The Power of the Body of Christ

A message from 1 Cor 12:12-27 by Dave Rogers 06/07/08

To listen to Dave's message click here mp3

Introduction.
Today, we are looking at one of the most amazing things on this earth! Today we are going to look at the Body of Christ, the local church. This is God's wonderful provision for all human beings. What a blessing to be in it, a lifeboat to those drowning in the sea of the world, ungodliness, sin and secularism.
 
Over the next 30 mins or so we are going to look at our role in the church; what part we have to play. I’d like us to look at three areas of application from this passage by looking at three illustrations and how these impact us as a church.
 
1. The body is a unit made up of many parts but not every part is fully functioning
2. What happens if parts of the body aren’t working?
3. We all have a part to play.
 
But first I’d like to look at an amazing quote that has greatly challenged me from Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones
 
"If only we had a true conception of the Christian Church! If we only really saw her as she is in the New Testament, if we had but some dim and vague notion of what she was in the early years, and indeed in the early centuries, if we but really understood what she was like in every period of revival and re-awakening, then we would be heart-broken at the present condition. We would be grieved and filled with a sense of sorrow. Are we all troubled when we see something that was once famous going down or ceasing to be? The decline and fall of an Empire is a sad spectacle. It is a sad thing to see a great business going down, It is sad to see a great professional man losing his grip. It is sad to see someone who is great at sport suddenly, because of age, beginning to fail. It is something that always fills us with a sense of sorrow and of sadness. Well, multiply that by infinity, and then try to conceive of the Church of God as she is in the mind of God, and as she was formed and founded, and contrast that with what she is today."
 
So what are we today? What conception do we have of the church today? What is the body of Christ today?
 
Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:12-27
 
ILLUSTRATION 1 - Zachary  
The body is a unit made up of many parts but not every part is fully functioning.
There are all sorts of reasons why, one reason is immaturity.
 
Take my nine month old son Zachary. When he was born he didn’t do a lot. He ate and slept. He had to learn how to Learn, Now, it amazing watching him. Little by little he is learning to use his whole body; first his hearing, then his sight improved, then he began to move, then crawl, now he’s standing up. Then there’s his hands, he used to pick up objects clumsily, now he gently presses buttons as his dexterity improves as he tries stuff out.
And there is more for him to learn, soon he will be doing more than the odd Dada, he’ll learn to speak, he’ll be walking, and then running.
 
This is how the body works. Each part has to learn how to work in conjunction with the other parts. But each part is vital for the overall functioning of the whole human body. I believe this is the same in the body of Christ.
 
As Matthew Henry says: "There must be a distinction of members in the body. So Christ's members have different powers and different places. We should do the duties of our own place, and not murmur, or quarrel with others."
 
We need every member functioning fully, but we also need to patiently help and encourage other members to find out what they are. Are they a foot, an ear or an eye? What are they gifted in? How can we help and encourage them learn how to use that gift?  We must create a safe environment where people can try stuff and not worry about finding that they are not gifted in that way. So those of us running different ministries must never make people feel useless or a failure because they discover that it really isn’t their thing. Nor must we manipulate people just because we need people to help in a certain area of church life we must be willing to release people when it is clear that is not an area they are gifted in.
 
ILLUSTRATION 2 - Pulled Ligaments
What happens if parts of the body aren’t working? A couple of years ago I pulled the ligaments in my ankle. I couldn’t walk. A small part of my body not functioning caused the rest of it to pretty much stop. The way the body works, is something we can ALL understand! We all have one, and it is no coincidence that Paul uses this Language in his letter to the Corinthians.
 
Have you ever had to be in bed a long time? you lose strength, your muscle tone goes. Your energy diminishes. When you get up your body doesn’t seem to work properly. You have to build up your strength again by doing exercises, building up that part, you might need physio to help with this to get that part working again.
 
Satan wants to cripple us and stop us functioning we should as the body of Christ. So how does Satan knock us out? What does the passage say?
 
