Transcript

Have you ever watched a pit crew in action at a Nascar race? In less time than it takes for most of us to put our seatbelt on and adjust the mirror, the crew had changed four tires, filled the gas tank, cleaned the grill, washed the windshield, given the driver a drink, and made a wedge adjustment to the car so it handles better.

It all happens in 12-15 seconds. It happens so quickly and efficiently because each crew member knows his job, has developed and practiced his job and does it well.

It takes a lot of people to put on a race. If everyone wanted to drive, it would be chaos. It’s the same with the pit crew. If everyone wanted to change tires and no one wanted to fill the gas tank, the car wouldn’t have a very long ride.

Likewise, in the body of Christ we all have been equipped with different gifts and skills to do certain tasks. Some drive, some “change the tires,” some fill the gas tank, and some “wash the windshield.” And each job is just as important as the other.

Everybody’s a somebody and all are needed in the Body of Christ. For the Church to fulfill its purpose in being a light to the world, we each need to do our part, develop our skills, and then do it faithfully by grace through faith in Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:12-13 says, “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

“For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”

Believers being made members of one body is unique to the epistles of Paul. NO OTHER WRITER of Scripture mentions the Church, the Body of Christ.

The reason this is so is that this dispensation we are living in, the dispensation of Grace is a dispensation that had been hid in the mind of God from eternity past.

Paul was given a unique revelation, the revelation of the Mystery. And within this revelation and for the dispensation of grace, Christ made known the truth of believers becoming members of a new church, the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ was a truth unknown before Paul, and didn’t begin until Paul was saved.

Paul was its first member. And from Paul forward, all who, by faith alone, have trusted the gospel of grace, that Christ died for our sins and rose again, are made a part of this spiritual organism which Paul calls the “one new man” (Eph. 2:15).

Paul speaking of the human body says in verse 12, “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body.”

The human body is an illustration of unity and diversity. The body is one, yet has many members. Our bodies function with harmony and interrelatedness, and it is a unit, a single, unified entity. Even though it has many parts, it is one body.

The human body has many parts with a necessary diversity in its members and the parts of the body are dependent on the other parts, with each combining to fulfill an important function, and it all works together as one.

Then Paul says, “So also is Christ.” In other words, “So is the Body of Christ.” Christ’s Body is also one, with many members functioning together.

The Church, the Body of Christ too consists of many parts, which constitute a single, unified entity. It is one body.

The members of our body look different, are treated differently, work differently, and accomplish different purposes. And likewise, there is also great diversity in the body of Christ, both in function and purpose among its many members.

And God has designed the Body of Christ to function like a healthy human body, each member fulfilling its specific role, working together in harmony with and in dependence on the other members for the spiritual health and oneness of the Body.

Verse 13 explains how we become members of the Body of Christ and how the Body is formed today. And it is through the operation and work of the Holy Spirit.

In the unity of the Spirit, Ephesians 4:4 and 5 teaches that “There is one body, and one Spirit” and “one baptism.”

And 1 Corinthians 12:13 shows us that the “one Spirit” by the “one baptism,” places us into “one body,” the Body of Christ.

Under grace, at the moment of salvation, a distinct baptism takes place by the Holy Spirit, who spiritually baptizes us, or joins us to Christ, and places us into the Body of Christ, where Christ is our Head and we are the Body.

There are many Christian organizations, denominations, and groups of all sorts, but there is only one true Church, and that church is the Body of Christ.

The Body is made up of all those who have placed their faith in the gospel of salvation that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again.

In this dispensation of the grace of God, God is saving individuals out of every nation, who simply place their faith in Christ alone and His finished work.

And by the Holy Spirit, they’re spiritually baptized, they are joined together into the Church, the Body of Christ, making us one with Christ and one with each other.

And Paul says, “whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”

In the Church, regardless of nationality (whether we be Jews or Gentiles) or station of life (whether we be bond or free), all believers are baptized into one body and are made one with Christ and made one with each other.

Galatians 3:28 says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”

The Church, the Body of Christ is a living organism, made up of Jews and Gentiles who’ve been reconciled together in one Body by the Cross (Eph. 2:16).

And according to verse 13, all members of Christ’s Body, are also “made to drink into one Spirit.” Each person in the Body of Christ partake of the same Spirit of God.

The same Spirit indwells each member, and each member receives the benefits of His ministry and working in their lives. We each are given same spiritual life, strength, and enablement through the Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:14-19: “For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

“And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?

“But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body?”

Richard Love wrote the following: Sir Michael Costa, the celebrated conductor, was holding a rehearsal. As the mighty chorus rang out, accompanied by scores of instruments, the piccolo player—a little pint-sized flute—thinking perhaps that his contribution would not be missed amid so much music, stopped playing.

Suddenly, the great leader stopped and cried out, “Where is the piccolo?”

The sound of that one small instrument was necessary to the harmony, and the Master Conductor missed it when it dropped out. The point? To the Conductor there are no insignificant instruments in an orchestra.

Sometimes the smallest and seemingly least important one can make the greatest contribution and even if it doesn’t seem to make that big a difference to the audience at large, the conductor knows it right away!

