1 Corinthians 12:12-31 Don't Be Dismembered

Welcome to Recast Church in Matawan, Michigan, where we are growing in faith, community, and service. You are listening to a message by Pastor Don Filsek from a passage in 1 Corinthians in a series entitled, One.

If you'd like more information about Recast Church, check us out at recastchurch .com or you can find us on Facebook. Here's Pastor Don.

Church Membership and the Need for a Local Body

Well, good morning. Welcome to Recast Church. We're going to go ahead and get started here, so if you can find your seats, that would be great. Always good to hear the conversations going on and stuff.

I'm Don Filsek. I'm the lead pastor here. And I just want to say thank you for gathering together to worship our great God and grow in faith this morning. Be sure to fill out the connection card you received when you walked in.

You can turn that in in the black box back here. And that connection card, if you're willing to share your email address, we do send out a weekly email just to kind of keep you up to date on different activities and events.

You can unsubscribe yourself from that any time. I know that your inbox can get busy, but it is a primary way to connect with the activities that are going on at the church. If it's your first time filling out one of those connection cards, then we ask that you also do us a favor and please take a free coffee mug back there sitting on the desk.

Just our way of saying thanks for joining us this morning. And then also remember, any offerings you would choose to give go in the same black box back there. We don't pass an offering plate, but we want your giving to be between you and God, and so that's available.

If you're not going to use that offering envelope that you received this morning, though, there is a place to recycle that right next to it just so that we can reuse those again next week. And remember that anything that's marked expansion fund is going to go towards our goal of eventually building a building on the property that we have.

Last week there was a big announcement and we basically said that there's the need for us to raise $325-ish thousand dollars towards basically the down payment for a building. And so before we even decide to break ground, we need to have that much in the bank.

And I want to point out that it's not like we're going to put up a slide every week on how to get the unicorn to happy land or how to get the thermometer. Or maybe. So you know that the project is $1 .7 million and we need to raise $300 of it in order to get there, but as much as we can raise before we break ground.

I think that this kind of thing becomes a lot of white noise, and obviously Kyle, we put it up there jokingly, but I think that putting things up there like that can be helpful. We will be giving you a report regularly, but not in a gimmicky fashion because I think that the thing is we want to put the word out to you that there's a need.

And let the word of God work in your heart and in your life about what he desires for you to do in that regard. I know that we could enter into a big capital campaign where we're selling bricks and selling chairs and we could make it gimmicky so that it's fun to give.

Or we could just make it really about the spirit of God moving and working in your life to do what you can because we are the church. And I say that I'm not asking you to give money to me. I'm not asking you to give money to the elders.

I'm not asking you to give money to a building. I am asking you to pray about what God would say to you. Your part is in this building project and think that through. And so to pray and talk with God about that is the most that I can ask from you.

With the conviction that 2014 is going to be a year of transition for Recast Church. We've got a committee after the service to talk about moving to the schools and all that kind of stuff that's coming down the pipe.

And we talked about that last week and plans are starting to get more firm in that direction. I thought it might be a good year for us to kick off this 2014 on the right foot by considering what defines us as a church.

I believe that the average person on the street has a pretty skewed view of what church means. And maybe even some of us here just to be honest we have a little bit of a skewed view too. Because in English on the semantic range for the word church includes a building and also includes a gathering of people.

And so I would suggest to you that if we were to pull people out on the street or at our workplace that are not believers and ask them what is a church. That the majority of the definitions would include the word building in there somewhere.

Architecture, a type of building or something to that effect. Well those of you that have been around the church for a while have been a member of a church or a part of a church. You might be able to explain that the church is not from a biblical standpoint a building.

But it is the people, a gathering of people. But even as we say that I think we need to figure out what does that mean. And are we actually operating and living our lives according to the idea that we are the church versus we come to church.

And there's a difference. Do you hear the difference in that? Being the church versus just attending a church. And so there's a there's some things that we're going to look at in our text this morning.

That are going to guide us into that you know really answering these questions. As the church moves to the next stage it's important for us to keep focus focused on what it means to be a church. To be quite honest Recast has been relatively loose in its structure since we started.

