A Healthy Church

I’ll be reading 1 Corinthians 12:12–27. The Holy Scripture says,

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 or Greeks, slaves or 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 am 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 am 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 our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our 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.

1 Corinthians 12:12–27

This is the word of the Lord.

It was 11:38 a.m. on January 28th, 1986, when NASA’s space shuttle, Challenger, blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida for its 10th mission into space. On board were seven astronauts: Commander Francis Scobee, a veteran of the Vietnam War, pilot Mike Smith, mission specialist Judy Resnik, Ellison Onizuka, Ron McNair, payload specialist Greg Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe, a 37-year-old teacher from New Hampshire, who would be the first civilian into outer space. See, she had won a contest that NASA had put together in order to try and find an exemplary teacher to send into outer space. She had beat out more than 11,000 other applicants to earn her spot on the shuttle. And she instantly became a hometown hero as her community rallied behind her mission to space.

After four launch delays, the mission was finally given the green light. Christa boarded the shuttle that morning with her friends, students, and family, including her two children, watching anxiously from the ground as the Challenger spacecraft would take off from Kennedy Space Center. But from the ground, this is what they observed.

Sadly, the Challenger’s mission lasted only 73 seconds until, as we saw, it exploded, killing everyone on board. It was a tragedy in the nation. For the next several months, NASA agonized over their massive failure, trying to figure out what went wrong. How could this have happened? I mean, the spaceship had been tested over and over. This was its 10th mission. In fact, NASA had made a special machine to vibration test the shuttle for 11 months straight. And they did that in order to simulate all phases of the spaceflight from liftoff to landing.

Eventually, after much research, to their shock, NASA figured out what caused the mission to go so terribly wrong. Early in the morning of launch, the temperature had gotten abnormally cold. So cold that on the right rocket’s booster, there was a small rubber O-ring that had become weakened from the frigid temperatures, which caused the fuel to leak and eventually ignite. That was it. A little O-ring. Nothing spectacular, nothing magnificent. There was no sabotage like some were suspecting when this first happened. The shuttle’s explosion was due to one tiny, inconsequential part becoming weakened. It wasn’t the mighty rockets. It wasn’t the magnificent wings of the shuttle. It was one little part that failed to do its job. While the rest of the spacecraft worked flawlessly, the ship and her seven-person crew were doomed by that.

Church, hear me this morning when I tell you: just as a spacecraft’s success is dependent upon each individual part, including small little O-rings, accomplishing their intended purpose, so too is the church’s success dependent upon each individual person accomplishing their God-given purpose within the church. In our text this morning, this is precisely what Paul is writing to tell us. He’s saying the local church is like a human body. Very complex, many different working parts. And he’s saying, though we are different, we are one. We are one body. Though we are one unit, we are not uniform. We are different, but one. The church is Christ’s body here on earth, and we are one body with many different members. Which means if we’re going to be a healthy church, we must have unity in the midst of our differences. We have to have unity in the midst of our differences.

Do we want to be a healthy church? Do we want to accomplish our mission? Then look with me this morning to our text as we see four things that we must have if we are going to be a healthy church that accomplishes our mission.

1. Unity Through Oneness (vv. 12–13)

If we want to be a healthy church, we must have unity through oneness. And I pull this point from verses 12 and 13. Verse 12, it says,

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 or Greeks, slaves or free, and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:12–13

Though we are diverse, we are not divided. Christ’s blood changed that. Though our world is plagued by tribalism, cliques, and a mindset of the ins and the outs, cool kids’ table, not cool kids’ table, okay? That’s the mindset of the world. Within the church, that’s not how it works. Not anymore. Why? Because when we come to Christ, we shed our identity. We leave it behind. And we get his identity. I’m no longer Zach Broom. I am Christ in Zach Broom. And that is the truth of every single Christian, because a Christian is someone who has centered their identity on Jesus.

It means that I no longer look to things in this world to find my value and my worth. It means we stop resume building before God. I don’t make this nice resume, put down all the good things I’ve done and hand it over, and that’s how I get accepted by God. That’s how I get value and worth. No. It’s when God sees me, he sees Christ. Though I am employed, I don’t look to my job to find my personal worth. Though I am a father, I don’t look to my children to find my value. Though I have money, I don’t connect how much of it I have or don’t have with how valuable I am as a person. And religiously and morally, that applies too. Though I am religious, though I am moral, I don’t consider my good behavior to be the basis of my value and worth and acceptance before God. We find our identity and our value in Christ.

