this awesome concept to think, God put you in the body as it pleases him.

God did that. He put us right where he wants us for a purpose and where we should contribute.

Now, maybe you don't think about it, but you are a special gift from God to us in Cave Springs.

If you're an ear and you don't want to hear, then the body is not going to hear. If you're a hand, and you're not going to function as that hand, then the body isn't going to be able to grasp things as a spiritual church the way God wants us to. What are we doing to contribute along the way? Because we're all part of this body, and we all have a function for it to work right.

And that means we can't discount ourselves, and we certainly can't discount others. Because it goes both ways. There is probably no circumstance which would have drawn this group of humans together in one room with all of our diversity, but for the Holy Spirit working with us. And that's a beautiful thing.

So then Paul points out after that two challenges that we naturally have bringing about unity among diversity.

Being one, right? One body made up of very different parts. The first challenge he talks about is feeling inferior, inferiority that will destroy unity.

The others don't need me, right? Verse 15 and 16. If the foot should say, because I'm not a hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? Or the ear should say, because I'm not an eye, I'm not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? Okay, what does that look like in practice in the church? I think we've all heard different church members at times saying, I don't even know if I'm really part of the body. If I didn't show up, I don't know if anybody would notice. I don't make a significant difference. Probably heard that. And there's two sides of how we respond to that, but also a perspective of that person that are both to be called into question or to be assisted. And obviously, the Corinthian church felt this way, because Paul was addressing it. Some felt they weren't needed. They didn't feel important. They didn't have significant areas of service.

And one perspective on that, I mean, we need to honor and make sure everybody realizes they're valued as a part of the family. That's a given. But also realize that ultimately, if a person walks around feeling inferior, they risk being unhappy with the place and the gifts that God intentionally gave them to exercise in the body. Are we each doing our part? Are we filling in to make the whole thing work? Is it perspective also to have? Because we could accidentally be calling God's wisdom into place about what He's given us and what He's given us to do.

So if I say my gifts are irrelevant, they're unimportant. I have nothing to offer. It may sound humble, but we need to be careful that it isn't actually the proud clay questioning the potter. You'd have given me that more significant ability, like that person over there.

Are we questioning what God gave us, or are we using what God gave us? Because whenever we get self-focused, that gets to pride, and we know where pride leads. Until we accept who and what we are, and who and what we are not, we're not going to be able to fully engage with God's purpose in our life.

Think about that. Until we accept who we are and who we are not, we're not going to be able to fully engage with God's purpose in our life.

We'll just spend a bunch of time thinking about things we're not and get frustrated. Instead of understanding we're part of this one, this glorious body that needs us. That's what Paul is saying. Your gifts may not be very visible, but it's extremely important to the body of Christ.

Every spiritual gift is given by God for the building up of the body of Christ. So I would encourage you to the best response at that point, if you're feeling inferior, is go to God and say, thank you for allowing me to be in the body. Even if I'm a toenail, don't cut me off.

Thank you, God. I want to be a contributing factor to the body. So please reveal to me the gifts that you've given me. Help me to acknowledge and see them, and then give me the wisdom to see areas that I can help what you are trying to achieve collectively.

Perspective.

Our part will look different than everyone else's. It should look different than everyone else's. That's not a competition, because we all are critical for the body to work the way we need. We need everyone. In other words, no one should feel inferior with whatever part of the body you are. Paul brings up the second challenge, next, which you can figure out. It's what breaks up unity among diversity. Well, you can run into in verse 21, it's superiority. Rather than feeling they don't need me, we think I don't need them. Verse 21, 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. So again, it's clear that some in Corinth were feeling so important about their gifts that they didn't feel they need other members, I guess.

I have to say, I've seen people over my history in the church who have kind of thought that way too, that they were probably best in their living room church of God because they had all they needed there.

Paul says, that's not so. Try to take the keys out of your pocket using your eyeballs.

Not going to work, right? You need all of the parts of the body to function. Or you can picture just a bunch of heads rolling around outside before we get here. How are you going to get in the door? Right? We don't have anything just as rolling head. It's not going to get in here very well. Any analogy you want to have fun with just shows you how we all have to work together. So let's just have a little bit of fun with Paul's analogy of what would happen if the parts of the body really refuse to cooperate.

