 Let's look at 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and see what the Apostle Paul says concerning the church Beginning at verse 12 1st Corinthians chapter 12 Paul writes for as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body being many are one body So also is Christ For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body whether Jews or Greeks whether slaves are free and Have all been made to drink into one spirit For in fact the body is not one member, but many If the foot should say because I am not a hand. I am not of the body. Is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say because I'm not an eye. I'm not of the body. Is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye Where would be the hearing if the whole were hearing where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members each one of them in the body just as he pleased and If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members yet one body and the I cannot say to the hand I have no need of you nor again the head to the feet. I have no need of you No much rather those members of the body Which seem to be weaker are necessary and those members of the body which we think to be less honorable these we bestow greater honor and Our unpresentable parts have greater modesty But our presentable parts have no need but God composed the body having given greater honor to that part Which lacks it that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care For one another and if one member suffers all the members suffer with it One member is honored all the members rejoice with it Now you are the body of Christ and members individually God has appointed these in the church first apostles second prophets Third teachers after that miracles then gifts of healings helps administrations varieties of tongues Are all apostles are all prophets are all teachers are all workers of miracles Do all have gifts of healings do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the best gifts and yet I will show you a more excellent way One of the problems that the church there in Corinth and we've already seen this one of the problems the church there in Corinth suffered with was a problem of division Paul had made it very clear in his introduction in chapter 1 When he got to chapter 3 he had said in verses 3 and 4 to the Corinthian church You are still carnal for where there are envying strife and divisions among you Are you not carnal and behaving like mere men for while one says I'm of Paul and another I am of Apollos are you not carnal and so he said there is carnality. There's division within the body of Christ and He was speaking concerning that Now he had been wanting to remind the Corinthians of something that the church needs to be reminded of pretty much often He wanted to remind the church of their spiritual unity in 1 Corinthians 10 17 He had said we being many are one bread and one body for we all partake of that one bread And so he wanted the body of Christ there in the city of Corinth as well as all of us who are reading this letter 2000 years later. He wanted us to know that unity is Very important in the body of Christ The body of Christ is to be one in the Lord Because the body of Christ stands in unity in opposition to the enemy It's been said Satan always hates Christian fellowship. It is his policy to keep Christians apart Anything that can divide saints from one another he delights in He attaches far more importance to godly fellowship than we do since union is strength He does his best to promote separation Now that's absolutely true Of course it is the Lord Jesus Christ and Matthew 12 25 said every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation and Every city or house divided against itself shall not stand If the enemy wants to do a work against against the Lord what does he do? He sows seeds of discord and division in the body of Christ He wants the house to be divided against itself He doesn't want the body of Christ to have unity and fellowship He doesn't want us to have singleness of heart and purpose because if we do then we're going to be great enemies of his kingdom The Bible makes it very clear that God desires his people to dwell together in peace and in unity even as it says in Psalm 133 1 Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity And so God's desire for us the body of Christ is to be one in him Jesus wants us to be united in him. He even prayed that we would be remember his high priestly prayer in John 17 How he said in verses 20 and 21 I do not pray for these alone But also for those who will believe in me through their word that they all may be one as you father are in me And I in you that they also may be one in us that the world may believe that you sent me the world will believe Partly because the body of Christ gets along because the church loves one another Because we stand in stark contrast to a world that is filled with division and and filled with anger and a Lack of unity we the body of Christ are intended by Jesus Christ To be united together in opposition to the enemy and to be cemented by love So we need to protect the unity of the body that we have That's something that we actually decide to do because we've been called by God to learn to love one another When Paul was writing to the Ephesians in chapter 4 verses 1 through 3 he said as a prisoner for the Lord Then I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received Be completely humble and gentle be patient bearing with one another in love Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace And so that's supposed to be my responsibility To do the very best I can to live at peace with other believers It works in the house if I live at peace with my wife There'll be unity within the house. There'll be love in the house. The spirit of God won't be quenched in our house But if we're constantly at each other's