We have not pressed for membership and that has been intentional but maybe not particularly helpful. So what I mean by that is it's possible for us for the sake of not offending or pressuring people. To undersell what is a strongly biblical concept.

That we would actually be connected in an integral way with each other and with a body a local body of believers. We're going to look at a passage that speaks about membership in the church. And I would have said even five years ago around the time that we were starting Recast.

I would have said you know what membership in a local church is not a biblical. I mean you can't point to chapter and verse and and see membership mentioned in scripture. Right I mean can you point to chapter and verse that says thou shalt be a member of a local church.

And I think we live in a culture in a day and an age where commitment is kind of like on the low right. And so it's very easy for us to kind of sell to the culture and just you know bow to the culture.

And basically say you know what we're just going to kind of keep the bar low here. And not encourage biblical membership and yet here I am convicted this week. As I'm studying this text kind of saying membership is a biblical concept.

The commitment to one another the connection to one another the needing each other. And the offering what we have to offer to others is vital. So Paul in our text is going to talk about membership. And he's going to use the word member in the New Testament it's there.

But the way that Paul addresses membership is not like Sam's Club. It's not like your Panera membership where you get your 10th whatever free. But it's more the way everybody look at your arm. It's the way your arm is a member of your body.

I want you to raise your arm up high if you're glad your arm is a member of your body. Are you glad it's connected all right. You guys responded I had like three people in the first service raised their hand.

I was like the rest of you don't like your arm like what's going on with that. So let's open our Bibles to 1st Corinthians chapter 12. And we're going to be looking at 1st Corinthians 12 12 through 31.

And that's found on page 821 in the Bible in the seat back in front of you. So you open that Bible up 821 boom you're there and we can read this together. And if you don't own a Bible please take that one with you.

We do want everybody to have a copy of the word of God that they can have on their nightstand and pick up and read on their own. Follow on 1st Corinthians 12 12 through 31. For just as the body is one and has many members and all the members of the body and all the members of the body though many are one body so it is with Christ.

For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body. Jews or Greeks slaves are free and all were made to drink of one spirit. Though the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say because I am not a hand I do not belong to the body that would not make it any less a part of the body.

And if the ear should say because I'm not an eye I do not belong to the body that wouldn't not make it any less. That would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye where would be the sense of hearing.

If the whole body were an ear where would be the sense of smell. But as it is God arranged the members in the body each one of them as He chose. If all were a singer single member, where would the body be as it is?

There are many parts yet one body 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 on the contrary the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are Indispensable and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable We bestow the greater honor and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty.

Which are more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body giving greater honor to the part that lacked it that there may be no division in the body. But that the members may have the same care for one another if one member suffers all Suffer together if one member is honored all rejoice together now.

You are the body of Christ and Individually members of it and God has appointed in the church first apostle second prophets third teachers then miracles then gifts of healing. Helping administrating and various kinds of tongues.

Are all apostles. Are all prophets. Are all teachers. Do all work miracles. Do all possess gifts of healing. Do all speak with tongues. Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts, and I will show you a still more Excellent way, let's pray as the band comes to lead us in worship this morning father I rejoice for this body that you have brought together Jesus Christ as our head and each one of us members of him and members of one another united in Suffering when others suffer and rejoicing when others rejoice and connected.

And father I pray for a deeper connection here as we go through this year of transition. Father I pray that you would hold us together in this awesome sense of unity. You have provided for us at the same time.

Maintaining the diversity of different gifts and talents and abilities that you have brought together here. Father even as we have an opportunity to sing before you I pray that you would be high and exalted here in this next year that you would be the one who would be lifted up and even as we sing these songs that this would not be an Exercise of singing words on a screen that it would not be an exercise of our vocal cords.

It would not be about the instruments. It would not be about the musicians. It would not be even about the style of worship. But ultimately would be about coming before your throne and speaking What is true of you and being changed and transformed in our hearts through worshiping you and through coming in contact with your word today.

I ask this in Jesus name. Amen, I really appreciate you guys leading us all the work that you guys put in. It's awesome. Encourage you to get comfortable as we kind of take it and take in this next section of worship in Hearing from the word have your Bibles open in front of you.