What if the heart said, you know, I'm just in a rut. For 60 years, all I do is beat and I'm tired. It's time for someone else to step up and do the job. So feet, why don't you start pumping blood? That wouldn't work real well. What if the lungs said, we are so underappreciated around here. You know, the other organs, they don't appreciate that they can't do their job without us. The brain thinks he's all that big stuff. All right. Let's let him do without some oxygen for a little while. We'll see how he's doing. What if the liver said, why do I get all the dirty work? It's no fun making bile. I've been in the body for 60 years and nobody part has ever asked me to make a decision to pump any blood, to perform any functions that are noticeable. You get the silliness of it. It, we can all look at what we aren't doing and get jealous versus realizing we're contributing very, very valuably. Every Christian is important in the body of Christ. And every Christian is important to every other Christian, if we're working properly.

I need you and you need me. And that's why a healthy body works together for the common good. Do we make each other feel validated and needed and cherished? Do we make each other better? Verse 22. No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weak are necessary. Notice the only seem to be weaker or less necessary.

And I, sadly, I think sometimes if we let our human nature go, we start to think that way.

That big toe, he's not that important, right? Eh, what could do without him? I don't know the church member. Yeah, let him go. Paul is saying that we shouldn't think that way because that's not thinking from a God perspective, that we are the body of Christ. He's put each of us in a position. We are all critical. He wants none to not be able to be in his part of his family in the future. Versus we just read earlier. Verse 23. And those members of the body, which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor. And our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it. So, several lessons being taught here. First of all, there are clearly visible parts and hidden parts. Visible and hidden parts. And we can all see, if we look around, we can see each other. I see your head and I can see your eyes. I can see your hands. Okay. So we can see certain things. Does that make those parts more important? There are other parts of the body we cover up. So does that make them less important? Well, no. Paul's comment is that, if we look around, we can see the body. We can see the body. We can see the body. Paul's comment implies that Corinthians may have asked things like, do we really need, and then fill in the blank, do we really need old people in the church?

You know, we may not always verbalize things like this along the way.

You know, they just require service. They just need assistance all the time.

We can fall into that perspective. And that view isn't seeing how absolutely amazing each part of a church family is in God's eyes. I mean, you can go back in time, first of all. Many of our seniors are the pillars that brought us before God into the church in the first place. They laid the foundation that we are able to have our journey based on. They're often our key teachers. They're our perspective givers. They can be the prayer warriors that God says he adores. God sees all parts of the body as absolutely critical. Even, one of the lessons that somebody shared with me a while back is, you know, to really learn how to care and to serve and to pray for those who are needing and struggling, somebody has to have needs and struggle.

Kind of sucks when you're on the other end of it, but we're going to go back and forth.

It's the big picture.

The preacher can't say to a song leader, I have no need of you.

The sound person can't say to the food preparer, I have no need of you. A money giver can't say to the person on cleanup duty, I have no need of you. You know, you could fill on all whatever path you want to go there. Another hidden lesson, or not hidden, but lesson to think of, is it visible parts that you... There are visible parts, probably more visible parts, that you can live without than the hidden parts that you really can't live without in the body.

The parts that get noticed the most are not really the most crucial. You know, you watch the Olympics, you see something, you see this big muscular person, whoa, look at those biceps, look at those strong legs. You can live without arms and legs.

How about living without your heart, your brain, or your lungs? Well, that's not going to happen.

Yet those are parts of the body that we really give very little thought to. The weaker parts don't get much notoriety, but that doesn't mean they're less necessary. And if you're an adult of average weight, here's just a couple sample things that happen in 24 hours. Your heart beats 103,689 times on average. Your blood travels 168 million miles in 24 hours. Your lungs breathe 23,040 times. You move 750 muscles, which is how many muscles you have.

Your brain exercises 7 million brain cells.

This one I thought was fascinating. Your bone marrow produces approximately 2 million red blood cells per second. I had no clue. I had no clue.

And all those are absolutely critical for us to stay alive. All right, so what am I saying? I'm saying that all the less visible parts are absolutely vital to the body.

And again, this is not a class in human anatomy. They're fun little factoids. But this is a lesson about the body of Christ.

What we all want to be part of, the church is the body of Christ, one body. And the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. So even it's natural to honor a more visible contributor. Yes, speaking up here is a more visible form of contribution. Song leading, singing, playing an instrument. But the setup crew, the toilet cleaner, the sound person, whatever, there's all sorts of different things that are just as important and vital for the work of God. We're all important no matter what we do.

Another way of putting this is, God specifically called each of us in the body for services that are distinct in function, but not in value. And maybe that's the way to just think about it. Just in function. It's not a value difference that's taking place. God has built it so it takes all members working together to have a successful, fully functioning, powerful body. Don't feel ashamed with the gifts God has given you.

