Good morning. My name is Ricky. If you're new here, I would love the chance to meet you. I'm one of the pastors here at the church and so excited to open up God's word together today.
All right, well, you should be in first corinthians chapter twelve, beginning in verse twelve. As we read. Let's remember, this is God's word, word 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. For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body. Jews are Greeks, slaves are free, and all were made to drink of one spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, because I'm 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 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 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 on our unpresentable parts, are treated with greater modesty, which our 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 apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles, are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess the gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret, but earnestly desire the higher gifts. This is God's word.
Let's pray. Lord, we pray for your illumination here. We pray for your spirit's work, as we're going to be talking about, to be present in and among our body, helping us grasp the truth of God's word, making it alive in our hearts that we might leave changed. We pray this in your name. Amen.
Well, this will not surprise you to learn, but as a pastor, I end up having a lot of conversations with people about church things, and I've started to pick up on a common thread over the years, over the decade plus, I've been doing this, and I'm gonna introduce you to three relatively common conversations I tend to have both inside and outside the church. And I think it reveals a common mindset, even though it's at first disconnected. So, first kind of conversation, a family will be visiting on Sunday, or I'll meet them in the community or even meet them, you know, out at another church event. And one the husband or wife will smile and say, okay, we're something like this, you know, right now. I'll ask where they go to church, or, how'd you come to church? And they'll say, well, you know, right now we're church shopping. We just want to see what fits our family the best. We want to see what programs are available. And they might ask about some of the programs at our church. What programs do you have available? What does it look like? What do you offer families? And they'll kind of talk about the other offerings they found in the area. And essentially, sometimes the force of the conversation is a little bit to me as a pastor. So what do you guys got? You guys got anything good? And I'm like, well, we have donuts. I mean, we do have that or a second kind of conversation. And I'll say, this happens especially among those who are college students or in their early twenties. They'll say something like, oh, man. Yeah, I'm sorry. I didn't end up making it to church or to my church on Sunday. I just got a lot going on. And I was like, oh, man, cool. So, you know, you work in Sunday mornings or, you know, well, not working per se, but, you know, up late Saturday night, it's a late one. Didn't make it. Okay. You know, and then they'll sense like, maybe that wasn't great. So they'll say, well, and plus, I mean, I've got a lot of homework. A lot of homework. Like, okay, you know, and actually, I got stuff going on later Sunday afternoon, too. You're like, oh, okay. You know, try to be just like, okay. Just receive what they're saying. That's a semi conversation, semi frequent conversation. Third semi frequent conversation is somebody that you meet on Sunday or out in the community, and they'll be excited to learn. I'm a pastor. And they'll say, pastor, pastor, so glad I met you. I have. The Lord has given me just such a wonderful ministry. I would love to share with your church. And it could be anything. It could be. I mean, I've had people that have a, like, I mean, I've got a music ministry. I've got. I've had one person say, I have got a one person straight up was like, I'm a prophet. I would love to prophesy over your church. And I'm like, what? I don't know what that means, you know, but okay. Or, you know, I have such a wonderful ministry of teaching. I'd love to share that with your church. Like, okay. And so, pretty quickly, they're asking, can I do that? Is the church available? What would that look like for me? And I'm trying to be like, okay, well, let's talk about that.
And so, at first, all three of those seem disconnected, right? But I think, and let me just say this as well, all of them, on the surface, are fine conversations to have. I'm not discouraging anyone from having those conversations. It is okay to look for a church and to try to prayerfully consider where your family is called to be. It is okay to balance life priorities and to try to figure out how to do everything God is calling you to do. Well, it is okay to believe that maybe God has given you a gifting and to explore how and where to use that. But I don't want to overstate this, but I also almost will. But I think underneath all of these common mindsets I've encountered, there is an underlying mindset in the american church that is killing us. It is killing us. And I don't think I'm overstating that, because I think the american mindset underlying most of our conversations about church, or many, at least of our conversations about church, is we see the we of church as a me thing. Right? We think individually, not corporately, about the church primarily or even exclusively.
And that mindset. Here's the good news. It's not new. Paul has been addressing that very mindset where the we of church becomes a me thing in the corinthian church. And he's about to address spiritual gifts in depth, which we are going to get into over the next few weeks. But he can't even get into addressing the spiritual gifts in particular until he addresses this underlying mindset. Because in Corinth, everything in the church, everything in the church is being looked at by its members through the lens of me first. What benefits me? What do I like? What do I dislike? What about my gifts? What about my opportunities? And that mindset Paul sees in Corinth is eating the church alive. It is destroying this church in Corinth, and here's the danger. It can and will destroy our church if we let it. It can and will destroy the american church if we let it.