1st Corinthians chapter 12 verses 12 through 31. That's that's my outline. And so it's beneficial for you to have that open on page 821 if you lost your place. Encourage you to get comfortable. Restrooms are back here coffee.

Donuts juice restrooms are back there coffee. Donuts juice restrooms are back there. So however that cycle goes but um. What you just got it. You just got it. That's good one of us. And it wasn't that funny.

Uh, we're looking at a letter from the Apostle Paul and I. I don't preach Topically very often but when I do preach topically it's going to be Still focused on a text. It's not gonna be a topic here and there and all over and turning your Bible.

So we're gonna just camp right here and walk through this text thinking about what is a church and membership in the church. But I feel like if we're gonna jump into 1st Corinthians chapter 12, then there needs to be some context.

I need to explain to you what's going on? Who are these? What is this Corinthian thing going on? And what's all that about and get our minds kind of thinking through what's going on here in this text of Scripture.

We're looking at a letter from the Apostle Paul that was written to a real city in what is modern-day Greece just south of Athens a city called Corinth. It was at that time of his writing occupied by the Romans.

So it was a Roman area. And he is writing to a church that he helped to found there. He helped to get it established and we know he wrote two different letters at least two letters to them for we have them.

Recorded 1st Corinthians and 2nd Corinthians and they're there for us to check out but one thing that we can see. Have any of you read 1st and 2nd Corinthians some of you probably go through a Bible in a year or something like that.

You've read some of it. One of the things that just stands out if you read it for an understanding of what kind of church this is. Just by the things that Paul addresses to them shows that this is a jacked-up church.

Okay, there is no I mean no holds barred. This is messy. Okay. This is real life. What's going on in Corinth is it's whack. Okay, um, there's sexual immorality going on. There's divisions. There's class warfare all this within the church false teachers.

You name it Corinth was facing it and Paul addresses this kind of stuff in his letter to them talking about a church. That he started he helped to get it founded and now it's kind of gone off into some crazy stuff in our section of text.

Chapter 12 where we're at is found right in the middle of a larger argument that Paul is giving. Regarding unity in the body of Christ. He's talking about all this all this disunity has been happening.

And so he's been covering unity and some specific things that were going on there. They had what I would he scolded them earlier in chapter 11 for having what I would call segregated potlucks. Okay, that weren't quite potlucks.

Like I mean you bring it. I don't even know what I mean when I say potluck you bring a dish to pass whatever now. This was like brown. I mean different a little bit different. They're having picnic there.

They're brown bagging it. Everybody brings their own food to this event and they're bringing their own from home and some open up the brown bag. And there's caviar and escargot. So some were literally I mean filet mignon.

Yes, and they're bringing, you know, they're probably tailgating they're bringing their own barbecue with them and this is going on in the church parking lot or whatever and It actually goes so far as to say Paul addresses some of them were are you ready for this?

They were getting drunk at the church picnic. Okay, that's what's that's what's going on. I mean, that's how bad things were and at the same time. Some were kind of on the fringes and on the outskirts.

They open up their brown paper bag and there's there's nothing there. That's what Paul says there. Some of you are some of you are going without food while others of you are getting drunk and eating caviar.

Anybody see a problem in a church that that's the way that that's the way that the the church picnic goes. Okay, and so there's there's an issue of unity that's going on here. By the way at the end of that church picnic.

Do you know what they all do together? They all take communion together. Take community. We're all united here. Right as some of them are kind of a little tipsy and others have gone without and they're hungry.

Is this a messed-up church? There's some problems in here and now he takes a step further in chapter 12. He launches into another discussion of something else that's going on at the church. There's this disunity over the wealthy versus the poor and that's one of the problems that's going on there.

But then also some are saying my gifts my talents my abilities make me better than you. Because of the calling that God has placed on my life because he saved me and I'm super awesome and look at you.

What are you doing? And that was going on in this church. These people in Corinth are acting like spoiled brats the wealthy are ignoring the poor. Everyone's arguing that they're more important that their skills are more necessary to the church.