throats if we're always arguing with we're always in opposition to one another Not only does it divide us from one another, but if we're parents is also going to divide our children's hearts And so unity is of utmost importance Now when you're talking about spiritual unity we need to immediately say unity does not mean uniformity We're not clones of one another Every one of us have distinct gifts and every one of us have different callings in in the body of Christ Unity can be expressed in diversity and Paul's about to demonstrate this and that's what he's speaking about here In first Corinthians chapter 12 now notice with me in verse 12 How he begins here first Corinthians 12 by saying as a body is one and has many members But all the members of that one body being many are one body. So also is Christ So he begins by emphasizing the interrelationship of each member of the body of Christ It's interesting if you were to look at verses 12 to 27 in this passage here He chooses to use the word body some 18 times What he's wanting to refer to is a fact that we are already together in Jesus Christ We are supposed to be one because God designed us that way So when he speaks about us being the body of Christ, it would speak of the unity that we have in Jesus Christ He echoes that sentiment that thought in romans chapter 12 at verse 5 When he says we being many are one body in Christ and every member Everyone members of one another. He says the same kind of thing in Colossians 118 when he speaks of Jesus in this way He is the head of the body the church So he's making it very clear that we are in christ and therefore are called the body of christ The church is called a right of things in scripture. Obviously. We're referred to as the church We're the bride of christ. We're also called the body or the body of christ And so we are the body of christ and he's making it very clear here, especially in verse 12 that christ's body is one So we who are in christ are to be one in him Now We are not a social club We are not a sports team We're members of one another You can be part of a fraternity You can be part of a Some organization like the moose or elk some lodge You can be part of uh You know a union There's a variety of things you can be part of That do not require you to love one another If you play sports and you're on a team and the manager gets you together and you begin to have a A team kind of talk the manager isn't going to look to the first baseman and say You know man, you've got to love that right fielder out there. He's just not going to do that You know second baseman. You've got to just love that catcher. It doesn't work that way. You don't have to What you need to be is adept at your position You don't even have to love the team that you're on if you're a professional athlete You probably don't even care about the team that much because what you're looking for is the best salary you're going to make That's the way it works. We understand that Teams are that way To be successful though, the better teams have a fondness for one another. They enjoy being together There's just something about that camaraderie But if you are part of some secular organization They cannot make you love one another If you're in the military and you've got a fighting unit that you're part of They don't say to you, you know rezolace. You've got to love this guy over here As a matter of fact, that's frowned on in the military What you're supposed to do is just be supportive of the mission Be good at your job Be willing to do the things you've been trained to do If you have a fondness for that guy, that's all the better The chances are you won't leave him on the field if he's injured But the bottom line is it's not required when I took my oath of fealty to the united states They did not say and I will love my fellow soldier. I didn't have to swear to do that I was going to uphold and honor the constitution and and be in opposition to the enemies of the united states That's part of our of our oath But I wasn't I wasn't told you've got to love your fellow soldiers I wasn't told that because I don't have to it's a choice I make But the church is different We are commended by god to love one another The body of christ is different We are actually going to demonstrate that we know god By the love we have one for another That's what jesus said Jesus said by this shall all men know you are my disciples if you love one another And so the body of christ is one and the unity of the body is to be protected We endeavor to keep the unity of the body and the spirit of peace and we do so by love Because we are the body of christ. That's what the church is called to be And that's what we're called to do We are the visible body of christ and what we're trying to do is we're trying to learn to love one another And you do learn to love one another, don't you? I mean those of us who are married in this room know that the day that we got married more than likely When we're giving our oath to one another. We're making our promise before god We said something like I will love you. I will honor you. I will cherish you Etc till death do we part or something like that whatever your Your vows if you're married were something like that But I made a promise I made a promise to that woman when we got together. I will love you And I'll do my best to be a good husband to you But you know what? I didn't have a clue what I was saying. I mean he was saying that I was repeating it That was about it. I don't even remember my wedding day. I was in a fog That was drunk. No, I was and I'm just kidding drunk in love no, I I really don't remember That much about it I do remember making promises And I do remember thinking that I loved this young woman that I was making these promises to But I like all of you who are married Or all of you who are in a relationship that's growing in its love for one another