6 · The pastor states the sermon's main thesis ('we're called to shift from me to we because we are Christ's') and previews the sermon's structure (four false beliefs)
So Paul is gonna shift their mindset today in this passage. He's gonna shift their mindset from me to we. Okay, from me back to we. And that that shift from me to we is anchored in a profound spiritual reality. So here's the way I want to sum up the main point, today we're called to shift our mindset from me to we because we are his. Because we are his Christ's. Now I'm going to walk through this with four beliefs that can kill the church. Okay? I'm not overstating this. You guys think, man, it's a little punchy today. Paul is punchy, okay? He's using insane ridiculous examples to try to wake the church up.
7 · The pastor expounds the first false belief—'me over here, you over there'—by walking through verses 12-13 and Paul's body metaphor
So here's the first mindset he's trying to wake the church up from. This is the first false belief. Me over here, you over there. That's the first false belief in the church. The church is me over here, you over there, look at verse twelve. 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. For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body. Jews are greeks, slaves are free. Then all were made to drink of one spirit. Now Paul has just been talking about spiritual gifts. He's just given the wonderful encouragement that we each have been given. A gift by God, many gifts in fact, usually by the Lord. But as soon as he says, hey, you have a gift, you have a gift, you have a gift. He knows there is a danger. He knows the corinthian church is going to be tempted to go, great, I am important, I am gifted, I have a ministry from God now. And then go, I'm over here in the gifted people. Thank you very much. What can the church do to further this wonderful gifting? The church is tempted to view, well, each member rather is tempted to view himself or herself individually and disconnected from the rest of the church. They thought, okay, it's me over here and you over here. And so Paul uses this word, picture of a body. Just as the body is one, so it is with Christ. Now here's what I want you to remember. Paul is not coming up with this view of the church as a body out of thin air. It's not like he's like, oh, what can I use? What could I use to, you know, what metaphor? No. In fact, if you remember, remember back to Paul's conversion in acts, chapter nine. He is a persecutor of the Church of Jesus Christ. He is on his way to persecute more christians. And what happens? A blinding light appears on the road and a voice from the risen, resurrected Jesus Christ calls out to him. And what does Jesus say? Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? He doesn't say why are you persecuting the church? He says, why are you persecuting me? Meaning this, that what Paul is doing to the church, he is doing to Christ. Because, as Paul says in one corinthians twelve, the church is the body of Christ. That's where he gets that metaphor. He's not coming out of thin air.
8 · The pastor unpacks Paul's threefold argument for unity: (1) one Spirit indwells all believers, (2) all believers share the same conversion experience (baptism into the body), and (3) all believers are therefore united to Christ
And so Paul begins to then to reinforce this unity of the body, begins to marshal a series of profound theological truths to show the corinthian church that it is insane and theologically heretical to view the church as me over here and you over there, I'm over here, the rest of the church is over there. When in reality, theologically, we are one, and that one is Christ's first reality. He says this, there's only one spirit. So the first reason we're not me over here, you over there, is this, that we all in the church, any Christian who's part of a local church together, it's not as though one has one spirit and another has another spirit, and so they should be divided. No, they have the same spirit. Right? So there's no me over here, you over there with the spirit. Second, they've all had the same experience in the spirit. So verse 13 says they were baptized into one body by the spirit. So if you look at the context here, it is very clear this is referring to conversion. They were baptized into one body. Paul is assuming all this has happened to all of them, not just some or others. You were all, he says, baptized into the spirit. So this is referring to that moment of conversion where they were plunged into, as almost going underwater, plunged into God's presence and the spirit. And then he switches the metaphor and using the same water analogy, and says, all of us were made to drink of this same spirit, meaning all of us were dying of thirst in the wasteland, and all were given this life giving water of the spirit that as soon as it touched our lips, revives us and brings us back to life. All of us have that same experience. So you might think, well, I'm so different from the people here. No, you know what's the same? You have the same spirit. You were plunged into the spirit. You were brought back to life by the spirit. And then he continues, you all therefore have the same relationship to the body of Christ, that what the spirit does in converting us, in bringing us to life, in filling us, is that it unites us to Christ. It unites us to Christ. You cannot be converted by the Holy Spirit and not spiritually united through the spirit to the body right. It's not as though, like, well, I'd like the spirit, but not having to join the body. No, you can't do it. They go together.