And if we just take just a second to think. Could sound kind of familiar, couldn't it? Sounds to me like the church in Corinth was full of real living breathing human beings because I think we can all recognize seeds of Arrogance and pride in our own hearts.

Well, yeah, maybe I am a little bit better than some people. Right and we can kind of begin to see how some of those things could be real and true of us. And so in verse 12, we're gonna pick up Paul's line of argument.

What's he gonna share with us about the unity that a church is supposed to experience? What is a church and how does it function and what does it look like? And so he's gonna define that for us by an extended metaphor.

He's gonna talk to us about the human body and that's where he starts here in verse 12 of Chapter 12 for just as the body is one and has many members and all the members of the body though. Many are one body.

So it is with Christ so he is likening Jesus Christ to a human body. Now we know that Jesus Christ is called the head he is the guide he is the leader. But he is in he is willingly incorporated members as his hands and feet now if you think in terms of what is your head.

Accomplished. I mean even in those ancient times. They had a pretty good understanding a pretty good notion of What you know the different parts of the body and different things like that and organs internally and all that but I mean just.

Couldn't you just from observing how a human body works at the head is pretty important. Would you would you kind of come to that conclusion just by watching and observing? Yeah, this is a pretty important part of my body and Christ is the head of the church.

He's the one setting the direction the goals. He's the one that's giving the commands if you will the one who is driving this towards purpose and keeping everything together unified. Moving in a common direction.

So he is the head the leader but he incorporates us like members like organs like Hands and feet and eyes and ears and he brings us all together. The use of the word members throughout this text has an almost medical notion to it.

Like when you see members there you can think appendage and that would be an accurate translation of that word member or appendage and yet I don't think it's a stretch for us to consider that what Paul is speaking about is membership in a local body a local church.

Now some have gotten a little carried away by making this too generic and too general. So they've said, you know. What Paul is talking about is how those of you who have been baptized in Christ who have accepted him as Savior.

You're just united across the board across the world with everybody. Now. Is there some truth to that? Is there some reality in which we are united in Christ with believers in Japan? Are we united with believers in South Africa?

Are we united with believers in Saudi Arabia? Yes through the blood of Christ. We are I'm gonna be are excited that we're so we're a part of something that's bigger than us. Is that an exciting thing?

It's a glorious amazing truth. But then I would challenge you to try to practice the things that Paul was going to talk about our unity and connectedness With your brothers and sisters in South Africa this morning all of a sudden it becomes harder the chances that I'm gonna run into somebody in my life from South Africa that Needs to forgive me and I need to forgive.

Not pretty not pretty likely that that's going to happen but the chances that you're gonna rub me the wrong way or I'm gonna rub you the wrong way and there's gonna need to be forgiveness and Connectedness and relationship in this ongoing give-and-take between you and me.

Yes, that's going to happen, isn't it? There's a sense in which it's obvious that he's talking about a local he wants us to apply this in a local church because he's writing it to a Local church he's writing to the church in Corinth.

And so who does he want this to apply to? I have a hard time applying these things that Paul is calling us to to my brothers and sisters in South Africa as as much As we are indeed in in a genuine sense in Christ united with them.

He's gonna say we need something different here locally in our local body. We need to be connected like an arm is connected to the torso. We need a connection here. That is very important in the same way that your arm and your foot are both a part of one body.

Paul says that believers are to indeed be united together and The basis of that unity in any real sense is our common experience of the Holy Spirit. You look at that in verse 13 for in one spirit We were all baptized whenever you see the word baptized a simple way to that's that's we didn't translate that into English.

Because King James had an issue with it and then we ended up creating a word for the King James Bible in English. That's a Greek word baptized. So we just take it from Greek put it in English because there's a lot of conflict about that word.

It means to immerse. So if you translate that anytime that you see the word baptism or baptized it means immersed or immersed. Immersing or whatever so it means to basically put into or under and so when you talk about immersion or baptism in the spirit.

This is Paul's way of saying is as a church together. We have been surrounded. We've been drowned if you will in the Holy Spirit. We've all been submerged immersed into the Spirit of God. The Spirit above us the Spirit beneath us the Spirit beside us the Spirit inside of us.