Look at verse 13. “For in one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body.” This isn’t talking about being physically baptized with water. That’s not what this is talking about. Peter makes that clear. The washing away of dirt cannot cleanse our sins. Only the blood of Jesus can do that. The only thing that can do that was the perfect Son of God dying on a cross to pay for my sins. And so what this text is talking about is it’s explaining how physical baptism is a picture of Christ who lived and died and rose again. And when I trusted in him as my Savior, I was spiritually baptized into him in his likeness. And like Christ, lived and died and rose again. I too, because I’m connected with Christ, will one day die and rise again.

I think of our Sunday school class this morning, which talked about how this truth affects the way we treat each other. There’s no rich, there’s no poor. There’s no Jew, there’s no Greek, there’s no Gentile. We are all together one in value and worth in Jesus Christ. And this truth changes how we treat each other. It changes how we treat socially awkward people. It changes how we treat the outcasts in society, does it not? If somebody comes in here and they look like they just were living under a bridge, should we treat them differently than if the mayor came through this door? No. We are all equal before God. Equally loved, equally accepted.

The church is not a building, though the church meets in a building, typically on Sunday mornings. The church is a body of believers who have been saved through the blood of Jesus. And so because we have been saved by Jesus, he tells us, you are my body. You are what the lost, unsaved world looks to when they want to see the power of God. Though we are very, very different from one another, the miracle of the gospel is that we are not divided. We have great unity in spite of our massive differences. The gospel turns even enemies into family members. That’s how powerful it is. What a sign of the power of God.

Church, if we want to be healthy, we must never forget, even for a moment, how vitally crucial, important unity is. Look with me at John 17, verses 20 through 21, and let’s read what Jesus prays to the Father about unity. He says, “My prayer is not for them alone,” referring to his disciples. “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message.” And what does he want? Look at verse 21. “That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” That’s a close oneness. “May they also be in us.” And here’s the reason. Why does he pray for this? “So that the world may believe that you have sent me.” That’s huge.

You want to know how we can be a dead church that draws no one to Jesus? Start discouraging each other instead of encouraging. Start being harsh and abusive with your words instead of gentle and kind. Instead of speaking the truth in love, become a gossip. Instead of seeing the church as a place to serve others, see it as a place that exists to serve you. And I can guarantee you, we will be a dead church that draws no one to the gospel. But if we want to show the world that we are truly one with God, we must show them our oneness with each other. If I can’t even show horizontally that I have oneness with my fellow believers, my family members in Christ, nobody’s going to think I’ve got oneness with God. Because in order to have oneness with people who are different than us, we need God’s power in our lives. It’s hard. It’s not easy. It’s a supernatural endeavor. We are diverse, but not divided.

But also, as our text tells us, we are doctrinally united. In verse, that kind of rhymes. In Ephesians 4, here’s what Paul says.

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

Ephesians 4:4–6

In a culture that preaches doctrine divides but love unites, a healthy church recognizes how foolish this thinking is. How can two walk together unless they be agreed? What unites us, church, isn’t our shared passion for not sleeping in on Sunday mornings. What unites us is not our shared passion to have amazing fellowship meals like we’re going to have in a few hours when I finish preaching. What unites us isn’t our shared passion for loving others and serving them. That’s a good thing, right? We’re commanded to do that, but that’s not our united passion. What unites us is doctrine. What unites us is truth.

Doctrine is truth. And what is the truth? Well, we just read it. Paul laid it out for us. There aren’t many gods. There aren’t many Lords. There aren’t many faiths or paths to God. How many paths are there? One. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father. It’s a very culturally unpopular truth to be saying today, isn’t it? But yet it remains the truth. And the second we drop this and embrace the slogan of doctrine divides but love unites, we might as well close these doors up and sleep in on Sunday mornings. Because we believe our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. That’s it. It is faith in this truth that a healthy church grasps onto with both hands and refuses to let go, even if lions face before us.

2. Unity Through Diversity (vv. 14–20)

So if we want to be a healthy church, we must have unity through oneness, but also we must have unity through diversity. And I pull this point from verses 14 through 20.