9 · The pastor expounds Paul's choice of Jew/Greek and slave/free as test cases for unity
Now look, to illustrate this further, Paul drops in because he knows there's going to be objections. He drops in some of the most profound divides in the ancient world, and he just pokes the church with them, okay. Because he knows the church will be tempted. Well, okay, that might be true, but there's still some pretty big divides over here, Paul. We've got the jewish seating section and the gentile seating section. We've got the slaves in the back and the freedmen up front. Right? I mean, let's be real here. There are some divisions. They can't be broken down by what you're saying. And he says, nope, right there. This reality is still true. Right there. Now think about that jew gentile divide. There is no more profound divide in the first century. It is a divide over religious background, a divide over ethnicity, a divide over politics, a divide over culture, every level of division. And yet Paul says, yep, even right there, same spirit, same baptism, same. Same life giving drink, same being brought into the body of Christ, same thing. You are still part of one body in one spirit, Jesus Christ. And then he takes the slave and free divide, right? Somebody who has an indentured servant or a slave, somebody who has no life privileges, and then somebody who's a freedman who has all the life privileges, and he says, okay, see that big divide? That seems impossible. All these truths still apply. Same spirit in both of you. Same baptism in the spirit in both of you. Same life giving regeneration through both of you. Same united to the body of Christ for both of you. You see what Paul is doing? He's saying, any area in which we're tempted to have a me over here, you over there. Mindset when it comes to the local church is theological heresy. That is the reality of one corinthians twelve.
10 · The pastor applies Paul's theological correction to American consumer culture, showing how everything—clothes, food, music—becomes an expression of individual identity, and therefore church becomes one more consumer choice
Now, we as Americans are often. We don't even realize we're doing this. We are so used to seeing everything in life as an expression of our own selves, right? So listen, this is the way we do things in America. We buy clothes that reflect us, right? Nobody's given out uniforms in America. We're like, I'm gonna buy these clothes because I like what it says about me, right? Or perhaps this food I eat reflects me. I'm this kind of person. I'm a Doritos and mountain dew kind of person, baby, you know? No, I'm a health food nut. Kind of person, right? And not only do we just believe in the nutritional, that there is something of our identity that's wrapped up in that. Or how about this, this music that I listen to? I don't just listen to it because I like it. I listen to it because this is the kind of music somebody like me listens to, right? It's all an expression of ourselves. And so here's what we tend to do. We tend to come to the church and see the church then as an expression of ourselves. Do I vibe with this kind of church? Do I like this kind of church, this china church? Does this express who I am? And we're not talking about theological realities. We're not talking about the deep things. We're talking about, like, how does it feel though, right? And that Paul is pushing on. He's saying, listen, the church is not an expression of you. You are an expression of Christ's church. It's not you over here, me over here, you over there. It's we're all together expressing this reality of being plunged into the spirit and added to the body of Christ.
11 · The pastor deepens the cultural diagnosis by connecting digital culture to loneliness and tribalism
Now, here's another place I think we see this in America. If you look at the statistics, there is an epidemic of loneliness that has come hand in hand with the rise of digital culture that so much of our life we live through computer screens. And here's the reality. It can be so immediate to turn on a favorite tv show and have quote unquote friends with us, right? I don't know what your comfort show is. I feel like everybody probably has some kind of a comfort show, whether it's the office, whether it's this, whether it's that, it's that group of characters. You're like, oh, I feel great. They're like, we're kind of like, hanging out even though we're not. But it feels like we are, right? Or we have. We scroll social media and we have a connection. And here's the danger. Digitally, we can pick exactly who we want our friends to be and we can go, okay, I'm gonna be connected digitally to people who are just like me. And in that way, those online communities, those shows, those things are just an expression of who we are. And Paul says, listen, to be part of the local church, to be part of the body of Christ, that mindset has to die because you can't come in and go like, great. I have all of the people I like all the people that I prefer. I can surround myself with them. And when I come to church, I'm just going to keep doing that. And I can see that person. Oh, my gosh, they look like one of those people. They look like a crunchy person. I can't abide crunchy people. But that people use some kind of oils or something. Like, I'm just, you know, stay over there. Or like this other person. I bet they. I bet they have like 20 guns. They just look like one of those people, huh? You know? And you're just like, no, I don't. And you kind of pick. Even coming into church, you begin to section yourself off with, these are the people that are my people. And those other people are over there. And Paul says, theologically, you cannot do that. You are Christ. The church is not an expression of you. You are an expression of Christ's body in the church.
