The Perfect Church
1 Corinthians 12: 12 – 31.
Introduction.
What comes to mind when you hear the word
“Church?” This is not a trick question,
but your answer to this question will depend on the year of your birth.
For example, many of you were born into the
generation we call the GI Generation—or the World War 2 Generation. This generation returned from war, got
married and joined a church. For them,
church was a normal and natural part of life.
Church has been a meaningful experience of religious expression. Everyone was a part of a church. There was no embarrassment in asking someone
you met for the first time, “Where do you go to church?”
The children of the World War 2 Generation is known
as the Baby Boomers. (There is a
generation in between these two known as the Silent Generation. They are often overlooked, because they
typically share characteristics of either the generation before or after
them.) The Baby Boomers grew up going to
church every time the doors were open.
However, when they became adults, they expressed their independence by
dropping out of church. Church belongs
to their parents. Boomers were more
interested in freedom of expression.
Some Baby Boomers came back to church when their children reached the
teenage years. Because of their
background in the church, they saw something meaningful in the church which
could help them rear their children.
Church was important as long as it provided practical application.
The children of the Boomers (and the Silent
Generation) are known as Generation X—the no name generation. We were rebellious and lost. We began to doubt whether we would have a
better life than our parents. Many of my
generation don’t have the work ethic of our parents and grandparents. We rebel against institutions and
organizations, including the church. We
tend to define ourselves as spiritual but not religious.
I’m still trying to figure out the generation(s)
behind me. They don’t like institutions
or organizations, but they place a high value on community. They long for the kind of community the
church is supposed to offer. However,
they don’t like the church as an institution and reject what they think the
church stands for. They think of the
church as an authority which threatens their individual freedom of thought and
speech. They think the church is
exclusive in our beliefs about Jesus and salvation. They think the church is judgmental in the
ways we address sin and righteousness.
They prefer to form community at the local coffee shop.
How did the church get to this point? In about 70 years, church has moved from
being a normal and natural part of life to an out-dated, authoritarian
institution filled with judgmental hypocrites.
I think there’s plenty of blame to go around. On one hand, the cultural perception of the
church is skewed. People have formed
conclusions about the church which are not based on real life experience. On the other hand, churches are to
blame. Some people think the church is
judgmental and hypocritical, because there are judgmental and hypocritical
people in the church.
I have heard it said, “If you ever find a perfect
church, don’t join it. You will ruin
it.” The church is made of people. People are not perfect. Therefore, the church is not perfect.
One time I visited with a man in Mississippi about
joining the church. He said, “I don’t
know. I just think the church is full of
hypocrites.” I answered, “There’s always
room for one more.”
I suppose our view of the church depends a lot on
our view of ourselves. For example, if I
think I am a sinless and perfect person, I will expect my church to be filled
with sinless and perfect people. But, if
I realize that I am a sinner—a sinner saved by Grace, but still struggling with
sin and temptation—I will expect my church to be filled with people with the
same struggles.
What does the Bible have to say about church? Maybe we can open the Bible and read about
the perfect church so we can help our church become the perfect church.
1
Corinthians 12: 12 – 31.
12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.
13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-- whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free-- and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.
15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.
16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.
17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?
18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.
19 If they were all one part, where would the body be?
20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!"
22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,
23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty,
24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it,
25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.
26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.
29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?
30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?
31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.
(NIV)
Have you ever heard someone use the phrase, “New
Testament church?” Maybe someone looking
for a church would say, “I want to find a New Testament church.” Or, a member of a church says something like,
“I want our church to be more like the New Testament church.” There were several churches mentioned in the
New Testament. But, none of these
churches were perfect churches.
The church of Galatia had a theological
conflict. Paul wrote a scathing letter
to the Galatians to correct their theology.
They had teachers in their church claiming that Jesus wasn’t enough for
salvation. Salvation required Jesus plus
the Jewish Law.
The church of Philippi had a personality
conflict. In the Book of Philippians,
Paul begged Euodia and Syntyche to please learn how to get along.