For the body does not consist of one member, but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not the 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 am 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 the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?

1 Corinthians 12:14–17

Just as the human body is composed of many different parts, so too is Christ’s church. Unity without diversity would produce uniformity. And uniformity within a body, what does that produce? Death. Right? If the heart stops functioning as the heart and starts saying, I want to be the liver, it’s not going to get very far. Uniformity leads to death within Christ’s body as well. If we want to be a healthy church, we must recognize that we are not all the same. And that’s a good thing. That’s not a bad thing.

We are all very different from one another. However, before our differences divided us, but not so within Christ’s body. Now, they actually serve to make us stronger. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, they make us able to do things we could never dare dream of doing on our own, individually, isolated. Why do I say that? Well, look at the text. The text says that, verses 18 through 20. Verse 18, it says, “But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them,” how? “As he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.”

Christian, you are a child of God, as this text tells us. You are a child of God who has been individually crafted by the sovereign Lord of the universe for a vital and specific purpose within God’s church. Do you believe that? Do you believe God when he says that you have a God-empowered purpose for the good of others within this body? Sometimes our gifts aren’t quite what we think they are, right? The result could be a heart who thinks it’s a hand. A believer who thinks, you know what, I want to have this gift over here that’s more flashy. I want to serve in this area. But imagine if the heart tried to start functioning as a hand. How safe would that be for a heart outside of the home protected home within the chest? It’d be pretty dangerous. Start trying to interact as a heart within this sharp world and dangerous, sharp and dangerous world that we live in, right? It’s the same thing for believers. We need to recognize how we have been gifted and serve in those ways.

Sometimes we have multiple spiritual gifts. And what that might mean is we need to learn to share ministry with others. See, think about it this way. If I have five gifts and you have two, and I’m serving all five of them, I might need to hand over to another believer so they can be blessed in serving in the way they’ve been gifted. Look what Paul says in a couple chapters earlier.

No one should seek their own good but the good of others.

1 Corinthians 10:24

Now, there’s two big mistakes I can think of here that we make when it comes to using the way God has gifted us within the church. One, we use our gifts selfishly, and two, we don’t use them at all. It’s pretty deep, right? Came up with that second one by myself.

When I was in high school, I played defensive end, and I absolutely did not want to play offensive line. Why? I was a wide receiver. You should have seen me playing backyard football with those daycare kids. All right? Yeah, they were two feet shorter than me, but I got it every time over them. And one day, one of my coaches came to me and he said, you know what, Zach, for your size and this conference we’re in, you shouldn’t be trying to play wide receiver. You should be trying to play on the line. And I was like, get away from me. Get behind me, Satan. No way. And I just didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to use my abilities in a way that benefited the team. I wanted to be in a glory position, a pretty boy position of wide receiver.

But eventually, my senior year, after much debate and hesitancy, I made the switch for the good of the team. And I found something out that day. My coach was right. I could serve the team, a whole lot better playing a position that I didn’t naturally want to play. Right? Because we had a whole bunch of extra wide receivers. We didn’t have a whole very deep roster when it came to our line. We really needed that position filled. And the funny thing about it was, I actually got to the point where I really enjoyed playing that position. I never thought I would. I thought I would hate it. And sure enough, though, moving, making that switch had a dramatic impact on our team that year. It was so helpful to have an extra person on the line and free that spot up for other people to play wide receiver who could do it just as well.

Church, should we ever insist that we are the wide receiver of the team when we’re not? When somebody else should be? I only work in children’s ministry. That’s it. My grandfather was an usher. My dad was an usher. And when I die, they will pry the plate out of my hands and bury me. Do we want to be a healthy church? Then we must always be on the lookout for new ways to use our giftings in the places we might not suspect. Not just the places that we prefer. Not just the glory positions that we think we would be best in. This might mean you hand over a ministry entirely to someone else who’s gifted but growing in that area. This might be because it will allow them to use their spiritual gifts and grow and also allow you to be stretched and grow in ways you never thought. Be prepared, though. This might mean giving up your dream of playing the flashy wide receiver position. You might have to bury that one so that you can serve in an area that is much more needed.