12 · The pastor introduces the second false belief—'you don't need me'—by expounding verses 14-15 and Paul's absurdist body imagery
Second, false belief. You don't need me for the body does not, verse 14. For the body does not consist of one member, but of many. If the foot should say, because I'm not a hand, I do not belong to the body. That would not make it any less part of the body. Now, Paul is using this metaphor of the body in a profoundly shocking and funny and provocative way, okay? He wants to go after the mindset that happens. When you start to think, me over here, you over there, church is an expression of me. Here's what happens. You start to think, well, these other people don't really need me. So if I'm withdrawn, if I'm sectioned off, if I don't show up, if I'm disconnected, it doesn't affect anyone else, okay? This is just me. Or even perhaps. So that's kind of the arrogant mindset or even maybe the self pitying mindset of like, well, I wish I mattered. I wish I was important to the body, but I don't. I wish I could teach or lead worship, but I don't. So if I just don't come, if I opt out, if I'm disconnected, it doesn't really matter, does it? And Paul points out the insanity of it using this body metaphor, he says, listen, you cannot have a body of eyes any more than you can have a body of teachers, right? Can you imagine how insane the church would be if everyone only taught? There would be no lights on. There would be no worship. There would be no kids check in. There would be no donuts. There would just be a bunch of people waiting to share what they want to say about the Bible, right? That doesn't work. Any one gift expounded out. If everyone has that one gift, it doesn't work. Paul is pointing out, every single member is needed. No one can say, well, they don't need me. No, the body does need you.
13 · The pastor marshals sociological data on the de-churched to show the real-world consequences of the 'you don't need me' mindset
And here is the reality. I think Americans live under this mindset often because of the way we do church. That whether I come or not to church or community group, or whether I stay in touch with people over text, or whether I live life with people, it doesn't really affect anybody other than me if I choose not to do that. And this is the mindset. This is why I said, this is the mindset that is killing the american church. Because recent data is that there are 40 million people over the last few years in America that fall into what is called the de churched category, meaning people who used to go to church but now attend once a year or less, 40 million Americans. But now that does include Catholics and mainline and all that stuff. So let's go. Okay, so maybe closer. Our tribe of theological evangelicals, there's 15 million of them. And so a recent study from a couple brothers and a reputable firm dove into that and tried to figure out, okay, with evangelicals in particular, that say the right things about the Bible, that believe in Jesus as the son of God, believe in grace and faith as the way of salvation, why don't those people go to church anymore? And what the researchers, I listened to an interview with them, what they expected to find was, okay, it was politics, the divisive politics that makes them not go to church. It's deconstruction movement that makes them not go to church. They've changed theological beliefs that makes them not go to church. And so they expected to find that. You know what they did find the top two reasons, people who believe sort of, kind of similar to us, stop going to church. You know what the top two reasons are? One, they move and they just don't start going again. Or two, they just stop. Like it's this bundle of. Well, I got busy, it was less convenient. I had a life change. Their theological beliefs didn't change their lifestyle, had some hiccup, and they never went back. Do you see how this mindset is killing the american church? That there are 15 million, there are millions of people in America that the church is poorer for because they moved and didn't start again, or they just started to fall into the mindset of these people don't really need me, and they drop off.
14 · The pastor uses a mundane personal story—a text asking for help—to illustrate the power of being needed
Here's the text I sent this morning. I was trying to connect with somebody this morning before the service about something, and I. I sent him this text like hey, man, I'm not sure what you're up to, but can you help me with something this morning? And what's funny is the two people I texted, they responded immediately, like, oh, actually, I'm out of town, or, oh, yeah, I'm here and I can help you. And I thought, man, how different do you think church attendance would be if everybody in America got a text that said, hey, can you help with something this morning?
15 · The pastor applies the illustration's logic to the whole congregation: every Christian is needed
Right? And here's the reality. Every Christian in America, when the church gathers, is needed to help with something. That, right, there's nobody. This is what first corinthians is saying. There's nobody that. It's like, well, if they don't come, it's not really the big of a deal. They're just the appendix. We just slice that out, you know, and they're just. They're unnecessary. No, it's like, oh, yeah, they don't show up to community group. It's like having a less eye. We have no depth perception. Now can we make it kind of, but we can't catch a baseball right there. That's what Paul is saying. No one can fall into the mindset. Do you see friend yourself as optional to the church? Do you see your gifts as optional? We lose something in that mindset.