The lesson reflects, you could say, this concept of, the last shall be first. You know, you think about the hidden parts of the body.

There are some very indispensable parts of the church body which may be unseen, that may be unnoticed. But I'd argue they hold the fellowship together that makes a congregation really work. We all need one another. Next verse.

There should be no schisms in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. So Paul's talking about having the same care for each other. And as humans, given our own natural nature, we focus on self-care and finger-pointing. Right? That is much easier to do.

We shouldn't be detracted, or distracted, I should say, by comparing, either undervaluing, devaluing, overvaluing, that causes schisms, that causes divisions. All of this chapter, what we're reading is about unity.

That's the goal. That's what this is all about. What happens in one part of the body affects the well-being of everything. So think about our mutual dependence to overcome if you start feeling selfish. Because we all have natural selfishness. We realize we're mutually dependent, and that's why God sees us. We need to be a team that reflects oneness. And God put us here as it pleased him. As he pleased, he put you. Fill in your name, where you're at, where to be united and function together as a unit. Verse 26. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. Or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Okay, so the first part of the verse is when one member suffers. When that happens, then the whole body goes or is supposed to go into action to aid a suffering member. Do we do that as a congregation? Think about when you stub your toe and you do that little happy dance of hobbling and hurting. Think about if you're hammering and you hit your thumb with a hammer.

The other hand reaches in to aid it. The heart pumps faster, gets blood there to nourish it.

The leg and feet start jumping to sympathize with it.

The mouth yells, expressing the thumb's pain. And that's exactly what should happen in our church body, is what's being said. When someone is in serious pain, we should all join in the sympathy and love and help out.

That's the analogy that's being given here, to comfort a hurting member of the same body. Next, Paul talks about if one member is honored, then everybody should rejoice and be thrilled.

Don't be envious when somebody else has success, because it's natural to look and say, you know what? They were celebrated up there, they were ordained, I should have been the one. Yeah, it's just our human nature is to look and say, I gotta sing that song better. You know what? I could... they didn't put those napkins straight, those are crooked. I would have put them...

Celebrate with each other.

I fill your gaps, you fill my gaps, and nobody is unimportant. Nobody's a nobody in the body of Christ. And so every chance you get to give honor, give honor. Say, great job teaching that kid's class. Great job cleaning up. Thank you for making that meal. You know, fill in the blanks, along with thank you for running sound. We now will revisit the analogy that I started the sermon with. I guess let me put one other thought in here before I go past it. Also realize that no one is so big or so important that he or she is able to become independent from the body of Christ. That's another part that's conveyed in here. The arms aren't going to be able to accomplish anything without the brain giving instructions, the eyes seeing how you're going to do it, the hands having muscles being able to move. You know, you put all the pieces together. None of us are self-sustaining. All right, verse 27. Now you are the body of Christ and members individually.

It's not that we are like the body of Christ. The church is the body of Christ. Play that out. Without exception, every person who has been united to Christ by faith and baptism, received the Holy Spirit, is placed into the body of Christ.

We're to be united, unified, even if we're, you know, unique, diverse. Not the same. Paul then lists some of the different roles that we can be asked to play to assist the body function. Verse 28. And God has appointed those in the church. Okay, let me stop there. Before we consider the specific roles which are listed, focus on who appointed people for these roles. They were placed as God pleases and knows his best. Appointed can mean to be set aside, to be assigned, to be placed, to be established, remembered by God. Now, as we continue, again, perspective. What have we talked about this whole time? It's unity.

Paul is not now going to ignore the focus he has stressed throughout about the parts in Christ's body being unique but equal, and suddenly undoing and replacing it with ranks of authority. That would just not fit anything that's said in this whole chapter. The gifts and the roles different people are entrusted with are not for individual pride or comparison or power. They are to benefit the greater whole. The whole chapter is about the body working together, and hidden parts are more important than the visible parts and so forth.

They're given for the benefit of serving the whole collective body of the church, or they aren't being used as God intended. All right, so now let's go through what it says here. First apostles. Okay, what does that mean? Is this a rank of authority in the ministry? I would argue no. What Paul is explaining is the story of how the church came into being, and if you look at it that way, it makes a lot of sense because the first thing that happens is this, and then the second thing that happens, if you're telling a story about how you started a company, you start walking people through the process, right?