know That if it really is love Then the next Next month if you're still together You're going to love each other more than you did the month before And what happens over time at least it's been true in my My case is you can actually say something like I love you more today than I did yesterday You can actually say that because you do Because love has a tendency of continuing to grow So you're committed aren't you if you're going to be married and remain married you have to be committed Don't you I mean if you're not committed to being married then what's the purpose of getting married? And if you're making promises who you making those promises to See for me when I got married I was making promises first to God I was saying to God I will care for your daughter And I was afraid when I made those promises because it wasn't just to Maria I was making a promise. I was making my oath to the Lord Secondly, I was making my oath to this young woman And thirdly, I was making my oath before witnesses I was saying in front of those who came to the wedding That this woman that I'm looking at right now Is going to be a woman I will be faithful to until Jesus takes me home And I had an assumption that I would remain with her for a long long time And that's been the case But I've discovered over time that love is something that grows over time So you're in a church and you're beginning to meet some people around you And somebody hurts your feelings And before you know it you just take yourself and you move some place else because that person hurt me Instead of working it out Instead of reconciling Instead of seeking a way for you to live in unity Just get up and you just leave You do that often enough you go through what I call, you know, root shock I know something of root shock Because I'm somebody who's pretty good at killing plants I can put a plant here and I don't really think it looks so good there after a while Then I would just dig it up Then I'd put it somewhere else. I'd leave it there for a little while Didn't really like it Try it again The thing dies The thing dies right there. Why because it goes through shock You cannot have it rooted without it being grounded It has to remain there. It has to be cared for It has to be pruned It has to be just taken care of What makes me think that being in the church is much different Than just taking care of the things like plants It's really not a whole lot different when you think about it You got a weed You got to make sure that it's watered Make sure it has the proper nutrients You have to care for it And if you do so Then that little plant's going to continue to grow and produce and it's going to be great Because it's cared for I killed a lot of plants We moved into a house and I've told you this before some of you have heard this I had some ivy that the Former owner had left in our backyard in a little pot It was nice and green And and I would go every week and I would take some water and I'd water the plant, you know and Man that little plant was a good little plant The only one that stayed alive and green all the time and I really liked that plant. I really did I thought man that's a good plant. I can still remember talking to it It didn't say anything in return, but I I said, you know, you're a good little plant. I like you man. You're a good plant Well, I forgot to water it for about a month maybe a month and a half I just forgot and I went into the backyard. I saw this plant there and it was green still green And I walked up to it. I said, oh man. I'm sorry man. I haven't watered you but look at you You're still green And I reached down and like a little dog. I patted it Man, you're a good little it was plastic the only reason that that thing stayed green That's a true story. I'm not kidding The only reason it stayed green it was it was it wasn't even alive. It was just plastic I learned some lessons about things like I learned lessons in the most basic ways If you neglect a real living thing, what does it do? it dies If you neglect a real living relationship in the body of christ, what's going to happen? It's going to fade away So instead of us uprooting ourselves and running someplace else and trying to replant and uprooting ourselves running someplace else and trying to replant Why don't we grow where we're planted? Why don't we Mature in our faith in the lord? Why don't we work through the problems that we have So that we can actually demonstrate that we know what it means to love one another Paul is talking about that here in the body of christ. He's saying don't you understand that you are one in jesus christ Don't you realize there's only one body? Now, how did I get to be part of that one body verse 13? He says for by one spirit. We were all baptized into one body Whether jews or greeks whether slaves are free and have all been made to drink into one spirit How did we become one in the body of christ? Well, he says that the holy spirit brought us into the body in galatians chapter 3 Verses 26 through 28 Paul echoed this by saying You are all sons of god through faith in christ jesus For all of you who were baptized into christ have closed yourselves with christ There is neither jew nor greek slave nor free Male nor female for you are all one in christ jesus There's no Difference we're all one in him. I don't know if I should use this illustration It can be misunderstood I'll use it and take the chance Because we're talking about the body of christ and we're supposed to love one another so you've got to love me So i'm going to say it Before I got saved Before I got saved there was a lot of revolution going on There was a an organization all of us have heard of called the black panthers that sprang into existence in the late 60s there was There were the gray panthers. I don't know how many of you have even heard of the gray panthers There are a bunch of old people Seriously, and they called