16 · The pastor introduces the third false belief—'I don't need you'—by expounding verse 21 and Paul's flip of the body metaphor
Third, false belief. Second one was, you don't need me. The third one is, I don't need you. Verse 21, 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. So Paul flips this to address the opposite problem. So this is somebody who's so confident in their gifts or abilities or ministry, they go, okay, here's what I do. And this is the most important thing. The local church then becomes a vehicle for their gifting that they think, okay, you know what? I can use my gifts with you or without you. It doesn't matter. I can use my abilities just as well without you as I can with you. I can. This is where it begins to go. I can follow Jesus just fine on my own without you. I can do life just as well without you. I can do marriage and parenting and family and everything just as well without you as I can with you. In fact, maybe a little better, because I don't have all these people slowing me down. And Paul's reaction to this is, let me just say, very unexpected, because where he goes from there is private parts.
17 · The pastor expounds verses 22-24 and Paul's shocking turn to 'unpresentable parts
You're like, I'm sorry, what? That is where he goes. He says in verse 24, verse 22, rather, on the contrary, the parts of the body that we seem to be weaker are indispensable than on those parts of the body that we think have. We think less honorable. We bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty. So you're like, wow, this is a wild left turn from Paul. Like, I'm already, we're already dealing with weird metaphors of a body of eyes and a body of hands. And he goes, not weird enough. Crank it up. Let's talk about private parts and you. Okay, he's making the point. What's the point? The point is this. Those parts of our bodies which we think are less honorable are actually usually treated with greater care and honor. And in this culture, it would be shameful to uncover your nakedness in front of anyone or the unpresentable parts, and it would be something that they would be always conscious of. And so you would always be treating those parts with greater modesty. And Paul is saying it should be the same in church, that what we think is forgotten or strange among the bodies or the parts we don't like in the body, we should actually be treating with greater honor, because it does not mean they are less important.
18 · The pastor narrates a previous pastor's illustration using the anus to illustrate indispensability, framing it as 'I cannot use this
Now, in prepping this message, I found a perfect illustration that I cannot use because, because we have a dear friend of ours who was a former pastor at this church. And one time we were talking about his first message, and I was just like, hey, Tony, what was your first message? And he says, it was actually one corinthians twelve. And I remember that this week. And I was like, oh, yeah? What did he do? So he says, well, my first message, you know, I'd never preached before, and I felt like, man, I've got this illustration that is just a banger. Like, it just is going to land this text on people's hearts. And so what he does is he goes in, he goes to the church and says, you know, essentially church. Think of, for example, in our bodies, the anus, often seen as the least of the parts. And yet, and many of the other parts of the body might be tempted to look toward that body part and say, well, you're not important. Nobody cares about you. You're not an eye, you're not a hand, you're not a stomach. You don't do anything useful. But what if that particular body part stop doing its job? Well, in that case, this is what Tony's saying, that the eyes would well up with tears and the stomach would be in intense pain and the whole body would be writhing in discomfort because it turns out we actually do need that body part. Now, as I reflected on this, I realized there's no way I can use that illustration. It's too weird. But if I could, I would say it's actually a pretty good illustration and worth thinking about, because the parts that we often think, well, we don't need that one. If we did not have it, we would suddenly find ourselves wishing that we did. Right. And so the parts of the body that seem less important, less honorable, less flashy, right. Those parts of the body are still indispensable. That's the way the body has been designed by the Lord. And so, again, if you have any concerns, please send them to Tony about that illustration. I am equally concerned about it. And he said he's not sure if he would use it again, which I would agree with. I'm not sure if you should.
19 · The pastor applies Paul's logic by naming a common divide in evangelical churches: theology people vs
Here's my question then. What do you not think you need in the church? Are there any parts of the body in particular that you think, well, we don't really need those kinds of people? Or in particular, I don't think I need those kinds of people. Here's the reality. Often those, for example, those who are the most theologically oriented and the most service oriented, tempted to not think they need each other. Right. The theology people are like, man, I'm just. I'm three volumes into Herman Bavink, and all you've done lately is go out and try to hand out food to the homeless, where I'm studying the deep things of God, where the person who's out handing out food to the homeless is like, I'm out here handing out food to the homeless, and all you're doing is studying the deep things of God. And here's the reality. They need each other, because without one of them, well, the body would be less stable and sure in its foundation, but without the other serving, well, the body wouldn't be doing his job. Paul is saying, we need one another.