And there is the church of Corinth. They had church members suing each other in
the courts. They had a man who married
his own stepmother. They were abusing
the Lord’s Supper. And the Scripture we
read today addresses a conflict over spiritual gifts in the church. So, Paul
makes an appeal to church unity by comparing the church to the Body of Christ.
The
Body of Christ = The Church (verse 27).
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
What does Paul mean when he uses the illustration
the Body of Christ?
The illustration Body of Christ appears at the end
of Paul’s philosophical argument. He
began the passage by describing Spiritual Gifts. He compared the different gifts to different
parts of the human body. Then, he makes
his final point by telling us he is not referring to a human body. All of this passage describes the Body of
Christ. But, what is the Body of Christ?
Our first clue to answer this question is the
pronoun Paul used in verse 27. He said,
“You are the Body of Christ.” If we were
to translate this into East Texas language, we
would translate it, “Ya’ll are the Body of Christ.” In other words, this is not a charge to
individuals. This is a charge to a group
of people.
There are two sides of the Christian life. Christian life would be incomplete if we were
to ignore either of these expressions of our life of faith.
The first side of the Christian life is the one we
as Baptists are very good about emphasizing.
It is the life of personal, individual faith. Jesus died on the cross and rose again for
you as an individual. Jesus issues a call
to individual men and women to enter into a life of faith with him. As Baptists, we usually talk about how
important it is for a person to be “born again,” or to “ask Jesus to come into
our hearts.” Both of these expressions
mean the same thing. It means every
individual must decide what to do with Jesus.
Will you be just like the rest of the world and treat Jesus as just
another person? Or, will you hand over
the controls of your life to live the rest of your days with Jesus as the Lord
(the ruler, master, boss) of your life?
The second side of the Christian life is the
corporate life. Individual men, women,
boys and girls must come together into a Christian community. This community is the Body of Christ. OR, as Paul says in verse 28…the church.
God
Arranges the Parts of the Body (verse 18).
18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.
There are various ways we can interpret the English
word “church.” On one hand, we sometimes
use the word “church” to describe all believers past, present and future. On the other hand, we often use the word
“church” to describe the people who gather here at the corner of First and
Bremond Streets in Lufkin ,
Texas
The term “Body of Christ” does NOT describe the
universal church stretched across the globe past, present and future. I get this from two of Paul’s arguments in 1
Corinthians 12.
First, Paul says there is an interconnectedness
within the Body of Christ that can be compared to the interconnectedness of our
human bodies. In my human body, my head
is connected to my shoulders; my shoulders are connected to my arms and my
torso; my torso is connected to my legs; and my legs are connected to my
feet. In addition, there are internal
connections of vital organs—heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, etc… The proper functioning of my human body depends
on all these external parts and internal organs working together. If one part ceases to function properly, my
whole body suffers. This image applies
to the local church, but it cannot apply to the universal church.
Second, Paul says in verse 18 that God arranges all
the parts of the body “just as he wants them to be.” In other words, God has brought us together
on purpose. It is no accident that you
are a part of Lufkin ’s First Baptist Church
Since Lufkin is a football town, perhaps we could
think of the church like a football team.
On offense, there’s a quarterback, who calls the plays and distributes
the ball; running backs, who run with the ball after the quarterback hands it
off to them; receivers, who catch the ball after the quarterback throws it; and
linemen, who block for the ball carriers.
There are different players with different skills, who function together
as a team.
Or, we could think of our church orchestra. We have many different instruments: piano,
organ, guitars, drums, trumpets, trombones, saxophones, flute, and others I
can’t think of. What would happen if we
asked our instrumentalists to switch instruments one Sunday? It wouldn’t work. Different musicians have different skills. But, when they work together, the music is
beautiful.
Spiritual
Gifts are Given to ALL Christians (verse 7).