We've even drank of this spirit. Paul says how well through salvation in Jesus Christ that's the place where we are indeed immersed in the Spirit and It is he the Holy Spirit who is the stitches that hold this body together.

He is the one who holds it together like the sutures of a body holding the appendages on in this sense. The body of Christ is like a beautiful Frankenstein. With Christ as our head now, I don't say Frankenstein because we're on some gross Macabre monster that roams the countryside.

Looking to stir up the local locals and you know, the pitchforks and all that jazz. But it's a it's a picture of that which is disparate. We're all different parts brought together and sewn together and given new life in Christ for one common purpose and we work together in unity.

So as grotesque as that might be it actually seems to be a pretty good illustration of what the church is. And the idea of us being dead and made alive together is a beautiful picture that I think is exactly what Paul wants to drive for in this text.

Obviously taking the analogy too far of Frankenstein gets a little carried away. Who are the electrodes on the side of the neck and all that stuff but um Paul's primary point is going to be unity unity together with diversity of function in the members.

We're different than one another are we not? We have different backgrounds different histories different gifts different talents, but he has brought us together in unity together. So church if you're writing a definition down.

Write this up so a church is a diversity of people from a variety of backgrounds. Brought together by the Spirit of God. That is the definition of church. Let me read that again in case you're taking notes a church is a diversity of people from a variety of backgrounds.

Brought together by the Spirit of God. And not brought together by Common style of music. We all like the same kind of music so I guess I'll hang out here. Not brought together by cheering for the same football team.

Obviously, we've got Nebraska fans, Ohio State fans real for real. I know right so I mean obviously. It's not what it's about. There's all different kinds of things that you could assume is what creates our unity.

That are not the spirit and it is the spirit that creates the unity here. As silly as it seems Paul identifies that some in the body may decide to forego unity and maybe Try to jump ship because they decide they don't belong because they're jealous of another person's gifts or abilities.

I want to be a hand. I don't know how come he always gets to be the hand. I want to be a hand. I'm leaving imagine It could get even more whiny than that. Now this doesn't usually happen as directly as that you know how often does somebody stand up and challenge.

You know somebody in leadership and but can you imagine a situation in which a person working behind the scenes doesn't get much recognition and Throws in the towel and decides to quit because they don't get as much attention as somebody who's in an upfront role.

And you can you picture that happening according to human nature. I can imagine that happening a Foot that wants to be a hand. Does that sound a little bit silly. An ear that wants to be an eye. Obviously, it's meant to be a silly illustration, but it still gets the point across right the notion that they would want to do the others roll eyes.

Ears are not good at seeing. Right hands are not very good for walking. I've seen some people able to walk pretty good on their hands, but not for permanent. You know it gets kind of strange. Jealousy over rolls is like that silliness and according to Paul the body needs the foot and the ear just as much as we need the hand and the eye.

An Interesting observation came to me while I was studying this section this week this part of the text. And I was kind of pouring over and thinking through what are the implications? What are the assumptions that Paul has here?

And I noticed that Paul immediately jumps to the assumption that membership in the local body of the church is centered around Purpose and function. That's immediately where he goes you and he talks about membership.

He begins to talk about what is an arm do he starts to talk about the function and doing what an arm is supposed to? Do within the body he takes that for granted like every member of the body has a role to play and every member of the church Has a role to play as well.

Membership in a body is not in terms of what we stand to gain. Which is often our mind in America shifts towards well, what's in it for me? Right, I mean isn't that kind of the way we roll like I mean somebody asks you you're at the checkout line and somebody asks You to sign up for a membership.

What does it look like? Well, why why would I do this? Sell me your Give me your spiel. Or better worse yet is no. No. Thanks. Not right now. That's probably more often the case in our culture and society.

Membership is not in terms of what we have to gain as if the foot, you know. The foot would come to the hand and say what's in this for me? How about a massage? How often are you gonna clip these toenails?

What is your plan for protecting me from athletes foot? Do you have any experience dealing with warts? You know, it's like what. Yeah gross, right, um, I hate feet. I just. Well, if you're the foot, I'm sorry.