themselves the gray panthers They had um the brown beret Native american groups there are various groups that started at that time one of my friends was one of the leaders of the brown beret he was a leader in the brown beret and uh His brother and I were good friends in high school And he tried to get me to be part of the brown beret Because being a mexican american myself he wanted me to be part of this group that was going to fight for the rights of Of of mexicans and this and that and I told him no I don't want to be part of that Why not Now you have to understand I was not a christian at that time But I said because I really think people ought to be one And I'm not really big on dividing humanity into sections and subsections I think we need to work together in unity. Don't you? Well, he didn't think so at all and that Splinterization of the united states has continued since the late 60s So that instead of out of the many one We now have out of the one many and there's a lack of unity That's in our world. It's splintered into class warfare Into ethnicities into division And so you have people who say well, we don't have those kinds of people in our church Here in this fellowship. I've done everything I can To always be a christian first That doesn't mean that I don't like my My heritage. I love my heritage. It doesn't mean that I don't You know appreciate other people's heritages. I appreciate theirs Do I think mine is the best? I like it But I'm not going to say it's better than yours Because that doesn't matter What matters is who I am in christ What matters is who we are together in jesus christ. That's really what matters, you see And again, I'll give you an old story another stupid story But there's enough of you in this room who probably haven't heard me say it maybe for a while But just to illustrate I went to bible college Biola I'm in a philosophy class There's a guy in the front row. I used to sit in the very back row. He sat in the very front row There's about a hundred students Every time the the teacher lectures this guy raises his hand and interrupts the teacher I always did it the same way always yelled out brother and he said it like that brother brother And it used to drive me crazy now you need to understand, you know, I'm 23 years old I'm a college freshman. I spent two years in the military. I spent several years in drugs and alcohol I didn't have much patience with many people who interrupted teachers I'm paying a whole lot of money to hear this class and I don't want to hear brother every time I show up That's the truth and so Every time the teacher would lecture and this guy would be in the front row He would raise his hand when the teacher walked in front of him and he'd say brother and he'd ask a question And I used to put my pencil down And I would fold my arms and lean back in my chair And I'd wait for this to get over with so that we could get back to the lecture But this guy did it every week And it was driving me crazy So finally the guy seated next to me here comes mr. Old brother. Oh brother And this guy next to me Writes a note and hands it to me And you know, I like you. Do you like me? Yes. No check the box. No, no They kicked him out of school. No, um He hands me a note and I open it up and it says what is he a mexican? and I I spray painted him. No, I um I looked at him And I smiled at him. He's right here. He's right next to me And I looked at him And I smiled at him And I said, do you know what I am? He goes, yeah, you're italian, aren't you? Man that got me mad. No, he I said no I'm mexican Oh his face turned a variety of shades Is is very pleasant to see And he didn't know what to do So he writes another note I'm serious. I feel I fear that I have offended you greatly forgive me And I smiled at him And I wrote galatians three The scripture I just Read to you we're one in christ, bro We're one in christ There's neither jew nor gentile male female free man slave Or one You've got to understand that The lord was teaching me that Before I got saved If this world's going to change It's going to change because we love one another Not because we're always fighting Against one another or placing My culture or my tastes or my language my music whatever it may be Above somebody else's it isn't going to work that way What's going to work in this world is getting past those things appreciating them. Yes I appreciate them If I'm in israel I have to find salsa I have to I will die without salsa So I have to find it. I've had people bring it. They bring bottles for me Because you got to have certain things in life And not everybody appreciates that I was in scotland One of my friends brought some ortiga chilis and a can One of my friends is sitting down eating haggish sheep stomach intestine or something He's eating that And the little waitress approaches me and I have this can of ortiga chilis And I say can you open this for me so I can put it on my eggs? And she says to me what is that? And I said lizard skins They look like it I thought she was going to puke now. How could she get so sick when this guy's eating sheep intestines? I don't know But see everybody to to each his own Eskimos eat rotten walrus eyes. I won't do it They do Certain african tribesmen will take urine blood and milk mix it together and make a milk shake They drink that I won't I love menudo a lot of people don't I understand I understand, but it's the it's the diversity That makes it so interesting It's so interesting So I love it. I love diversity The body of Christ being many is one So we bring our gifts We bring the things that matter the things that we have that we treasure and value And we mix it together And it makes for a beautiful church And I love that don't you I love that I really do I love that that's what the body of Christ is supposed to be You know, I had the guchettas brothers here years ago now in this room before we