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
The first half of 1 Corinthians 12 describes why God
brings us together. There is no one
person capable of doing all the work of the Body of Christ. My eye cannot do the work of my hands. My foot cannot smell—well, I guess there are
times when my foot does smell, but not the same way my nose smells. We need each other, because we are each
different.
Paul is clear in verses 7 and 11 that ALL Christians
receive Spiritual Gifts. Notice that he
does not say “some of you.” He says
“each one” receives a manifestation of the Spirit.
Did you know there is no one exactly like you? You are unique—even if you are a twin. I have three children who all have the same
mother and father. But they are
different. They have different talents,
abilities and gifts.
In the same way, there is no one in this church like
you. You have a Spiritual Gift that
makes you different and important to this church. Of course, there might be another person with
a similar Spiritual Gift, but they do not have the same passion and experience
that you have. It is God’s intention for
our church to have a diversity of gifts among a diverse group of people. God doesn’t want us to be the same. The church is a body, made up of diverse body
parts.
God gives gifts to all Christians. It is important to emphasize the fact that
ALL Christians have gifts, not just some Christians. It is also important to emphasize that these
are gifts and not something you have earned.
A gift does not depend on who you are.
It depends on the generosity of the One who gives.
God knows what our church needs. God is concerned with the way our church
functions. And God brings individual parts
together to form a successful body. God
brought you here to make this body function properly.
Spiritual Gifts are Given for
the Common Good (verse 7).
First Corinthians 12 is one of three places where
Paul lists Spiritual Gifts (also Romans 12 and Ephesians 4). I used to think that all three lists of
Spiritual Gifts were the same. But, then
I read the lists. They are not the
same. In fact, there is only one gift
that is listed in all three places—prophecy.
(Incidentally, I believe the gift of prophecy does not describe a person
with the ability to predict future events.
Rather, prophecy is the gift of “speaking God’s word to God’s
people.” We should probably compare it
to our modern day definition of “preaching.”
The prophets of the Old Testament sometimes predicted future events, but
this was only when they “spoke God’s word,” and God’s word was fulfilled. Paul describes prophesy this way in chapter
14, where he describes it as an important and regular part of the Christian
worship service.)
The fact that the three lists of Spiritual Gifts do
not all list the same gifts leads me to believe these lists are NOT intended to
be exhaustive or comprehensive lists.
These lists are simply representative lists.
So don’t worry if you cannot find yourself in any of
these gifts. A Spiritual Gift is any
gift God has given you that can be used to help the Body of Christ function
properly. “Prayer” does not appear on
any of the lists. But, I believe there
are some people who have a gift of praying.
“Music and worship” do not appear on any of the lists. Again, I believe this is a Spiritual Gift
that can be used to build up the Body of Christ and to help us function
properly.
“Criticizing the pastor and church leaders” does not
appear on any of the lists either. But
this is NOT a Spiritual Gift. It does
not build up the Body of Christ or help us function. As you search for your Spiritual Gift, make
sure it is truly a Spiritual Gift—a gift God has developed in your life which
builds up the church and makes the church BETTER.
The key to identifying a Spiritual Gift is to
determine if it is “for the common good.”
If the church does not benefit, then it is NOT a Spiritual Gift.
A Spiritual Gift makes all of us better. A Spiritual Gift is something we cannot live
without. In other words, if you are not
exercising your Spiritual Gift in the Body of Christ, then our church will be
LESS. What can you do to make our church
better? If you know what that is and
refuse to do it, then we cannot do what God has called us to do as a church.
Conclusion
The perfect church is not a church made up of
perfect people. The perfect church is
the church which functions as the Body of Christ.
While Jesus was on earth, he was complete. He did not need anyone else to perform his
God-given ministry. When Jesus ascended into Heaven, he commissioned his
disciples to continue the work of Jesus in the world. That work has been handed over to us as the
church, the Body of Christ. Preaching
the Gospel…Teaching the church…Serving the needs within the body and outside
the body.
The Body of Christ functions properly when all of
the members are committed to Christ AND to each other.
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