Well, the basic meaning of apostle, apostolos, is the messenger that is sent. So first there was a need for apostles, who God grants this role of establishing a foundation, right? And we clearly see that that happened. Apostles were used for this very special purpose of building a foundation in church history. And I can give you scriptures on all these, but it tells you some of the roles in different verses. They proclaim the revelation of God's Word.

They authenticate it by signs and wonders and mighty works. They spread the Word across specific areas of the world, right? There's different verses you could think of that fit to all of those. Paul was the apostle to the gentiles. Then it says, second, prophets. All right, so the church next needed prophets so that those who were being called could be instructed.

They could learn the truth. And that continues the idea of this order time sequence, if you want to look at it that way, that's needed in the church. So apostles and prophets help people hear the Word of God, then respond to the calling. And the word prophet means to speak inspired things. It means way more than just foretelling the future.

Oh, that's part of the role of a prophet. But sharing God's Word, His wisdom, His counsel. Prophets are also usually more localized, like local congregations, local areas. Evangelists are much bigger geographically, spreading more worldwide. So you start spreading something broadly, then you localize in, which is what happened in church history. And prophets sometimes would speak revelations from God, but at other times they expounded upon the revelations already given. And again, I can give you scriptures on those if you want. Interesting verse to read is Ephesians 2.20 that says, The church was built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.

Right? Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone. So that is the time sequence of how the church was built. And it seems once that foundation was laid, then the work of apostles and prophets was finished, at least for a time. You know, we'll see whatever God has in mind going forward. Another interesting verse to just read through the progression and see how that works is Ephesians 4.11, because it starts with the initial roles of apostles and prophets, and then it transitions to evangelists and pastors and teachers equipping the church with effective ministry, which is what we see in Corinthians, right?

So the next one it says in verse 28 is third, teachers.

We have more teachers now. The Greek word didasco means instructor. And that's the role. We've all had these wonderful teachers in our life, right, that really just profoundly touched us. And that's what we're talking about here, to instruct those called to God's way about His plan of salvation. Have an orderly flow of teaching. What's in the Bible? What it means? How does it apply to each of us? The role of a teacher. And then the second half of verse 28 starts listing five spiritual gifts. Miracles temporarily occur at special times to encourage and help us to remember that God has ultimate power, right? And in face of any challenge, God can fix it. Then it says healing, similar to that gift of healing happens to reinforce our faith. It's not guaranteed every time. We'd never be sick and we think it's all about this life. But God cares. God doesn't want us to suffer. Healings. And when you think about healings, I encourage you with one healing that everyone here has had. Forgiveness is the most important type of healing. That's spiritual healing. So remember, God is healing all the time. You're asking God all the time. Heal me on this one. I messed up. Then we have this beautiful little word called helps. I just love that. Helps. The word conveys this idea of being paid back or compensated. It gives this concept of taking the burden off someone and placing it on oneself. Helps. And the way it's used in the Greek relates to rendering assistance to others when there's need. It's just a gift that we all could do every day of our life. And we all should do more. Being a help. It's this gift of service, often unnoticed. And that's a beautiful thing. Then it says the gift of administration. And that literally means governments. So an interesting part about that word is it comes from the shipping industry.

You would administer a ship, meaning that you would, you know, steer it or guide it or pilot it. So when you're administering, you're guiding a ship, in a sense. We just came from the GCE.

The church needs people to help pilot, to direct, to govern what takes place. It's a gift of leadership. Second half of the first date. How to effectively lead. God expects the church organization to be effective and organized. That's why you have an operating plan and a strategic plan and a media plan and so forth. Some people are just very, very gifted at guiding, leading, implementing things. And the final thing mentioned is this variety of tongues. So whether it's foreign languages, insights, remember the point is edifying the entire body. Other parts of Corinthians talks about not misusing that. Paul then issues a series of rhetorical questions that all are expected to have a negative answer. Verse 29 through 30. Are all apostles, are all prophets, are all teachers, are all workers of miracles, do all have gifts of healing, do all speak with tongues, do all interpret?

In other words, no single gift is possessed by just one person in the church.