built that other building over there and They sang a song in spanish Which is fine with me. I mean you want to sing sing a song. I think god understands spanish. I'm pretty sure he does I get a letter from somebody. This is the united states speak english I said rawl come on man. Don't play it Don't do that man. Don't be so mean But that can be the mentality even in the body of christ I don't want to get too close to that person because that person isn't like me Instead of rejoicing in the differences We select the most like us It doesn't work that way It doesn't work that way I thank god for the different gifts the different people the different cultures Everything why it makes us better Because we're representing The kingdom of god Jesus said you're going to preach this message in jerusalem judea samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth So the gospel goes out in all the languages and those who are saved are brought into this body of christ We are one in the lord and so as family members. We need to love one another But it's a process of learning to In first john chapter 4 verses 20 and 21 john said if anyone says i love god yet hates his brother He's a liar For anyone who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love god whom he has not seen And he has given us this command whoever loves god must also love his brother So we are to love one another we've been brought into the body of christ by one spirit The membership is not built on racial political or denominational connection It's a membership of the spirit made possible by the spirit of god The holy spirit has brought us into this Now notice verse 13 all have been made to drink of the spirit Each member of the church has become a member by drinking of the spirit to drink means to be irrigated or to be watered or Saturated by the spirit of god And so we're brought into the body of christ by the spirit himself And he goes on in verse 14 for in fact the body's not one member but many So again salvation makes us all one in jesus christ We are one in the spirit because of a shared faith that we have in jesus christ Now as this is true notice verse 15 If if the foot should say because i'm not a hand i'm not of the body Is it therefore not of the body And if the ear should say because i'm not an eye i'm not of the body Is it therefore not of the body If the whole body were an eye where would be the hearing the whole were hearing Where would be the smelling Now many Corinthian believers were unhappy with their gifts And they began to compare one themselves with one another Again, we've already noted that comparisons in jealousy and envy are sure signs of carnality And so he begins to give to us insight into this division And that's why in verses 15 through 17 he gives comparisons If the foot should say i'm not a hand i'm not part of the body Well versus 15 through 17 reveal an attitude that results in the quenching of the spirit And the quenching of ministry Some will look around in a church and will say within themselves I'm just not necessary They don't need me If i don't show up they're not even going to notice My gifts are not necessary here And that's what happens in churches all the time Yet on our bulletin a lot of people haven't read the bulletin i understand We hand the bulletin out people take it and may look at it a little bit but not necessarily Really look at it We have placed on it since we began almost since we began In the very very earliest days of this church a phrase at the bottom It says every member What have you read it every member a minister All of us all of us Why do you have apostles prophets evangelists pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of what for the word of ministry Every member a minister Reminds us That we all pull our own weight And the weight of others when necessary That others ought not to be doing that which god has constructed me to do That i shouldn't look to somebody else to do what my job is Everybody knows this is true in your home You know marie and i don't really have a division of labor. We don't have that in our house. She does all the work And it's a great life. No We really don't i mean she thinks we have that in her mind You know i can't fold towels I can't I've tried God knows I have but I just don't do it right You know, there are quite a number of things. I don't do right. I don't wash the dishes right I haven't ever But that has kept me from washing dishes for many years But we really don't have What I would call a division of labor because work is work and it needs to be done. And so let's do it if Front room needs to be vacuumed. Why would I wait for somebody else to do it when I can do it myself, right? If a bathroom needs to be cleaned Why would I wait for somebody else to do it when i'm there and i'm able to do it? We haven't divided things up like that because it's our house We don't have those divisions We have what you call a common purse meaning I make money and I put it in her purse Meaning that it's our money I know that there are some people who think this is my check and this is my And this is hers and we don't play that it's ours Whatever the lord has given to her is mine Whatever he's given to me is hers So it's ours I discovered that the two become one and we're better together than separate And so it works that way And so our homes that way our life is that way that doesn't mean that there's no leadership in the home She knows who I am and the lord and I know who I am and the lord God has called me to be the priest of the house to minister to my family understand that that particular reality But because we love one another we work well together And I have need of her And she has need of me And the two became one and we're able to accomplish great things together. We're a team The body of crisis like that And sometimes people will come into church and they'll say oh, somebody's