Richard Love continues, “In the Church the players and the instruments are diverse—different sizes, different shapes, different notes, different roles to play.

“But like the piccolo player in Sir Michael’s orchestra, we often in our own sovereignty decide that our contribution is not significant.

“Our contribution couldn’t possibly make a difference. And so we quit playing. Stop doing that which we’ve been given to do. We drop out. But the Conductor immediately notices. From our perspective, our contribution may be small, but from His, it is crucial.

“Some piccolo players have dropped out of the orchestra, for reasons like: pain, exhaustion, insecurity, criticism, laziness, misbehavior. Convinced that their contribution doesn’t mean a hill of beans in the bigger scheme of things, they bury their talent in the ground.”

An orchestra is one, yet it has many instruments, and it combines to create the beautiful and grand music of a symphony. And each player and instrument is needed.

Like this, the verses before us show that each and every member of the Body of Christ is vitally important, everybody’s a somebody, and each has an essential role.

Many of the Corinthian believers were not happy with their gifts, and many in the church wanted a gift that someone else had. Paul says “the body is not one member, but many.” In other words, we cannot all hold the same position in the Body.

God has graced different people with different abilities and gifts and God in His wisdom and sovereignty has placed each member in the Body where He desires to use us.

As verse 18 states, “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.”

How and where we were placed into the Body was not haphazardly done. We were “set” in the Body by God, carefully and wisely placed, according to the perfect will of God, where God desires to effectively and powerfully use us in His Church.

And to God, like all parts of our body are important and needed, ALL members of Christ’s Body are important and needed.

Paul asks in verses 15-16, “If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?” The answer is no. “And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?” The answer is no.

If the foot felt or declared itself not part of the body because it was not a hand, the foot would be mistaken. And if the ear said that because it’s not the eye, it’s not part of the body, it too would be wrong.

Our feet and our ears are very important and needed parts of our body.

In other words, and what Paul is addressing here is that some of the Corinthian believers were saying, “I don’t have this certain spiritual gift, so I guess I’m not important, I’m not needed, and I guess I’m not even part of the body of Christ.”

But the foot is part of the Body, the ear is part of the body, and our feet and ears are both needed, and for a body to be a body it MUST have different parts and diverse members.

God placed us where we are in the Body. And as members of the Body of Christ we have a particular function to perform in the Church, and our passion in life should be to perform that function in the strength of God and for the glory of God.

God does not want us to envy other people’s gifts in the Body of Christ, and as we go along here, we find that He also does not want us to judge others who may not have our gift.

Some are prayer warriors, some are evangelists, some are teachers, some are pastors, some give, some rule, some show mercy and compassion, some minister by caring for the sick and needy, some oversee the local church.

We’re not all eyes, or hands, or feet, and while I hope you are, we’re not all ears.

In verse 17, Paul wrote, “If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?”

Paul points out that if we are all just one part of the Body, like the eye, then how would we hear, and if we were all an ear how would we smell?

Speaking of the church and smelling, Cowboy Joe was telling his fellow cowboys back at the ranch about his visit to a big-city church. Joe began, “When I got there, they had me park my old truck in the corral.”

Charlie, a fellow cow-poke, interrupted, “You mean the parking lot.” “Yeah. Then I walked up the trail to the door,” Joe continued. “The sidewalk to the door,” Charlie corrected him. Joe went on, “Yeah. Inside the door, I was met by this dude.”

“That would be the usher,” Charlie explained. “Yeah. Well, the usher led me down the chute,” Joe said. “You mean the aisle,” Charlie said. “Yeah. Then, he led me to a stall and told me to sit there,” Joe continued. “Pew,” Charlie said. “Yeah,” recalled Joe, “That’s what that lady said when I sat down beside her.”

Paul’s point here is that if we all were an eye or ear, that is, if we all had the same position in the Body, how would the Body work, how would we minister?

Paul states in verse 19 that it would not even be a Body if we were all one member and all had the same gifts and position. Different parts are needed if a body is to exist.

Without a variety of members you could not have a human body. There must be many members, each one different from the others, working in obedience to the head and in cooperation with the other members of the body.

In other words, if all only had the gift of teaching, then there wouldn’t be a functioning body. How would the other things get done that are needed in the Church, like giving, ruling, serving, pastoring, evangelizing, exhorting, and showing mercy.

The unity with diversity in the Body of Christ allows the Church to reach more people, to help more people, to minister to more people.

And God does not want us to be dissatisfied with our gifts or to try to be something we’re not. He wants us to accept the position that He has given us in the Body and to serve the rest of the Body and Him, knowing that He sees each of us as vitally important to it.

1 Corinthians 12:20-24: “But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary.

“And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.

“For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked.”

None in the Church are gifted in all areas. None have arrived in their spiritual maturity or Christ-likeness. Like a married couple where often the spouse has areas of strength where the other one is weak, it’s like this in the Church as well. The abilities and strengths of others in the Body compensate for our inabilities and weaknesses.