20 · The pastor narrows the application to twenty-somethings, citing Kevin DeYoung's claim that church membership in your twenties is the most fateful decision after conversion
Now, look, I want to speak a word of encouragement, especially to people in their twenties, because in my experience, I found that often people in their twenties are those most likely to think they don't really need a local church, that they could just do Christianity as well without the church as they can with it. And Kevin de Young used to preach, used to be located in an area super close to, I think it was, Michigan State University. And so he'd often say this. He would say that when you go away to college, possibly other than believing in Jesus Christ, the most fateful decision you will make in your twenties is the first Sunday you find yourselves without your family making you get up to go to church. And the most fateful decision of your twenties is whether without anyone forcing you to, you will get up and join a body of Christ. And I thought, okay, well, he think he's overstating that. No, no, no. I think he's probably right. Because whether or not you become a part of a local expression of Christ's body when no one is forcing you to, changes the way you think about career. It changes the way you think about who you're going to marry. It changes the way you think about how to resolve conflict. It changes everything in your life.
21 · The pastor continues addressing twenty-somethings, naming their felt need for mentors while showing the irony: they want older wisdom but avoid the local church where that wisdom is found
And so let me just encourage you, if you are in your twenties, this is going to be a defining issue for you this decade. Do not believe the lie that you do not need other people. And here is the irony I've often found is I've talked to people in their twenties, they've often, they'll often go like, man, I just really wish I had a mentor. I really wish I didn't have a great father figure or great mother figure. I really wish I had some family or I really wish I had some advice about career. I really wish I had somebody that I could go to for counsel. And they're looking around and all their friends, all the people they know are all just other 21 year olds, right? I'm not saying another 21 year old can't encourage a 21 year old, but they are crying out for a 65 year old brother who's been through life. Right? Where do you find that? In the local church, in the very small group they might visit and go, nope. Old people like that might be the very thing they need. So, friend, do not believe the lie that you don't need others.
22 · The pastor pivots to parachurch organizations, offering both affirmation and caution
And let me. Oh, man. Okay. Let me just give one caution regarding parachurch organizations because they're so prevalent in America. I thank God for many of them. We are partnered with a number of good parachurch organizations and at best, parachurch organizations are a good extension of local church ministry. Okay. Period. Love that. Those that do it well, man, I have so much respect for. Grateful for them. One caution, though. At worst, parachurch organizations become a bunch of the same body part coming together and they. And deciding they do not need the other parts of the local church. Right. That is a danger. All the mercy people in one spot, all the theology people in one spot, all of the evangelism people in one spot without the other parts of the body. Now that is theologically dangerous.
23 · The pastor narrates a conversation with a parachurch leader to illustrate the danger of reducing church membership to Sunday attendance
I heard. I think this is helpful. I'm going to push on it just a second. I heard one person in particular that was a leader in a parachurch organization tell me. And I was encouraged to hear this. We want everyone involved in our ministry. This ministry had a lot of stuff going on. They had various studies and groups and discipleship and various opportunities to serve a lot of things the local church does. Right. And so they were doing all these things. But I was encouraged because he said, well, but I want you to know, as a pastor, we want everybody who's part of our ministry to be part of a local church. I was like, oh, that's awesome. I love that. I said, so what does that look like for you guys? Like, how do you encourage people? And he says, well, we really encourage people that they should be in a church on Sunday morning. And I was like, cool. And they're like, well, I mean, that's what we, that's our goal, to make sure everybody's in church on Sunday. And the more I talked to this brother, I began to realize, okay, his mindset is this. You can do everything you need to do in the christian life within this ministry as long as you also attend a church service weekly. And here's what I wanna say in love. Attending a church service weekly is not being part of a church. It is attending a concert once a week. That is not the same thing.