already doing that. I'm not necessary Oh, somebody over there is doing that. I'm not necessary. That's never true That's never true your gifts are always necessary They're always necessary So what you do is you seek to be used of the lord Now put yourself in a position in terms of maturing and in your growth and all of that to be usable But that's the bottom line And so these comparisons that can take place in church and where people are starting to say i'm not necessary Is something he's speaking about right now He says in verse 18 But now god has set the members each one of them in the body just as he pleased And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are some members Or many members yet one body And and the I cannot say to the hand I have no need of you nor again the head to the feet I have no need of you and so Certain gifts were being exalted about other less obvious gifts And the noticeable gifts are the ones that are being coveted And so people begin to compare and begin to wish that they had more notoriety or fame or more recognition Well, paul is making it very clear instead of coveting somebody else's gifts Why don't you just trust the lord who determines which gift you're going to possess? And god doesn't make mistakes when he determines your gifting. So don't envy somebody else's gifting Just learn to use the gifts that he has given to you the body Is diverse Each member has an important function One person is not more important than the other So don't exalt one gift over another in verse 21. He says the I cannot say the to the hand I don't have a need of you the head can't say that to the feet And so the I cannot say the hand I have no need of you In other words, there were some saying we don't really need you. You're simply not necessary But the fact is again, we need each other And we have a built-in desire to be needed The gifts of the holy spirit are intended to heal a broken body When we had And I always Share this kind of thing You'll hear it long enough until it either you get so tired of it. You just uproot yourself and go plant yourself somewhere else or Or you see the heart of the statement Listen, I started a bible study In September of 1973 With a handful of people We met in a house for a long time Started another bible study in September of 1974 Met in a house for a long time Eventually started another study Met in the house for a long time Didn't have children's ministry Didn't have music ministry We only had a couple one couple When this church was new that played Musical instruments, but for the first several years of my ministry from 1973 into The late 70s. We never even had music in our In bible studies. I used to just come out sit down open my bible People would be fellowshiping And when I opened my bible and I looked at the time Because it was a small group of people they all knew the bible study started at 7 o'clock They would look to me I'd smile at them And then I'd pray and the study started No singing nothing We just had a bible say but I really wanted to have worship See I can I can teach a study But wouldn't it be great to have somebody who could play a guitar and sing? I want the body of Christ to use its gifts, right? I still remember the couple that I had leading worship at the home study We finally had a couple was able to do that Calling me up just before the study saying I'm sorry. We're not going to make it There was one guy in the bible study. His name was Clint And he knew how to lead worship and he happened to be there that night was in the home And I walked up to him and I said Clint Doug and Stacy can't make it to the study tonight. Can you lead worship? And he said I'm sorry. I didn't bring my guitar And I said that's okay sing acapella He says I don't know any Italian songs and and True story I don't know any Italian song Acapella means without musical accompaniment just lead us with your voice. Okay, duh We needed his gifting We need one another We shouldn't get caught up comparing gifts or wishing I had this person's gift or that person should never wish he had my gift When I teach pastors because we have pastors classes Um, I will share it to the guys who want to go out and plant churches The worst thing you can do is try to use me as your model It is the worst thing You you you don't want to What you need is to be yourself Because if you've ever wished that you were somebody else you need to stop and think for a minute If you were somebody else and one of you isn't necessary There has to be just you Your gift the way you do things. That's what makes the body rich Not when you clone yourself after somebody else and try and be like somebody else Be like the lord as he works through you be yourself Because again when this church first began Pastor chucks fellowship is only 40 minutes away. We're all at that time was in west covena 20 25 minutes away Greg lory is 25 20 25 minutes away Chuck's wind all was at av free church 20 minutes away You know john mccarthur is about an hour and 15 minutes away There's a lot of teachers all around the area and I began to pray and asked the lord Who am I supposed to be like? And the lord said you're supposed to be like yourself That's who you're supposed to be like Don't try to be who you're not be who you are And just exercise your gifts as god gave them to you because that's what makes the body What it's supposed to be and instead of coveting somebody else's gift and say gosh I wish that I could speak like this or I always had the kind of ministry of that and So most unwise thing you can do just rejoice in what god has done in you Just enjoy him As you are and a watch what the lord will do through you the Corinthians were so busy Comparing one and themselves amongst themselves and we're so busy saying i'm not necessary or somebody else is saying you're not necessary It just wasn't working anymore And so we need each other The holy