Blessed to be a Blessing
God’s grace and peace be yours on this day!
Today the apostle Paul continues his discussion concerning the church using the human body for purposes of illustration. He has already stated, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as He wanted. If we are talking about simply the human body, then I believe we can all agree that we should stand amazed. While we are all human beings, there is an enormous amount of diversity. With the billions of people who have lived upon this planet there have never been two who are exactly the same. Each human being has been a unique creation of God in his or her own right.
Paul is seeking to help us understand that the church is the same way. There will never be two Christian congregations which are the same. Each one is comprised of many members, with each member being specially placed there by God with unique gifts and abilities. The combination of those who are gathered in one place is unique from every other Christian congregation in the world.
When we are talking about an individual congregation, it is the uniqueness of each one which provides the opportunity for that gathering of believers to impact the world in a unique way. The challenge we face as simple human beings is to never lose sight of the fact that each person in a congregation is truly placed there to be a blessing and is a gift of God. Alongside this we should never lose sight of the fact that it is our differences which make us the strongest.
As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that are weaker are indispensable. And those parts of the body that we consider less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unrespectable parts are treated with greater respect, which our respectable parts do not need. 1 Corinthians 12:20-24
What is Paul getting at in the text we have before us today? If we seek to read between the lines, the situation in Corinth to which he is responding is one in which some members of the church are being viewed as having greater importance than others. We see this in congregations or Christian ministries today where the leader/preacher is afforded special privileges and honors far above the person sitting in the pew. Because preachers are sinful human beings just like everyone else, it is easy for he or she to be led astray and fall into the trap of believing that their position affords them greater honor.
In the text identified above, Paul states that it is those parts of the body which are considered less honorable that are afforded the greatest honor. Even Adam and Eve in the garden attempted to cover their nakedness with fig leaves.
Let me make a statement which I pray will clear things up. “You cannot have a church without a preacher!” There has to be that one individual whom God has chosen to be the shepherd or leader of the people. In the same way, “You cannot have a preacher without a church!” What good is a man who is called to lead if there is no gathering of people to be served?” It takes both to be the church.
Yet we are all guilty of placing a higher value on some people while making light of the value of others. This was certainly an issue in Jesus’ day. If we're talking about the men, then shepherds were at the bottom of the list of those who were considered of value to society. Alongside of them would be the tax collectors, notable sinners, and any man who was sick or diseased. These men were looked down upon with great disdain.
Flip the coin and talk about women and you can start at the bottom with the prostitutes or the divorced women. Just above them would be the sick or diseased women. Any woman who was elderly who had no man in her life was of no value. Every man looked down upon every other man of lesser status than himself, and every man looked down upon every woman.
But what do we see in Jesus? We see the Son of God placing value on and elevating those whom society said were of no value. The first witnesses to His birth were the shepherds. The first witnesses of His resurrection were the women. Jesus sought to elevate those who had been put down, showing us that we are to give honor to every single person regardless of their status in the world. He even spoke of a lowly widow who gave two copper coins as having given the greatest gift of all.
If the church is guilty of anything today it is that we have failed to value each person in our midst for the unique creation that they are. Each person brings with them a unique set of experiences, and the ability to relate to people differently than we do. But in our world today we have pretty much decided that all the church stuff is to be done by the preacher and we will just pay him to do it for us. We have lost sight of the truth that the ministry of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world is given to each believer individually and personally. The visible church on earth is not those who gather on a Sunday morning to sing hymns and listen to a sermon, but every believer who lives their life in connection with others in this world who need to know Jesus as Savior.
The church, meaning the individual congregation, should be about the business of equipping the members to use their uniqueness to communicate Jesus to a world that desperately needs to know Him. Anything short of this is failing to be who God has created us to be. For far too long the church has been guilty of playing favorites, elevating some over others, and making the preacher the top dog. May those so-called churches be toppled and may the remnant [those who truly follow Jesus as Lord] rise up and seize the challenge to change the world.