24 · The pastor introduces the fourth false belief—'a church shaped by me'—by expounding verses 27-31
All right, let me move to four and then we'll begin to wind this down. False belief number four, a church shaped by me. That's the fourth. False belief that the church should be shaped by me and my gifts. Look at verse 27. Now, you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles or all prophets or 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. Now Paul turns back to spiritual gifts in particular as he's about to launch into a lengthy section of ordering their practice of spiritual gifts. Remember, though, that the gift, the first corinthians says that corinthians were obsessed with was what the gift of tongues. And so they were measuring who was really gifted, quote unquote, by the gift of tongues. And here's what happened. Those who had the gift of tongues were essentially trying to reshape the church into their image. Meaning the gift of tongues is the first gift, it is the last gift, it is the most important gift. It's the measure of spiritual maturity. All of that, and the church should look like me and my gift. And here's the reality. Every generation faces the same temptation, just with different gifts. We want to reshape the local church into our image, into what we want, what we prefer, or what we are good at. So in a business oriented United States of America, we may be tempted to reorder the church or reshape the church according to business principles and the gift of administration. Or we may be tempted to reorder the church into a vision, a version of eastern spirituality, mystical, touchy feely stuff. Or we reorder the church according to the current views of gender and power and authority so they reflect our culture. And Paul attacks this mindset in two ways. First, he says this. All gifts are given by Christ. You, he says, are the body of Christ and God has appointed, meaning this, this is so important. If you get this, you'll get so much. You don't get to decide what the church is and what it should look like. You are the body of Christ. It is his body. He decides. You are part of it. You are a glorious extension of it. But his church is not an extension of your preferences. You are an extension of his church. He decides, he shapes, he orders.
25 · The pastor exposits Paul's ordering of the gifts, showing how Paul demotes tongues from the Corinthians' exalted position to 'either at the end or at the bottom
And notice this, all gifts are ordered by Christ. You notice that the language of first, 2nd, 3rd, then Paul is ordering. Now, we don't know exactly what the order refers to. It either is an order of sort of a hierarchy of top to bottom in terms of the way the church is structured, or an ordering in terms of timing, meaning the gifts that were used foundationally in the church. We will get into charismatic gifts and continuationism and all that stuff in a few weeks. But I want you to notice right here what Paul is doing. He is taking the gift of tongues that they are obsessed with. And do you know where he puts it? Either at the end or at the bottom. The Corinthians would have been like, offended. Like what? We've been using this to reorder the entire church. He's like, nope, nope. Can't do that. Now, first he says there are apostles. There are men who establish the church globally and locally in areas. And then there are prophets. Now, that's likely a reference to spiritual scriptural prophecy. So those like Paul and the gospel writers were inspired by the spirit in a capital p, prophetic way. So imagine, if you would, there are capital letters around apostles and prophets, capital a, apostles, capital p. Prophets that were either foundational for the entire church, which is what ephesians says, or first, in order as the church was established. And then third, there are teachers. Now, teachers referring here to elders, I think in the church they are next, because what do the teachers do? Teachers teach the lesson plan they've been given. Right. The teachers are taking Jesus words, Jesus structure of the church, and Jesus scriptural words, and using it to order the church. They are the guys with the blueprints saying, that's not what the architect said. You can't do that. Oh, over here, we're missing a section according to the, the blueprints here. That's why teachers are next. And then you finally find tongues in a list, a wild list of mundane and spectacular things. Right? Look at this list. Healing and tongues are in the same category as helping and administrating. You know what Paul is doing? He's saying, yeah, sure, tongues is a wonderful gift, and it's just as great as administrating. Healing is a wonderful gift, and it's just as great as helping people. And you're like, whoa, whoa. Are you really saying that? And Paul is doing this because he is reordering their church, reshaping the church not according to their preferences or their preferred gift, but according to the. To blueprints of Jesus Christ for his church. He is giving, he's taking the blueprints out of their hand that they've been building and putting the blueprints of Jesus back in their hands and saying, build it like this.
26 · The pastor applies the exposition with a direct rhetorical question: are you willing to let Christ define how your gifts are used? The application exposes the American tendency to reverse the order—starting with personal preference and then fitting the church to it
So, friend, are you willing to let the one who gave you your gifts define the boundaries and place of use for those gifts, rather than you going, well, here's what I like. Here's what I prefer. Here's what I'm good at. Let's reshape the church according to that. And we go, no, here's my gift. But I'm starting with what is Christ's design? Where can I be part of what Christ has given? That order is so often reversed in the american church. And may we hear this word of correction where needed.
27 · The pastor gives concrete examples of the 'church shaped by me' mindset—music people wanting more music, administration people wanting more structure—and then lands the corrective claim: 'Christ shapes the church
Look, this is a major mindset, I think, that we see in the local church, we begin to see it as a place, a platform for our own gifts. So tempted at different points to go, okay, I'm gifted in music, so I would like more music opportunities. Let's do more music things at the church. Or I'm gifted in administration, so I want more structure. I want this to look more like a business or whatever it is. The church becomes an extension of us when we are called to be an extension of Christ. And so here's the word. Christ shapes the church. The church is not shaped by me.