spirits gifts are intended to make this broken body into a healed one God didn't redeem us for ourselves What god wants to do is create a new community And this community is supposed to evidence his presence It's supposed to be a community that is cemented by his love And is to be known by service and compassion Now in verse 22 He says no much rather those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary Those members of the body which we think to be less honorable on these we bestow greater honor And our unpresentable parts have greater modesty But our presentable parts have no need But god composed the body having given greater honor to that part which lacks it that there should be no schism in the body But that the members should have the same care for one another Christianity is not a system where only the strong survive We are to be mutually dependent on one another The fact is we are needed and everybody is necessary. We need to understand that You are needed And you are necessary God tried to teach me that before I was saved I had a guy in high school. His name was david David was uncoordinated And so When we were in gym We would play basketball. We would choose upsides Dave never got chosen for anybody's team Because david couldn't play basketball David was 15. I was 15 years old at the time I can still remember this very well because We were playing a game during gym We chose upsides Nobody chose david And I looked at david And I said to him dav I said sorry man You're on nobody's team nobody chose you David was a tall kind of a lanky kid And I basically had grown up with him from time I was very small and now we're in high school together And I'll never forget david When I said nobody chose you man. You're not going to play I remember him running off the court Running into a little alcove there right off the gym putting his hands over his face and beginning to sob like a little kid And I'm a 15 year old high school kid. We're not known for compassion at 15 But that touched me And I remember walking up to him Seeing this big kid cry It still touches me. I said what's with you man? Why are you crying? And he said this I'll never forget he said I've been practicing every day He said my dad put up a hoop at my house So I could shoot baskets to learn how to play so that one day I'd be chosen for someone's team I don't looked at this guy I don't know. I was a stupid 15 year old. What do I know? But I said you can be on my team And I brought him on to the court We started throwing the ball to him. He started missing shots, which he did Couldn't even hit the backboard Go home at practice more david but when he would miss shot I started turning to him and then the other guys did on the team and I started saying great shot, man. Good try Great shot. Good try And it was then that the lord began something in my heart I get I get emotional forgive me I remember I didn't have a heart for people Who didn't fit in I do now But I didn't then You had to pass muster. You had to be the best or I didn't want anything to do with you If we're going to play sports, I want the best team I don't want some guy who can't even catch a ball or hit it I don't want somebody who can't run to first base or catch a pass. I only want the best Lord taught me a long time ago Since I was 15 Everybody's important Everybody That's what I've learned through christ though The body of christ is one And you are necessary Your gifts are the things you have to offer to the lord are very important Don't ever let anybody tell you otherwise You are in the side of the lord necessary And the church is better for you because god brought you into it for a reason What you need to learn is what that reason is what's the purpose What do you want me to do lord and when you find that place You're satisfied in jesus You're satisfied in him And you don't have to compare yourself with somebody else And you don't have to say because i'm not an eye. I'm not an ear. I'm not a hand. I'm not a foot I'm not necessary And nobody can say you're not necessary Because if you had an option right now if you were standing up here and and say I was saying to you Okay, we're going to take one of the members off your body You know what don't you want can we cut off your hand? No, can we cut off your ear? No, how about cutting off your nose? Well a little no the whole thing How about a foot? Don't you think that every part of your body is pretty important? I don't want to lose any of it Except maybe some of the fat But I don't want to lose a part Well, if I value my body that much Don't you think the lord values the body of christ? Don't you think we ought to? I would say yes, paul is saying that It is very unwise To divide the body of christ up into special gifts and less special gifts Because you're all necessary We have been brought into this body by one spirit. We have all drunk of this one spirit God has gifted us We are necessary And that's what paul is saying Don't be divisive and finally When he says in verse 28 God has appointed those in the church first apostles Second prophets third teachers after that miracles gifts of healings helps administrations varieties of tongues Are all apostles are all prophets are all teachers are all workers of miracles Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the best gifts and yet I show you a more excellent way God is the one who sets the members just as he desires and he has appointed some to offices and he's given out gifts What he wants us to do though is to seek even as he says in verse 31. What is the best gift? What is the best gift the gift that is necessary at the moment? What do I seek the Lord for that which is best for now? And for my life and for others But what is it that will make all of this possible? Well, he tells us he says In verse 31 Yet, I show you a more excellent way We'll look at that more excellent way next time we get together