I didn't I didn't I didn't mean that that way. Just kidding. Paul takes for granted that a believer will be a member of a church. Like an arm needs to be a member of a bar of the body. Come on, how much does an arm need a body think in these terms?

I'm gonna ask you a series of questions. Can an arm be detached from a body? Yeah, yes it can. Yikes. Can it do what an arm is designed to do without a body. No, nope, it can't. Can a believer be detached from a local body.

Yes. Can he or she do what they were intended to do without a body? No, we are dependent on one another we need one another like an arm needs a body now. The interesting thing is I mean I sent out my I sent out my message In draft form to a handful of people they read it.

Give me some feedback their first thoughts or whatever Kyle's mentioned was at when at this point. In the text he was kind of like what about missionaries? What about those that we send out from the body now?

They're not they're not vitally connected or they're not and I would challenge that in a sense of saying they should be vitally connected as God raises up people from within our congregation to send them out.

They are no less a part of this body than if they're living here and attending here. And that's the way we ought to roll with missionaries. We ought to make sure that they're vitally connected and being fed and nourished and if that means sending them You know the podcasts and making sure that they have a connected group that's asking them for prayer requests on a regular basis and as much as possible making them feel like they are still a part of This body and still connected because they still have a role to play even in encouraging us Towards evangelism and what God is doing out in the world.

But I can tell you that as a former missionary myself Lynn and I being a missionary in England for a few years that that experience Highlighted to us the necessity of a local body like it's not that that's the exception to the rule like, okay well, God calls out some arms to go out and Function without a body and then that's all that's good.

And that's an evidence that obviously an arm can survive without a body. It's actually our experience was that it's hard. It's difficult. It's lonely. It can be just very very difficult being a missionary because you are Removed at distance from your local church from those that you love and care for and those that care for you.

Are you getting what I'm saying? It's actually it's actually an evidence that we need one another just even in that. But in verse 17 Paul speaks to the fact that we need diversity as well. We need a variety of different roles in the church.

If the whole body were an eye, oh. All right, see you, you know. You know, you know, some of you know exactly what I'm talking about. And that would be just creepy. Okay, if the whole body were an eye just trying to just trying to see stuff.

You know the big lid list. You know Read didn't flame I between the two towers and all that. And I like what Paul points out, you know as well just kind of being just matter-of-fact if the whole body were an eye How would we smell?

I mean, come on, you wouldn't even be able to smell anything so. Okay. Thanks Paul. But in the same way that God has arranged the human body, okay, he has arranged this body. The same way he has arranged the body of Christ us.

He's brought us together. He decided on the whole two ears in one mouth thing. Have you ever thought about this design as God's creation? That your body is a Evidence of God's orderly work and his handiwork and just the awesomeness of his power and glory and authority.

You know the opposable thumb his idea there's so many cool things about the human body and I Took an anatomy and physiology class from Cornerstone when I was in college and I I love that kind of stuff.

It's really an amazing and a glorious study. And while I was there we had a chance to go on a field trip. They didn't have their own cadaver lab at Cornerstone. But we went to Grand Valley State University and we went to their their cadaver lab there and we got what was called a spiritual Tour of the human body and it was it was genuinely a spiritual experience now.

Some of you are kind of like, you know, like cadaver. You just mentioned that word and that's like gross. It was an awe-inspiring thing to have a Christian professor walk you through the intricate details of the body.

Just highlighting some things here and there that are just just glorious and majestic in their creation in the way that they're designed and just the caught equine of the place where the spinal cord in the bottom begins to braid and and comes out of its braid and.

Just the intricate details of that or the way that I'm the tendons in the hand. Come down split and make an insertion point so that the next tendon can go through that channel and split. So the next tendon can go through and connect to the tip of your finger.

All that's required so that you can just move your fingers. Okay, and I never thought about how they have to split. Each tendon has to split at its insertion point in order for the next Tendon to go through so that you can pull your fingers down straight.

Okay without that your fingers go all so. Design the creativity of God in the way that he has designed this thing called the human body. And that's the illustration that he has chosen for his church. The diversity of parts and functions and roles all in a united purpose of working together.