The Church is a Body

“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it”
I Corinthians 12:27

30 times the Bible compares the church to a body
“The body of Christ”
“You were baptized into one body”
“There is one body”
“You are members together of one body”

When God was searching for the visual aid – the object lesson – to teach us what the church is supposed to be like
He chose the body
He knew you could understand that visual aid – you live in a body

You fed it this morning
Washed it, dressed it up, looked in the mirror and tried to straighten the mop you wear on top of it, maybe shaved some fur off, maybe put on some makeup
A little jewelry, a pair of socks, a pair of shoes

How do you feel about your body
Did you catch sight of yourself in the mirror this morning and it was so good you had to take a
second look?
Would you have the courage to walk the catwalk with a hundred pair of eyes noticing every detail
Probably not

Nobody is very happy with their own body
But the body is God’s object lesson to help you understand the church!
The body is a great object lesson when we are thinking about the church and how it works
In the best of times its a little flawed, a few embarrassing parts
But an important part of each of our lives

We are bound together by memories, values, marriages
We are a body

As a church we function together naturally
We notice each other, smile, talk about the things we have in common
The responsibilities that need to be taken care of to function well, we share
We naturally behave and work together
It’s so smooth, we almost take it for granted

To make all this happen takes a few things that we don’t consider very often
It takes a leader to unite us, and he has
We all share a relationship with Christ that naturally unites us
We were baptized by the Holy Spirit into this body – we each made a commitment to God

An outward, visible statement of our will
I was talking with a young man who had attended our services for a couple months
“Would you consider yourself a Christian?”
“I don’t know. My brother is a Buddhist, and I’m not really interested in that.”
“Would you like to learn about being a Christian?”
“No thanks. I kind of like free-lancing it.”
“What troubles you about Christians?”

And, he had a few things
I have a few things that trouble me about Christians, too
But I really like the guy we follow
So, many years ago, when given the challenge, I was baptized – I committed my life to Him

So did you
And that commitment to him unites us
That commitment to him unites us with believers all around the world
We are all parts of a big body
Jesus is the head, and we are his body

It makes us feel good to know that 1/3 of the world’s population is with us in that commitment
That in every nation, every major city, almost every town of any size
There are others who are singing this morning
Praying for each other
Praying for their neighbors

We don’t have to do it all
We don’t have to do what everyone else is doing
If we are different, it doesn’t make us less valuable, less hip, less committed
We are unique, a one-of-a-kind group

You don’t have to do what everyone else is doing
If you are different, it doesn’t mean you are in the wrong church
If you ever start a sentence, “I’m the only one around here who…” you are acknowledging the important place you have in the body
That is what life is like in a body
Imagine the brain saying, “I’m the only one around here who thinks. I think I would fit in better somewhere else.”
Or the liver saying, “I’m the only one around here who care enough about the blood to filter it. I think I should go somewhere else where I can find organs with similar interests to mine.”
Being different doesn’t make you less valuable, less hip, or more hip

Comparing parts is harmful...
You lose focus on your own responsibility
And miss the blessing of working as a team!

I Corinthians 12 points out the adjustments you need to make in the way you think if you are going to function in the church
You are going to feel insecure about thinking and looking differently than others
The church needs your viewpoint and input
You are going to feel superior because you can do some things better than others can
The church needs you to serve with humility
You are going to feel out of place
God arranged for you to be here

Join the body
Get over yourself and choose to love the people God has placed you with
Suffer with those who suffer
And rejoice with those who are honored!