Slides: Different Parts, One Body

Different Parts, One Body
Romans 12:3-5

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. ⁴ Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

⁶ 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. ⁷ If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; ⁸ 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.

Know yourself

³ 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.

• Don’t overestimate yourself.
• Don’t underestimate yourself.

God-given faith is main measure.

Different parts, one body

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. (Romans 12:4-5)

Diverse, not divided

• Diverse nationalities, ages, social levels
• Male and female, married and single
• Diverse personalities: extrovert, introvert; innovative, cautious; cerebral, practical; task-oriented; people-oriented
• Diverse gifts and abilities
  Jesus wants unity, not uniformity.

One body, many parts

^{1 Cor 12:12} The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴ Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.

Separated emphases

• Doctrine, education: Reformed
• Praise, gifts: Pentecostal, charismatic
• Tradition: Roman Catholic, Orthodox
• Acceptance: Anglican, Methodist
• Obedience: fundamentalist, Baptist
• Evangelism: seeker sensitive, mega
  Divided, we lose what others have.

The body in 1 Corinthians 12

“I don’t belong!”
¹⁵ If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.

God’s arrangement
¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

“I don’t need you!”
²¹The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don't need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don't need you!” ²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor.

Shared feelings
But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

The body of Christ

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (1 Corinthians 12:27)

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. (Romans 12:4-5)