The second mistake we make with our gifts is that we don’t use them. Are you using your gifts? Or are you simply a spiritual sponge that soaks up everybody else’s work and their gifts and the way they are serving into your life to benefit yourself without giving back to help others? Is it possible to become spiritually obese? You better believe it is. You can listen to great sermons all week long. You can read great theologians like C.S. Lewis all week long. You can read your Bible for hours every single day. But if you’re not feeding yourself spiritually with the intent of energizing your spiritual activity, you’re not only a spiritually obese Christian, but you’re a selfish one. It’s a hard truth, but it’s truth. If you’re not feeding yourself spiritually to serve others, there’s a problem. I like what James says. He says, “Be doers of the word and not hearers only.”

You have been individually gifted by the sovereign God of this universe, the God who makes suns, the God who makes stars and planets and makes them spin perfectly in orbit. That’s the God who has equipped you through his mighty power to serve the church in a crucial and important way that is absolutely vital and necessary. Are you doing that faithfully, regularly, eagerly? Is it really that big of a deal? I mean, come on, preacher. Surely little old me isn’t all that important. That’s what the pastor’s for. That’s what the deacons are for, right? After all, the pastor, he’s the professional. He went to seminary.

Well, for starters, what does Paul say in Ephesians 4? No, that’s not what the pastor’s job is. The pastor’s job isn’t to be the paid professional and do all the ministry. The pastor’s job is to equip the saints. That’s everybody in here for the work of the ministry. An unhealthy church loads all the things off onto the pastor who sometimes has several spiritual gifts under the foolish thinking that he’s the paid professional and he’ll do it better. No matter how inconsequential you think you might be, remember that something as insignificant as a tiny rubber O-ring can make the difference between life and death. What are you doing with your gifts? Are you using them regularly within the church body to build her up, or are you hoarding them for yourself? Are you being a spiritual sponge? Does it make more sense why Hebrews commands us now not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together? It’s time to get out of the stands and into the game because this team needs you. You need this team as well. Even if you’re just a little offensive lineman.

3. Unity Through Equality (vv. 21–25)

If we want to be a healthy church, we must have unity through oneness. We must have unity through diversity. But we also must have unity through equality. And that’s from verses 21 through 25. Is the pastor more important than the person who makes visitors feel welcome? Than our greeters? Is the pastor more important? Are the deacons more valuable than those who clean the church? Or those who go visit a shut-in on a Saturday? Are those who lead worship with their voices greater than those in the pews singing with their voices? Have you ever had a spark plug in your car go bad before? How important was that tiny little spark plug when you had to be at work in 15 minutes and it didn’t work? Pretty important.

If we want to be a healthy church, we need to recognize our differences, but also recognize that we are equal in value and worth and importance before God. Why? Because our value is not in what we do, but in what we are. And what are we? Sinners saved by grace who now live for the glory of God. In Galatians, here’s how Paul says it:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:28

If we fail to recognize that our value and our worth is in Christ alone, we will begin comparing ourselves to each other to find our meaning and significance. If we forget where our value lies, one of two things are going to happen. We will either develop an inferiority complex or a superiority complex.

Those with an inferiority complex start thinking like this. They start thinking, but you know what? I could never teach or preach like the pastor can. I’m not going to try to disciple anybody. I would just make a mess of that. Yet we’re all commanded to go into the world and make disciples. That’s not just a pastoral calling. I wish I was more like her. She’s always so cheerful. People just flock to her. She’s just so charming and warming and inviting. Why couldn’t God have made me more like her? What does Paul say to this inferiority complex type thinking? He says it’s just as silly as the liver thinking it’s of no importance because it’s not the mouth. It doesn’t matter how minor or unimportant you think your contributions to ministry are or the gifts that God has given you are. We can’t be a healthy church without every part of the body functioning. It’s not possible. You ever seen someone whose liver stops functioning? It’s a big deal. It’s a really big deal. And so too will this church body suffer if we develop inferiority complexes that stop us from using our gifts because we think they’re insignificant.

The second mistake you might make is if you’ve been given more prominent gifts like maybe a mouth or a hand or an arm or something, you start thinking you’re tough stuff. I’m a big deal, you think to yourself. I’m the quarterback of this team, don’t you know? You get cocky. Here’s what Paul says about that.

