Evey Member Matters!
The Church Christ is Building- 3
TITLE: Evey Member Matters!
TEXT: 1Corinthians 12:12-27
I want to encourage each member of EFBC to see their place in the church through an eternal lens: every believer has been gifted by God, placed in the body of Christ, and called to serve for the strengthening of the church and the greater glory of His kingdom.
TRUTH: Most people do not notice a body until something stops working. You rarely thank your knee until it aches, rarely appreciate your lungs until breathing becomes difficult, and rarely think about your smallest toe until it strikes the corner of the bed. The parts we overlook often prove how necessary they are. Paul tells the church that the same is true in the body of Christ: the people we are tempted to overlook may be the very members God has arranged as necessary for the health of the whole church.
The Corinthian church had gifts, energy, opinions and activity -but they also had division, pride, jealously, insecurity, and comparison. Some felt superior because their gifts were visible. Others felt inferior because their service seemed hidden. Into that tension, Paul does not merely say, “Be nicer.” He gives them a theology of belonging: “You are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” The church is not a religious event people attend; it is a Spirit-created body where Christ is honored as every member function in love.
Paul, to this point has been stressing their one purpose, which is to reveal the Holy Spirit’s work and power for the common good of the church. These unifying realities lead the apostles thought to a general discussion on the oneness of the redeemed community.
He begins with the foundation: “For just as the body is one and has many members… so it is with Christ.” Before he corrects comparison, pride, or discouragement, he reminds the church what God has made them. They are not separate individuals trying to find a place; they are many members already joined into one body by the Spirit. That means our first question is not, “Do I matter as much as someone else?” but, “Am I living as a Spirit-gifted member of Christ’s body with eternal purpose?” If the Spirit has made us one body, then attendance cannot be the end goal. We are called to connected, contributing, burden-sharing life together as the church, for the glory of Christ and the advance of His kingdom.
I. We Are Formed into One Gifted Body for the Glory of the Kingdom (vv.12-13)
Explanation: Paul begins with unity before he talks about diversity. The church is made up of many members, but it is not many bodied. We are one body because the Spirit had baptized us into one body and given us one life in Christ. Our unity is not based on personality, background, preference, age, culture, or schedule. It is rooted in the saving work of Christ and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
Paul says the body is one yet has many members. The church is not unified because everyone is alike, but because the Spirit has joined different people to the same Christ. “Jews or Greeks, slaves or free” means the gospel creates a deeper identity than background, status, preference, or experience.
If you are in Christ, you do not have to earn your place in the body. The Spirit has already brought you in. You belong, not because you are visible, gifted like someone else, or needed by everyone in the same way, but because Christ has made you His.
Sure, we have differences, but we belong together. For example, we have different backgrounds, different personalities, different gifts, different experiences, and different assignments, but we are one body. This means your identity is bigger than your individual role. You are not merely a singer, preacher, teacher, or a deacon, you are a part of the body of Christ.
Application: Live like a gifted member of Christ’s body, not a visitor in the room. Move toward others, serve in at least one practical way, and refuse to let comparison keep you from contributing to the church’s eternal witness for the glory of the kingdom.
Since the Spirit has made us one gifted body for kingdom glory, Paul next shows that our distinct placement is not accidental but purposeful in God’s eternal design.
II. We Are Placed in the Body by God’s Wise Kingdom Design (vv.14-18)
Explanation: Paul imagines the foot saying, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong,’ and the ear saying, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong.” This is the voice of discouragement, comparison, and invisibility. Some believers assume that if they cannot serve publicly, speak confidently, lead visibly, or contribute dramatically, then they must not matter. But Paul answers that God has arranged the members in the body just as He desired.
Placement in the body in not random; it is personal. You don’t have to be someone else, you are valuable to the body as you are. So don’t compare your assignment with someone else’s. The foot has a different assignment than the hand, and the ears have a different assignment from the eyes. Don’t spend your life trying to become a hand, when God created you to be an ear. Comparison will rob you of contentment, and you will soon despise what God created you to be.
Your placement in the body is not pointless, it’s quite purposeful. In an orchestra, not every instrument carries the melody, but the music suffers when the supporting parts are missing. The church is not strengthened when everyone tries to play the same part; it is strengthened when every person faithfully offers the part God gave them.
Application: Do not despise the assignment God gave you because it does not look like someone else’s assignment. Receive your place as a kingdom stewardship, and offer your gift faithfully for the strengthening of the church and the glory of God.
After encouraging the member who feels unnecessary, Paul now addresses the member who is tempted to act independently, because kingdom glory is displayed when gifted members depend on one another in love.
III. We Depend on Every Gifted Member for the Body’s Kingdom Health (vv. 19–21)
Explanation: The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” and the head cannot say to the feet, “I have no need of you.” This is a direct rebuke to spiritual pride and individualism. The visible cannot dismiss the hidden. The strong cannot sneer at the weak. The experienced cannot disregard the new. The organized cannot belittle the spontaneous. The church is not healthy when gifted people become independent people.
John McArthur wrote, “The diversity of the church is a God-given ordained means of bringing the fellowship to oneness, but unless each diverse member recognizes and accepts his part in the whole body, diversity will divide rather than unite, destroy rather than build up, bring discord rather than harmony, and result in self-serving rather than self-giving.”