28 · The pastor transitions to the conclusion by returning to the opening illustrations and confessing he is guilty of the same sins
Now let me move to closing. Remember those people from the beginning of the message. Remember the person. Church shopping. Remember the 20 something that Sundays were optional for? Remember the traveling prophet who wanted a platform to share their gift? Remember all those people? Here's the reality. I am all those people, and I have been all those people. I haven't been church shopping in a long time, but I have gone to community group sitting, selfishly wondering how all of what's going on in the room benefits me, and sometimes going, eh, don't feel super benefited this week, right? Haven't we all been there? Maybe you haven't been at the Sundays or optional mindset, but hasn't community or fellowship become suddenly optional when conflict or difficulty arises? All of a sudden, you're like, I'm not gonna be able to make it, right. I'm at church every Sunday, but when things get tough, I'm out. Or third, maybe you haven't been the traveling prophet looking for an opportunity or a platform to use their gifting, but haven't you, like me, inwardly grumbled when it seemed like your gifts were not recognized or. Or praised or applauded or noticed? We've all been there. This is all of us friends. That's why first corinthians is good news.
29 · The pastor concludes with the gospel—Jesus sees our sin and saves us anyway, bringing us into his work despite our unworthiness
Jesus sees us. He knows our grumbling. He knows our pride. He knows our selfishness, and he saves us anyway. And he brings us into his work anyway. Isn't that remarkable that he sees us, our hearts laid bare in front of him? Like the first? The heart of the Corinthians is laid bare in this chapter. Our hearts are laid bare, all the selfishness, all the pride, all the grumbling, all the whatever. And the Lord sees it, and rather than moving away from us, moves toward us, pays for those sins on the cross, and then says, you know what? I'd love to bring you into my work. How insane is that? To take a bunch of selfish sinners that are proud and arrogant and only care about themselves and bring them into the church. And here is the reality that was Paul, the apostle himself. Paul is not writing this epistle from a place of. I've always had it together. He's writing this epistle from a place of man. You should see my past. But the Lord saved me. He gave me that life giving water that brought life back into my body. He brought me into his work. And my zealous hope is to bring you, Corinthians, into his work again. Right? That's what this passage is doing.
30 · The pastor concludes with a pastoral prayer and a rhetorical question for self-examination
And look, this is what I pray for. Cross of grace. I pray that we would be a church. I think we have been by God's grace for the last 45 years. A church that we know the church is imperfect, and we love it anyway. That we know that church is difficult and we pursue it anyway, that we know that we're all tempted to be selfish and proud and isolationist and arrogant, and yet we press into fellowship and encouragement and service anyway. And in that way, friends, we build something unique in all the world. Look, the body of Christ is the most unspeakably precious thing this side of heaven. It is his body. He died for it. And so, friends, let us check ourselves. This passage has been so helpful for me because it's checked me. Do I walk through the doors of community, group, or church, or life going great? How does all this benefit me? Or do I walk through the doors beholding the beauty of what God has done by dying to redeem a people for himself and then saying, that is so beautiful. How do I join in?
31 · The pastor closes with a comprehensive prayer that mirrors the sermon's structure: comforting those who feel unneeded ('I don't matter') and afflicting those who are too comfortable ('mindsets from our culture')
Would you stand? And let's pray. Lord, I pray this morning that old prayer, that in the preaching of your word, you would comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. I pray that you would comfort any who are afflicted, who think, man, I don't matter. Whether or not I come or participate or get involved in fellowship, it doesn't matter. Nobody needs me. I'm not worth much. My gifts aren't worth much. Lord, I pray that you would comfort them. I pray that they would see themselves as a beautiful and profoundly needed part of the church. I pray that they would see themselves as somebody shaped by God uniquely, who is being shaped by God uniquely through the power of the spirit for glorious and eternal purposes. And I pray that they would feel the warm embrace of the Lord, drawing them in to what you are doing and building. And then, Lord, I pray for all of us. And I put myself in this category that you would afflict the too comfortable Lord, where mindsets, perhaps from our culture in America, have made their way into our minds that are not biblical. Lord, I pray that we would lay them aside. I pray that we would put them away. And I pray, Lord, we would take up your vision for the church. Lord, I just have this image in my mind, Lord, that there may be those like me that need to put the blueprints of their hopes and their life and their definitions of gifting and what they hope to do in ministry. They need to put those aside this morning and take up your blueprints from the New Testament and ask how they can help. Lord, I pray that we would do that faithfully and do it well. And, Lord, thank you that you not only call us your body, you call us your bride. You see us not just as functional, but as something beautiful and glorious. And I pray that as we sing, we would feel it. Amen.