Members
of Christ Body
Romans 12:1-13
Jim Davis
There is nothing on earth more functional
than a human body. It is beautifully balanced and most delicately articulated
instrument the world has ever seen. All the computers in the world put
together cannot do what a single human body can do when it is functioning
properly. Our bodies are finely tuned. Each body has its on pharmaceutical
factory secreting its own drugs as needed. The body can produce its own
antibodies to fight diseases. We know it also produces many other drugs
of which we aren't aware of as yet. It would take many scientists to explain
all the functions of my body, which are taking place as I stand here this
morning. It will run so smoothly, it won't interfere with what I wish to
do. It's a finely tuned machine; it seldom misses a beat. My body fully
cooperated with me when I decided to get ready to come to church this morning.
The church is the body of Christ. "And God
placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything
for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything
in every way." (Ephesians 1:22-23 NIV) Almost every time the church is
spoken of as a body in the New Testament, reference is made to the functional
aspect of the church. In these verses Paul speaks of the fullness of the
body and how Christ fills the church. The church is a living organism Christ
fills to function on his behalf. Here we see the functional aspect of the
body of Christ.
Romans 12:1-5
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view
of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing
to God-- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer
to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-- his
good, pleasing and perfect will. For by the grace given me I say to every
one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather
think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of
faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members,
and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who
are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. (NIV)
Paul is concerned about the functional aspect
of the body. The body of Christ has many members functioning in various
ways. Obviously each member of the body has a special function to fill.
Up until this point in Romans Paul has been
talking about what God has done for us in salvaging our lives. But now
he turns to the practical aspect of Christianity giving us insight as to
how we are to function in Christ. How do we begin to fill our God given
role as members of the body? Paul begins answering this question in this
chapter.
Dedication Essential to A Functioning Body
(Romans 12:1-2)
Romans 12:1-2
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view
of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing
to God-- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer
to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-- his
good, pleasing and perfect will. (NIV)
A few years ago I was into cameras. Then most
of the flashes for cameras were bought separately. The question you wanted
answered before you bought a particular flash was, "Is the flash unit dedicated
to my particular brand of camera?" If the flash wasn't dedicated, it would
either not function at all or would not be fully functional. A dedicated
flash was one made to fit your particular brand of camera in a fully functional
mode; it was compatible to all the features the body of your camera offered.
If the flash was a dedicated flash, it formed one fully operational unit
although it was made up of two distinct pieces. It was essential the flash
be dedicated to your camera if you wished to take advantage of all the
program features the body of your camera offered. Thus, it was called a
dedicated flash.
Likewise in Romans 12 Paul is concerned about
members of Christ being fully dedicated to Christ body in a fully functional
mode. The body of Christ is made up of many parts, which are designed,
to work in sync with every other part. To be fully functional in the body
of Christ, we must get in sync with Christ as we renew our minds to transform
our lives to be like Christ. If we are out of sync with the body of Christ,
we must remember there is a place for each of us in the body where we can
be fully functional. "In fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every
one of them, just as he wanted them to be." (1 Corinthians 12:18 NIV) God
has made a place for each member of the body to be fully functional and
dedicated. This is God's way of telling us the body of Christ needs each
member.
The way we get in sync with Christ body is
to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. We must remember God
has assigned each of us a place in the body of Christ and we offer ourselves
as a living sacrifice when we dedicate ourselves to fill the role God has
assigned us.
Romans 12:4-8
Just as each of us has one body with many
members and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ
we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift
is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving,
let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging,
let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him
give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it
is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. (NIV)
We cannot all fill the same role, but we can
fill the role God has given us.
To Function Properly We Must Think Soberly
Romans 12:3
For by the grace given me I say to every
one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather
think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of
faith God has given you. (NIV)
I think most of us know what it means to be
sober --- it is to think rationally. One of the hindrances to thinking
rationally is to get an inflated view of yourself. All of us know what
happens when others get an inflated view of themselves --- it is the same
thing that happens to you when you get an inflated view of yourself.
What if you woke up one morning with your
big toes sticking out of your eye sockets and your eyeballs were attached
to where you big toes once were? If they could talk, you would ask them
what they thought they were doing only to discover that sometime during
the night your eyes and big toes had decided to exchange places.
Try to imagine how you would function if this
occurred. First of all you have been awakened because of this excruciating
pain coming from where your big toe used to be. You know how tender the
eyeball is. Well the eyeball has a sheet wrapped around it and it is hurting.
So you blink your eyelid to try to correct the problem but the eyelid decided
to stay put over the eye socket and it can no longer protect the eye. So
when you blink your eyelid to relieve the pain of the eyeball one big toenail
has a hangnail and it real hurts every time you blink, it feels like you
have a log in your eye. So as you kick your foot to get the sheet off the
eyeball to relieve the pain, the pain just intensifies. So you jump out
of bed and black your eyes as they hit the floor trying to be your big
toes. It hurts so bad you try to keep your eyeballs from touching the floor
as you walk and you fall flat on your face and stump both of your big toes,
which are sticking out of your eye sockets. You see your big toes are responsible
for 80% of your balance when you walk. So you manage to get up off the
floor, but you try to walk on your heals to keep the pressure off your
blackened eyeballs. As you swing your right foot around the end of the
bed, trying not to stump your eye on the end of the bed, you swing your
foot out a little too far and bust your eye on the corner of the dresser
because your big toes can't see where your eyes are going.