Because I am not an ear/hand etc I am not part of the body
1. Low self image - Other people could do it much better than I could, I’m not as gifted as other people. Lack of confidence makes us unwilling to step out into new things
Sense of inferiority makes us reluctant to offer our skills, we don’t feel we’ve got any.
 
If the whole body were an eye etc
2. I don’t need anyone else – If you want something done do it yourself, I’d rather get on and get it done. Independence in any one member stops the body from functioning properly. To quote Martin Lloyd-Jones again: "There is no independence in the body. Each part derives its meaning, its essence, from its relationship to the rest. That is the truth about the body; and it is equally true, says the Apostle Paul, about the Church. Each organ needs the others, and each one benefits by the functions of others".
 
So are we going to let Satan do this to us? Doesn’t Paul say we are more than conquerors through him that loves us. We know Jesus said that he WILL build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. But we can’t just expect Jesus to sort it, we have a responsibility to play our part.
 
So if you know you struggle with low self image or a sense of independence, then you are giving Satan ground to stop the body working. If you have never been on the Setting People Free course, may I urge you to attend the next one. If you have been on the course and done nothing about it, please do!! It is so important to follow it through.
 
ILLUSTRATION 3 - A Circus
We all have a part to play. The other day while we were praying in a leaders meeting I had a picture of a circus, this is timely seeing as we are running a funday in a couple of weeks.
I saw a traditional circus, and all the different acts in the bigtop. You had the ring master, the lion tamer, the clowns, the trapeze artists, the jugglers, the fire breathing man and the acrobats. I saw that each of these groups had particular roles, and these roles were not interchangeable. For example the Jugglers wouldn’t be playing with the lions, or the ring master wouldn’t be flying on the trapeze. They did have one thing in common though, one thing that they would all do. That is Entertain the crowd watching!

I believe God gave me this as another picture of the church, not the Global Church, but our church here in Ascot. As a church we have one main calling. Not to entertain people, so that the youth have a nice youth club to go to, and the mums have a nice cosy afternoon chat with other toddler mums, so those who have retired can have a nice lunch together, or even have a fun day together with the community in the school field. Our main calling is to make disciples. That must always be our primary motivation in everything we do, to help bring people to know, and follow Jesus.

The gifting that each of us has as an individual must always be motivated to this end.
Examples: serving lunch behind the scenes or giving a testimony
Getting involved in the fun day practically or staying at home and praying.
Going to Community bible study and learning how to dig into the word so you are walking closer with God and are more equipped to tell people about Jesus.
 
But remember the church will only work as it should when these individual gifts are all working together in conjunction with each other.
 
Look at me standing here, you can see my hands and arms, but you can't see the rest of my body because it is covered up, hidden from sight. But it is still there working. These parts are just as important, some even more. Imagine my heart wasn’t working properly. I certainly wouldn’t be standing here. And if my brain wasn’t working properly I wouldn’t be speaking to you now.
 
This is true of us as a church, not every part is visible, but every part is honourable and essential. We must always give honour to everyone else’s gifts, and we must always honour and protect each other. We must build each other up. Because when one suffers we all suffer, but when one is honoured we are all honoured, and ultimately Jesus is honoured and Glorified.
 
Are we in ABC an authentic representation of the early church, the church Jesus created?
 
We have some great things going for us, but do we all have a real conception of what it means for us to part of the local church? Do we really understand what the body of Christ is all about?
 
Listen to this song:
If we are the body
 
It's crowded in worship today
As she slips in
Trying to fade into the faces
The girls' teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
Farther than they know

CHORUS
But if we are the Body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way
There is a way

A traveler is far away from home
He sheds his coat
And quietly sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgmental glances tells him that his chances
Are better out on the road

Jesus paid much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the Body of Christ

 
Let this be a challenge to us the body of Christ, the church in Ascot, We will not rest until the church is fully functioning as God intended it, Forgive us for causing its failing, and help us to find what part we must play in its growth as Christ prepares it for his return, a perfect and spotless Bride.