The Body of Christ
September is here and so are we! God has been gracious to us and He has sustained us to this point in our lives. God bless you!
Throughout our years there have been many people who have been instrumental in our lives for different reasons. In the beginning there was our family. Not only our parents, but aunts and uncles, cousins, and added to this, possibly neighbors and friends. All these people were used by God to guide and teach us as we grew from baby to small child. Once we started school our learning grew exponentially. Each teacher brought a new dynamic to our lives as we matured both mentally and physically. Then there were others! The grocer, the mechanic, the plumber who fixed our sink, and so many more! We understand there are many people who over the course of time have been used by God to bless our lives. Why do we think it would be any different in the Church?
Paul uses the image of the human body and the differing functions of each part as a way to explain the diversity in the Church and both the blessing and value of each part.
Indeed, the body is not one part but many. If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted. And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? 1 Corinthians 12:14-19
We had this discussion in our men’s group a few months back. We were examining those difficult passages in Corinthians and Timothy which address the various roles of men and women in the church. The Corinthian text lies in our future just a few weeks out. There are some who believe that any restrictions God placed on the Church of the past have become irrelevant. Others hold to a legalistic position with no yielding. We need to seek to understand what God is doing and why, so we celebrate His blessings.
In the Church Paul says there are many different people with a wide range of gifts and talents which when brought together provide a complete blessing from God! Using the image of the human body with its many parts, he says the Church has many parts but not every part can do the same things. We tend to get upset when people tell us no, we can’t do something. But in reality, Paul is saying that God has gifted different people for different purposes in the Church and we should utilize each person for the blessing they were created to be.
Let me give you an example. Almost all of us have heard Solomon’s proverb, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” Proverbs 22:6. While most people will say, “Bring a child to church when he is young and he will go to church all his life,” this is an absolute misunderstanding of this verse. Solomon actually says, “Train up a child in the way he is ‘bent’ and when he is old he will not depart from it.” In other words, what is the disposition of the child? What are the gifts and abilities God has created in the child. Help a child discover his or her calling in life and they will lead a blessed life in the years to come. So, in other words, don’t insist a child go to college if they do not have the academic aptitude to be an accountant. Let him be a mechanic or plumber if this is what God has gifted him to do. You don’t want the electrician as the church treasurer, nor do you want the accountant working on your breaker box.
God has placed each person in the body of Christ so that as a whole we are complete and lacking nothing. Play this out in the life of a Christian congregation. Is everyone gifted with the ability to teach Sunday School to a group of 3 year olds? Or what about Jr. High ministry? Care for the elderly is not something everyone can do. Nor is it possible for everyone to serve as the preacher. Can you imagine someone with horrible stage fright attempting to give a sermon?
It is not that anyone is less than, but each one is gifted for service by God so that the Church has everything needed at any given point in time. Paul says, But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted. And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? Notice he says it is not about what we want, but what God has done! Christ is the God of His Church, and it is not our decision as to what happens or how the church is run, or even what the Church is to be about. It is His Church, bought and paid for by the blood He shed on the cross. Christ decides who will serve and in what ways, as He wills. The moment we seek to wrench control from Christ, and do as we desire, we have sinned against our God, and we will begin the steady decline to destruction for a congregation.
Do not become prideful because of the position you hold in the church, and do not be jealous of what others have been called upon to do. God has placed you exactly where you are for now! This does not mean that your position will never change. What it means is that Jesus has a purpose for you today. Seek His purpose and find fulfillment in His calling upon your life today and then be open for what He may possibly ask of you in the future. Live your life for His glory and find your peace in who you are as His child. Celebrate the blessing of being part of the body of Christ! One who is redeemed and who has received eternal life.
Blessing in Christ,
Pastor Russ
Throughout our years there have been many people who have been instrumental in our lives for different reasons. In the beginning there was our family. Not only our parents, but aunts and uncles, cousins, and added to this, possibly neighbors and friends. All these people were used by God to guide and teach us as we grew from baby to small child. Once we started school our learning grew exponentially. Each teacher brought a new dynamic to our lives as we matured both mentally and physically. Then there were others! The grocer, the mechanic, the plumber who fixed our sink, and so many more! We understand there are many people who over the course of time have been used by God to bless our lives. Why do we think it would be any different in the Church?
Paul uses the image of the human body and the differing functions of each part as a way to explain the diversity in the Church and both the blessing and value of each part.
Indeed, the body is not one part but many. If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted. And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? 1 Corinthians 12:14-19
We had this discussion in our men’s group a few months back. We were examining those difficult passages in Corinthians and Timothy which address the various roles of men and women in the church. The Corinthian text lies in our future just a few weeks out. There are some who believe that any restrictions God placed on the Church of the past have become irrelevant. Others hold to a legalistic position with no yielding. We need to seek to understand what God is doing and why, so we celebrate His blessings.
In the Church Paul says there are many different people with a wide range of gifts and talents which when brought together provide a complete blessing from God! Using the image of the human body with its many parts, he says the Church has many parts but not every part can do the same things. We tend to get upset when people tell us no, we can’t do something. But in reality, Paul is saying that God has gifted different people for different purposes in the Church and we should utilize each person for the blessing they were created to be.
Let me give you an example. Almost all of us have heard Solomon’s proverb, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” Proverbs 22:6. While most people will say, “Bring a child to church when he is young and he will go to church all his life,” this is an absolute misunderstanding of this verse. Solomon actually says, “Train up a child in the way he is ‘bent’ and when he is old he will not depart from it.” In other words, what is the disposition of the child? What are the gifts and abilities God has created in the child. Help a child discover his or her calling in life and they will lead a blessed life in the years to come. So, in other words, don’t insist a child go to college if they do not have the academic aptitude to be an accountant. Let him be a mechanic or plumber if this is what God has gifted him to do. You don’t want the electrician as the church treasurer, nor do you want the accountant working on your breaker box.
God has placed each person in the body of Christ so that as a whole we are complete and lacking nothing. Play this out in the life of a Christian congregation. Is everyone gifted with the ability to teach Sunday School to a group of 3 year olds? Or what about Jr. High ministry? Care for the elderly is not something everyone can do. Nor is it possible for everyone to serve as the preacher. Can you imagine someone with horrible stage fright attempting to give a sermon?
It is not that anyone is less than, but each one is gifted for service by God so that the Church has everything needed at any given point in time. Paul says, But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted. And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? Notice he says it is not about what we want, but what God has done! Christ is the God of His Church, and it is not our decision as to what happens or how the church is run, or even what the Church is to be about. It is His Church, bought and paid for by the blood He shed on the cross. Christ decides who will serve and in what ways, as He wills. The moment we seek to wrench control from Christ, and do as we desire, we have sinned against our God, and we will begin the steady decline to destruction for a congregation.
Do not become prideful because of the position you hold in the church, and do not be jealous of what others have been called upon to do. God has placed you exactly where you are for now! This does not mean that your position will never change. What it means is that Jesus has a purpose for you today. Seek His purpose and find fulfillment in His calling upon your life today and then be open for what He may possibly ask of you in the future. Live your life for His glory and find your peace in who you are as His child. Celebrate the blessing of being part of the body of Christ! One who is redeemed and who has received eternal life.
Blessing in Christ,
Pastor Russ
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