So you sit down and have a talk with your
eyeballs and your big toes to persuade them to get back in their assigned
roles, but both are adamant about staying where they are. Their refusal
to function in their assigned roles affects the whole body's ability to
function properly.
Sometimes one of the hardest things to do
is to get someone out of a position they have coveted but are not qualified
to fill. Allowing them to stay there makes the body ineffective, and getting
them out disrupts the whole body for it is a matter of major surgery. We
must remember Paul's admonition to the Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 12:18-22
But in fact God has arranged the parts in
the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were
all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts,
but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the
head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, those
parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, (NIV)
1 Corinthians 12:26-27
If one part suffers, every part suffers with
it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the
body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (NIV)
We can begin to see why Paul is asking us
to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice that we might become fully dedicated
in the role God has assigned each of us.
The Motive for Functioning Properly
Romans 12:1-5
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view
of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and
pleasing to God-- this is your spiritual act of worship. In Romans 8:28
Paul says that God loves us and has called each of us according to his
own purpose. This is the motive for finding our place in the body of Christ.
" . . . In view of God's mercy . . ." is the
motive for getting in sync. Living out of gratefulness for what God has
done for us in salvaging our lives is the greatest motivation for getting
in sync. The living sacrifice Paul is asking us to make has to do with
dying to self and rising to live with Christ. The living sacrifice has
to do with abandoning ourselves that we might serve the body of Christ.
It is more involved than just dying to self, it entails living for others
--- hence we become a living sacrifice. This living sacrifice becomes holy
and acceptable to God in our spiritual worship.
If Christ is filling the church with his fullness,
then we must serve each other as he has served us. Our world is pressing
many of us into its mold by encouraging us to trust in ourselves and exploit
others. Paul tells husbands and wives to serve one another in the same
way Christ served the church: " . . . Just as Christ loved the church and
gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing
with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant
church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless."
(Ephesians 5:25b-27 NIV) It is also a great example of how we are to serve
the church. Paul said, " . . . so in Christ we who are many form one body,
and each member belongs to all the others." (Romans 12:5)
Discovering Our Role in the Body
Whatever the position God is calling
each of us to fulfill is not an inferior position. It is not always
easy to figure out how God wants you to function or what part you are supposed
to play. We usually discover where God wants us by trial and error. To
launch out and find the role God is asking us to play, we must first realize
there is a position for us in the body.
1 Corinthians 12:22-25
On the contrary, those parts of the body
that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are
less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable
are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special
treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater
honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division
in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.
(NIV)
The roles the first century Christians filled
give insight to the roles that we can fill. As we look at these roles,
we begin to realize these are things necessary to cultivate hearts for
the reception of the Word.
Romans 12:6-8
We have different gifts, according
to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him
use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve;
if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let
him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let
him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently;
if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. (NIV)
There is a spiritual role God wants
you to fill. In Acts 6 the Grecian Hebrew widows were being neglected
as they distributed the daily necessities. The apostles helped in the situation
by assigning members a functional role in the church.
Acts 6:2-4
So the twelve gathered all the disciples
together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry
of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men
from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We
will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention
to prayer and the ministry of the word." (NIV)
When the roles were assigned to those members
it freed the apostles to give their attention to prayer and the ministry
of the word. Paul wrote to Timothy saying, " . . . And the things
you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable
men who will also be qualified to teach others." (2 Tim 2:1-2 NIV)
Do you see how the word multiplies? It multiplies as people begin filling
their spiritual roles in the church.
I was communicating with a friend in Oregon
by email awhile back. He had spent some time going around to churches teaching
members how to set up small group studies in member's homes. I asked him
how the small groups were going. He simply said, "I had to give it up.
I couldn't find anyone who wanted to take the responsibility of teaching
a group." He couldn't find enough faithfully committed to the word.
Recognize what God has entrusted to
us individually. Paul reminded Timothy what God had entrusted to
him. What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with
faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted
to you-- guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
(2 Timothy 1:13-14 NIV)
I notice something very important in this
verse; it is the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. Paul prayed "
. . . that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power
through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your
hearts through faith." (Ephesians 3:16-17 NIV) Paul said of his own experiences
" But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me
the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.
And I was delivered from the lion's mouth." (2 Timothy 4:17 NIV)
If you fill your role with the help
of the Holy Spirit realizing God is standing beside you ready to deliver
you from the mouth of the lion, then you can step out on God's power to
accomplish his will in and through you. If you are worried about
filling God's assigned role, remember you have the Holy Spirit who lives
in you to strengthen you and remember --- the Lord is at your side.
Conclusion:
We have come back to the beginning; we are
talking about dedication to the body of Christ as members in particular.
Have we discovered our assigned roles? Do we need help?
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Do you not know that your body is a temple
of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You
are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with
your body. (NIV)
The biggest job we have in the church is to
assure that members who come into the body of Christ are incorporated into
the body in a fully dedicated position.