God blesses us with different strikes and at different times can have people step into different roles. He gives to each church believer the right combinations of gifts for the common good of that local congregation. We should desire to mature and advance what we've been given. That's what we need to be working on. Rather than be jealous, what can you or I do more rather than less? How can we be better servants to improve the body? Those are the perspectives to have. And in all these areas, Jesus really set the example. And then, of course, you get this beautiful lead-in sentence to the love chapter, which is next. Verse 31 is, But earnestly desire the best gifts, and yet I show you a more excellent way, and it leads into a gaffe love. What I want you to do now is to go back to the beginning of chapter 12. So now we'll start at verse 1. You may find it unusual, but I intentionally wanted you to read from 12 on because it gives you the theme of what's being talked about. Unity. This whole chapter is about unity of the body. That's our number one goal. First Corinthians 12 and verse 1, Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant. So I shared from 12 on so he wouldn't be ignorant. Verse 2 and 3 focuses on this really time-stamped thing where he was helping the Gentiles reflect back to when they were pagan, when they didn't have the Holy Spirit to understand. So let's continue in verse 4. It says, There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. A definition I read on spiritual gifts I thought was practical. It said, A spiritual gift is any ability that is empowered by the Holy Spirit and used in any ministry of the Church. It's a very broad definition, but that's intentional. Gifts are to be used in service. Verse 7, But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each, for what? To each one for the prophet of all. If you think your strengths are for you, you've missed the big picture. You are a member of the body of Christ, given to you for the prophet of all. All spiritual gifts need to be empowered by that same Spirit. And that builds whether they're natural abilities. We have some things that are natural abilities. And if you look at those lists, I'd argue teaching, helping, administration. Some of those are natural abilities. Or supernatural abilities like miracles and healings or I guess tongues at times on some of those the situations we read about. The manifestation, how it is shown, is for edification of all. That's why we have our strengths. And the Holy Spirit in us should benefit others.

And then we get this list of examples. Verse 8, For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. So nine different spiritual gifts are mentioned here. And each of those, I guess, was a parent, was present in the church in Corinth. By the way, it's being discussed.

Rather than trying to give this comprehensive list, he didn't explain every one of them, he's stressing unity. The whole chapter, one body, many members.

One question that some people ask is, how are natural abilities different than spiritual gifts? Fair question. I would say, when natural abilities are empowered by the Holy Spirit, remember that's the point of what brings us into one body, they will show increased effectiveness and power in their use. Our abilities are enriched, right, by the Holy Spirit when we use them for the benefit of others in the body. Verse 11, but one in the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as he or God wills. It's a beautiful chapter. The church eras were ushered in by the Holy Spirit. You know, two weeks when we're in Pentecost, Acts 2 we read of what took place then. The Spirit aided the 12 and others as they preached and wrote and confirmed the Gospel. We've all been given gifts. We've all been given blessings by God's Spirit, and the purpose is to strengthen the body of Christ. But unfortunately, it looks like the Corinthians got that kind of backwards, that they were using it to lead to divisions and jealousies and unspiritual attitudes.

Many were using their gifts to glorify themselves. That can happen to us today, too. How do you use your strengths and your blessings? And do you use them to benefit others or only for yourself? Because the body of Christ can thrive if all parts are functioning, if they're functioning in a healthy way. Today I've tried to highlight a lot of things, but I mean, I'd summarize the chapter in like four different areas. First of all, there are many parts, but there's one unit, right? So whether it's human, whether it's the body of Christ, there's only one body. There are many parts, but each is indispensable.

All the parts are different, but each is essential. There are many parts, but each part is interdependent.

All the parts are different, but each one relies on each other. And there are many parts, but each part is interconnected. All of them are different, but what happens to one affects every other part, and we need to think of each other in the church that way. All right, so let's be close. What do we do with this? How do we apply this? A couple thoughts. First of all, pretty obvious one, you should get into the body. Think of the urgency that happens if somebody is doing something that cut off a finger in the medical field really quickly. Put on ice, go to hospital, get it sewed back on. Body parts die if they're not attached to the body, and God wants you to be a baptized and active part of the church, and active in the local community we have, our local area. So being a baptized church member is biblical, and it's something every Christian should do. Number two, as a member of Christ's church, value diversity within the body. Rather than say, they're just so different! They're just so different! Value diversity. Love and appreciate and value those who are different ethnic backgrounds, personality types, ranks, whatever, social, economic statuses, have different gifts, on and on and on. Because different perspectives can help us really appreciate the whole body of Christ. And finally, recognize your importance in the body. Because everyone in the body has a place, and that includes each of you. Each of us. We all have a place. You need to be in the body faithfully doing your part for us all to function at our best. That's the way God designed it. So be in your place and do your part. Find your place of service, and then get busy serving. That's what we've been asked to do. So let's pray that God gives us the understanding to help to wonderfully contribute, as we're asked to do in the body of Christ. Look out for each other and express both our unity and our diversity as a group to really help this body of Christ.