And because that’s the case, this is why we should honor each other and be grateful for one another and each other’s gifts and service in the Church.

We need each other in the Church. John Wesley has rightly said, “There is no such thing as solitary Christianity.”

Whether we realize it or not, we are interdependent, mutually dependent on each other in the Body of Christ. This is God’s design. He desires the Body of Christ to work together to be His hands and feet to reach out to this world with Christ’s love and grace.

In verse 20, Paul turned from those who were discontented and disappointed with their positions in the Body to those who BOASTED about theirs.

The first person in this passage in verses 14-19 says, “They don’t need me,” the second in verses 20-24 says, “I don’t need them.”

This passage tells us that some underestimate their importance to the Body and some overestimate their importance. One feels inferior, another feels superior.

But in God’s eyes, each member is equally important to Him and to the Body as a whole, so all should be honored.

Paul says in verse 21: “the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.”

If the “eye” sees a penny on the ground, it needs a “hand” to pick it up. Or if the “head” decides to go somewhere, it needs “feet” to go.

Nobody in the Body is self-sufficient or independent, and not having the same abilities produces this strong interdependent relationship between the members.

Paul says that “those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble [or weak], are necessary.” Notice how he puts that, those “which SEEM to be more feeble.” They “seem” to be feeble only from a purely human point of view.

In verse 23, Paul states, “And those members of the body, which WE THINK to be less honourable.” While some might think they are less honorable, they are actually very honorable.

In God’s eyes, all are equally important. Everyone in the Church is key and has a key role to play in God’s work.

This passage is clearly seen in the ministry of any local church, that the people that are not out front or up front, that are behind the scenes, they are so very necessary, and they’re actually the lifeblood of a church and worthy of honor.

In other words, the ones who faithfully attend, who open up and close the church, who pray, who give, who undergird and are involved in the less noticeable ministries of the church, those who do the cleaning, yardwork, and are right in the middle of the home Bible studies, VBS, youth groups, prayer meetings; these reliable, dedicated members of the Body are often the greatest channels of spiritual power in any assembly.

And it always amazes me how those in the music ministry, those that are up front and seen, are often the least noticed. They’re right in front of us week after week, but their ministry largely goes unrecognized.

The “silent saints” are often the ones greatest used by the Lord and will be the most richly rewarded at the Judgment Seat. And Christ will give “more abundant honor” to the less visible, overlooked, but faithful members of the Body at that day.

A number of years ago in the America’s Cup, a twelve-meter sailboat race held in Australia, America won 4 races to 0. Many were thrilled.

Dennis Connors was the one who led the project and the one with all the glory; the one seen holding the trophy and in the middle of a ticker-tape parade.

But Connors was not alone and didn’t accomplish this on his own. A whole crew of people worked around him as he skippered the boat. A TV documentary did a piece on this and it showed the people on the crew, aside from Connors. One of the crew members never sees the water and he goes on every one of those races.

He never gets to enjoy watching where the other boats are in the race or how close they are to the finish line. Instead, he gets continually drenched by the ocean waves. He works down underneath in what’s called the sewer of the boat.

But his duty, according to Connors himself, makes that race possible for that boat and makes it possible for them to win. Each person in the Body of Christ has an important part in the life and service of the Church.

God has “tempered the body together” verse 24 states. In His perfect wisdom, God has made one part dependent on another, and necessary for the proper action of another.

He has so composed the members of the Body that we all need each other. And He’s made it so that every part is useful, necessary, and no part is unimportant.

1 Corinthians 12:25-27: “That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.”

As we know, schisms in the Body of Christ do occur. And in this context, overemphasis on any one gift will result in conflict and schism.

But when we realize how we need each other, and how each person with their gifts is important, every believer and every ministry should be honored. We should have the same care for one another. We should equally support and encourage one another.

And the mutual care and appreciation of the members for each other prevents schism in the Body.

One gives to another what is needed, and receives in return the help, service, encouragement which only that other member can give.

When a speck of dust blows into an eye, instinctively and without thought the eye is rubbed with a finger. There is no debate with the finger about whether to help the eye.

This is the kind of care God wants us to have for each other. It should be a reaction to help and serve one another.

Therefore, instead of underestimating our importance to the Body or overestimating our importance to the Body and feeling independent from others, we should have a real sense of solidarity in the Body of Christ.

What affects one member affects all. And when one members suffers and hurts all members suffer and feel that pain. And when one member is honored, we should not feel jealous, but we should rejoice with them, and be grateful and praise the Lord for them.

Being members of one another, and because we all need each other means that we should treat one another with the utmost respect and with grace.

No one is greater or lesser, we just each have different responsibilities. God has placed us as He has saw fit, and because each brother and sister in Christ is needed and important we should have the same care for one another.

And thus feelings of competition, rivalry, envy, or attitudes of inferiority or superiority in the Body, go out the window.

God wants us to appreciate each one and what they bring to the Church. And He wants us to have the same care for each person because everybody is a somebody in the Body of Christ. And all this is possible as the members of the Body exhibit the selfless, humble mind of the Head of the Body, the Lord Jesus Christ.