In Christ,
Pastor Russ
Today the apostle Paul continues his discussion concerning the church using the human body for purposes of illustration. He has already stated, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as He wanted. If we are talking about simply the human body, then I believe we can all agree that we should stand amazed. While we are all human beings, there is an enormous amount of diversity. With the billions of people who have lived upon this planet there have never been two who are exactly the same. Each human being has been a unique creation of God in his or her own right.
Paul is seeking to help us understand that the church is the same way. There will never be two Christian congregations which are the same. Each one is comprised of many members, with each member being specially placed there by God with unique gifts and abilities. The combination of those who are gathered in one place is unique from every other Christian congregation in the world.
When we are talking about an individual congregation, it is the uniqueness of each one which provides the opportunity for that gathering of believers to impact the world in a unique way. The challenge we face as simple human beings is to never lose sight of the fact that each person in a congregation is truly placed there to be a blessing and is a gift of God. Alongside this we should never lose sight of the fact that it is our differences which make us the strongest.
As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that are weaker are indispensable. And those parts of the body that we consider less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unrespectable parts are treated with greater respect, which our respectable parts do not need. 1 Corinthians 12:20-24
What is Paul getting at in the text we have before us today? If we seek to read between the lines, the situation in Corinth to which he is responding is one in which some members of the church are being viewed as having greater importance than others. We see this in congregations or Christian ministries today where the leader/preacher is afforded special privileges and honors far above the person sitting in the pew. Because preachers are sinful human beings just like everyone else, it is easy for he or she to be led astray and fall into the trap of believing that their position affords them greater honor.
In the text identified above, Paul states that it is those parts of the body which are considered less honorable that are afforded the greatest honor. Even Adam and Eve in the garden attempted to cover their nakedness with fig leaves.
Let me make a statement which I pray will clear things up. “You cannot have a church without a preacher!” There has to be that one individual whom God has chosen to be the shepherd or leader of the people. In the same way, “You cannot have a preacher without a church!” What good is a man who is called to lead if there is no gathering of people to be served?” It takes both to be the church.
Yet we are all guilty of placing a higher value on some people while making light of the value of others. This was certainly an issue in Jesus’ day. If we're talking about the men, then shepherds were at the bottom of the list of those who were considered of value to society. Alongside of them would be the tax collectors, notable sinners, and any man who was sick or diseased. These men were looked down upon with great disdain.
Flip the coin and talk about women and you can start at the bottom with the prostitutes or the divorced women. Just above them would be the sick or diseased women. Any woman who was elderly who had no man in her life was of no value. Every man looked down upon every other man of lesser status than himself, and every man looked down upon every woman.
But what do we see in Jesus? We see the Son of God placing value on and elevating those whom society said were of no value. The first witnesses to His birth were the shepherds. The first witnesses of His resurrection were the women. Jesus sought to elevate those who had been put down, showing us that we are to give honor to every single person regardless of their status in the world. He even spoke of a lowly widow who gave two copper coins as having given the greatest gift of all.
If the church is guilty of anything today it is that we have failed to value each person in our midst for the unique creation that they are. Each person brings with them a unique set of experiences, and the ability to relate to people differently than we do. But in our world today we have pretty much decided that all the church stuff is to be done by the preacher and we will just pay him to do it for us. We have lost sight of the truth that the ministry of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world is given to each believer individually and personally. The visible church on earth is not those who gather on a Sunday morning to sing hymns and listen to a sermon, but every believer who lives their life in connection with others in this world who need to know Jesus as Savior.
The church, meaning the individual congregation, should be about the business of equipping the members to use their uniqueness to communicate Jesus to a world that desperately needs to know Him. Anything short of this is failing to be who God has created us to be. For far too long the church has been guilty of playing favorites, elevating some over others, and making the preacher the top dog. May those so-called churches be toppled and may the remnant [those who truly follow Jesus as Lord] rise up and seize the challenge to change the world.
In Christ,
Pastor Russ
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