Diversity is not a problem to solve; it is a gift to steward. God often strengthens the church through people we would not have chosen, noticed, or understood at first. The church becomes fragile when people only value gifts that resemble their own. A church becomes fruitful when members honor the gifts they do not possess and receive them as God’s provision for the body and His kingdom purposes.
Application: Replace “They are not like me” with “What grace has God placed in them for the good of the church and the glory of His kingdom?”
If every gifted member is needed for the body’s kingdom health, then the members who appear weakest must not be pushed to the margins; they must be treated as indispensable to the church’s eternal witness.
IV. We Honor the Hidden Gifts that Display Kingdom Worth (vv. 22–24)
Explanation: Paul says the parts of the body that seem weaker are necessary, and the parts we might think less honorable are treated with greater honor. This turns worldly value systems upside down. In the kingdom, worth is not measured by visibility, charisma, productivity, or applause. God gives dignity to every member, and the church must reflect His care by honoring those who are often unseen.
“Necessary” or “indispensable” is one of the most encouraging words in the passage. You can lose an eye or ear, a hand or leg, and still live. But you cannot lose your heart or liver or brain and live. Those organs are more hidden than the others but also are more vital. The point being, that some of the most vital ministries in the church always include some that are not obvious, like the faithful prayers of dedicated saints.
The church at Corinth had failed to be considerate and appreciative of those who did not have the “out front” gifts such as prophecy, languages, or healing. Paul is saying that no one is to be overlooked and all are to be appreciated as necessary to the body. Remember, Jesus built His church through apparent weakness. The cross looked like defeat, but it became the power of God for salvation. So, the church must never confuse hiddenness with uselessness or weakness with worthlessness.
Application: Look this week for someone whose faithfulness is easy to miss and honor them intentionally, reminding them that their hidden service matters eternally in Christ’s body.
When hidden gifts are honored and every member is embraced, the church becomes more than organized; it becomes a Spirit-formed body whose shared care reveals the kingdom of Christ.
V. We Share Care, Suffering, and Joy as a Kingdom Witness (vv. 25–27)
Explanation: God’s purpose is “that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.” The church is meant to be a community where suffering is not ignored and celebration is not envied. If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together. This is not sentimental language; it is practical discipleship.
Only this sort of mutual love and concern can prevent or heal division and preserve unity. The one who is hurt is consoled and the one who is blessed is rejoiced with. There is to be no disdain, no rivalry, no jealously, no envy, no inferiority, or superiority, and no competition. Instead, love is patient, kind, etc. The only people that can be unified in this way are Christians.
Application: Carry one another’s burdens and celebrate one another’s joys as eternal family, because the world sees the glory of Christ’s kingdom when the church loves as one body.
Finally, Paul reminds the church that this shared life is not self-made; Christ Himself provides the gifts, offices, and graces needed for His body to serve His kingdom purpose.
VI. We Remember Christ’s Perfect Provision for His Kingdom Body (vv.28-31)
Explanation: Paul reminds the church of God’s sovereign protection and provision in equipping the body. Christ does not leave His church empty-handed. He appoints, gifts, and places His people so that every member serves under His lordship for the good of the body and the greater glory of His kingdom. The eternal focus is not that gifted people draw attention to themselves, but that every member, visible or hidden, contributes to the church in a way that displays the wisdom, grace, and power of God.
Application: Ask the Lord to show you how He has gifted you, where He has placed you, and how you can serve His church with eternal focus for the greater glory of His kingdom.
TAKE-AWAY: Every Member Matters in the Master’s Design
Imagine standing before a massive stained-glass window in a cathedral. From a distance, the whole picture is breathtaking: light pours through the glass, colors come alive, and the scene tells a story of glory. But if you walked up close, you would discover that the beauty is not made by one great piece of glass. It is made by hundreds of smaller pieces, each one cut, shaped, and placed by the artist. Some pieces are bright and obvious. Others are dark, narrow, hidden near the edge, or nearly unnoticed by the eye. Yet remove even one piece, and the light no longer shines through the same way. The picture is diminished because the artist designed every piece to belong.
That is what Paul is teaching the church. Christ is the Master Builder, and His church is not a pile of disconnected fragments. It is His living body, formed by the Spirit, arranged by the Father, and gifted by grace. Some members may stand in places that are visible. Others may serve quietly, pray faithfully, give sacrificially, encourage privately, teach patiently, care tenderly, or strengthen the church in ways that few people ever applaud. But heaven sees. Christ knows. And the kingdom is displayed when every gifted member embraces their place in the body.
So do not say, “Because I am not the hand, I do not belong.” Do not say, “Because I am not the eye, I do not matter.” Do not say, “My gift is too small, my place is too hidden, my service is too ordinary.”
· In the hands of Christ, no faithful service is wasted.
· In the body of Christ, no Spirit-gifted member is unnecessary.
· In the kingdom of God, what seems hidden now will one day be revealed as eternally significant.
Therefore, church, take your place.
· Offer your gift.
· Honor the gifts of others.
· Suffer together.
· Rejoice together.
· Serve together.
And let the light of Christ shine through this body so that the world does not merely see our activity, our programs, or our personalities, but sees the greater glory of God’s kingdom in a church where every member matters.
Comments
Post a Comment