For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

1 Corinthians 4:7

That’s Paul’s way of saying, get off your high horse. It’s not about you. These gifts come from God. You didn’t do anything to get these. They’re given to you. So why do you brag? Are you here this morning and are you suffering with either an inferiority complex or a superiority complex? If so, you are either robbing God by taking credit for what He’s given you, or you’re accusing the sovereign God of the universe of having made a mistake. That He messed up when He decided who would get what spiritual gift. He didn’t know what He was doing. He short-changed you. Does God short-change us? No, He doesn’t. Instead of these wrong attitudes, humbly respond in thanks to God for His wisdom and trust Him for the way that He sovereignly gifted you according to His infinite wisdom.

4. Unity Through Outcome

If we want to be a healthy church, we must have unity through oneness. We must have unity through diversity. We must have unity through equality. And finally, we must have unity through outcome. Have you ever sprained your ankle or hurt one of your toes real badly? How did that affect the rest of your body? A lot. The suffering of that ankle or toe affects your ability to do everything else. We guys understand this better than the women here because if you’re like me, I get a hangnail and I’m begging Becky to call 911. Just like our physical bodies are deeply connected, so too is the church body.

Can you think of any application to this truth? How about spiritual sickness? Don’t you know that a little leaven leavens the whole dough? Just like an infection in our physical bodies doesn’t remain simply in that pinky or wherever it begins, it spreads. So too within the church body, does sin spread? Are you keeping yourself clean spiritually? Or is there a spiritual infection that you’re ignoring? Are you hiding it? Fooling yourself into thinking that, hey, you know what, I got this under control. It’s really not that big a deal. In fact, I’m not that important around here anyways. If one member suffers, as our text says, if one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together. You are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

Why do we rejoice when one member is honored? I can think of two reasons. One, because you ever see parents who, like, they get super into whatever hobby their kids are now into? It might even be a hobby that prior to having children they thought was really lame. But then because their kids are into it, now that’s just their world. They love it. They do that because of their love for their child. And so too, church, if we love one another as we ought, we’re going to be excited about each other’s successes. We’re going to be saddened by each other’s failures.

The second thing is because the reason that we rejoice when a member is honored and we are saddened when one suffers is because the church is Christ’s body. And if we claim to love Christ, that means we recognize this whole thing, everything we’re doing, is about him and his glory. And so when I see another believer show up and say, hey, you know what, praise God, my coworker just got saved. Amen. You know, that’s glory to Jesus right there. And so I rejoice with them. It’s not a competition. Think of the football team. When I’m a lineman and that wide receiver catches that pass, I don’t sit there, should have been me catching it. No, we won together. It’s great. That’s the attitude we must have within the church.

Why does this stuff matter? Is it even that big of a deal? It is. Look what it says in Matthew 5:14 and 16.

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 5:14–16

We’ve all heard countless stories of people who have been put off by the church because the church didn’t have unity. It became known for disunity as members within the body went their own directions. They started having rivalries. People started trying to function in ways within the body which they were not gifted for. And it results in jealousy and conflict. Beloved, this must not be so. We live in a dark world with lost and dying people who desperately need this gospel light. They need the salvation message so that they too can be saved from their sins and by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ one day stand before him and not be condemned. Do you care for their souls? If you say you do, are you ready to prove it by getting off the sidelines? Get into the game. Put down your excuses and pick up your helmet and start to play. What’s at stake here is so much greater than any sports match or even a mission to outer space. It’s not mere physical lives here that we are contending for, church. We are contending for eternal souls that desperately need to be reconciled to a holy God.

Pray with me. Father God, we just thank you this morning for the truths that you’ve revealed to us in your word. And, God, mostly we ask that you would help us to live by what we’ve heard this morning. Help us not to just be hearers of the word, but doers. Not just Sunday-only Christians, but Christians, God, who are on mission all seven days of the week, looking to reach out to the outcasts, to the downtrodden, to those who do not know Christ, who are living in eternal darkness right now. So, Father, we ask that as a church that we would have unity, that we would be strong, that we would seek to serve and not be served, that we would hand aside ministries if we need to and pick up ministries that are lacking. Father, I just pray that you would bless us and help us to love each other and love you for your glory. We pray these things in Christ’s name. Amen.