The American Perspective

 

Image: Unsplash

American ministers often see Australia as a desperate barren mission field that needs hard work to be won to the gospel. They make standard biblical statements about the progressive culture of Australia and can at times create a great backlash amongst Aussie ministers who have become normalized to progressive culture without realizing it.

I have friends who have been to the American Bible belt, and who were blown away by how Christianity is represented in every aspect of the culture in many cities and towns across America. One friend told me they were amazed at how Spiritually alive it felt there, and this drove home how spiritually barren Australia was.

We should take note Australians. Many normie Christians, which is most Christians, are slowly and reluctantly coming around to the truth that we Christians are not just a minority, we are an odd minority with values and beliefs far outside the norm of Australian culture. The more traditional your biblical beliefs the more true this is, and the more likely you are to be aware of that. This is why many traditional American preachers can cause such a strong reaction, they often reflect old western and Christian values more thoroughly. Aussie Christians are often both distinct in ways from the Aussie secular society and wrapped up in it way to much. 

Australia is a barren mission field in large part, because the church became complacent, and enjoyed the Aussie way of life, more than the gospel way of life. This needs to change. Very likely the change will be forced on us, by our hyper-progressive society.

Good News

 

When it comes to the news most Australians (and I know some people will find this metaphor offensive) have battered wives’ syndrome. That is they refuse to look at the clear evidence in front of their eyes that the mongrel does not love them, wants to hurt them, and will keep lying to them as long as they put up with it. They will even turn on friends who have done nothing but care for them, because they are angered by the fact that someone is criticizing the bubble they have built around their lives to explain away all of the bad things they see.

But eventually even many of the people who are most loyal to a bad spouse will start to see through their lies and nonsense.

And, likewise, Australian's are increasingly switching off the news. I have anecdotally noticed many more are switching of social media too. Which I get.

As the old saying doesn't go but should, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, fool me a thousand times, I might be the average Aussie. But maybe this is changing, and this is a good thing. At the very least I recommend, if you want to keep informed about what may or may not be happening, read the news, rather than watch it. It is a lot harder to be propagandized when you are carefully reading something with a critical eye. Only remember another modern Proverb: Those who do not read the news are uninformed, and those who read the news are misinformed. Broaden your knowledge base and where you are willing to seek information, you might out some fascinating things about the world.

Still it is good news that more people are turning the news of. May this increase.

Resentment is Building

 

Image: Unsplash

The only thing that can happen is happening. People are becoming increasingly resentful of the prosperous. It is probably hard to get across how un-Australian this sentiment is. Australians are a relaxed and laid-back people. Australia has always been the land of plenty, the land where people could succeed and even become wealthy if they worked hard enough. The kind of country where everybody believed they had a fair go, because they had kind of experienced that and grown up in a society that offered that. It has always been a country where people felt that if they could not succeed in one area they could always move into a different area and have a chance of success there. The problem is less and less people are feeling this way now. Resentment is building, and this is the only way things can go, if the situation does not change.

Houses and asset prices have been driven out of reach of the average income owner. It is now necessary to either earn a very high income, or to have a two-income family who both have relatively high incomes that together make a very high income. Without this kind of upper middle class wealth, it is almost impossible to get into the housing market anywhere within a reasonable distance from the centres where most people work. But despite how many people are facing these kinds of struggles, not everyone is facing hard times, some people are doing incredibly well it in this market.

Those with the highest per-capita wealth and asset ownership are smiling while interest rates go up. Every rate rise increases the value of their savings, and removes more and more young families out of competition for buying the increasingly expensive houses on the market, and the data bears out that this is the precise effect this is having:

“Older Australians 'immune' to rate rises bought a quarter of properties sold in NSW, Victoria and Queensland without mortgages in 2022.

More than 25 per cent of homes sold in Queensland, Victoria and NSW last year were bought in cash by older Australians who have benefited from high property prices and are "basically immune" to the effects of rising interest rates, highlighting a "generational divide" in the housing market.

New research published by property insights group Property Exchange Australia (PEXA) found that $478.6 billion of residential property was sold in 2022, with $122.5 billion worth of property paid for in cash…

… PEXA's head of research Mike Gill said the majority of cash purchases were by older Australians who are retiring and looking to downsize, and have benefited from high house prices.

"They've probably sold a family home, and obviously benefited from increase in pricing over the last few years at least, and then they've used the proceeds of that to then fund the next property," he said.”[i]

There are young families who are trying to work out if they can afford their home, whether or not to rent a room out to a family member or stranger, or to add a second, third, or fourth income to their household to pay the bills. They are delaying marriage, delaying parenthood, and making all sorts of sacrifices, and some are facing living in caravans just to afford to live. While at the same time, older Australians are choosing whether to live in one of their three or four homes, or spend a month in the caravan at some coastal camping ground, just because they can. Resentment is building at how many older and wealthier Australians are doing so well, when most everyone else is struggling.

Others are noticing this too.

“Hot chips. I just can’t say no. Why have one when I could have two, three or more? If I had my way, I’d eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner and still come back for more.

The trouble is, they would eventually kill me.

Property is our national, collective bag of chips. For a privileged group, property has become an addiction that’s getting worse by the day. Why settle for one house when you can have two, three or more? On top of the family home, why not get an apartment to rent out, and another for summer vacation? And why settle for something small when you can have something bigger, if not to start with, then when you are ready for that next extension?

I call them MMOOYBYs – those who want to Make Money Out of Your Back Yards.

During the pandemic, the nation experienced a building boom on a scale not seen before. We not only broke records for new dwelling construction, we smashed it for renovations, too. Despite all that new supply, prices and rents went through the roof when Economics 101 would expect the opposite to occur, especially as overseas migration fell through the floor.

We have been building vastly more dwellings than are needed to match population growth for decades, yet real prices and rents keep growing, affordability keeps falling, and ever-increasing government subsidies can’t keep up. We currently have 1 million more houses than households.

And all this because of the MMOOYBYs, who just don’t know how to stop.”[ii]

The writer of this article then goes on to suggest multiple different policies that could be instituted to turn this around. There really only needs to be two things done though; decrease immigration and decrease how many homes people can own and not be taxed heavily. These two policies will drive the wealthier home owners to sell their homes and increase the supply for the existing population, and drive prices down over time. The author of the above article suggests other policies, like getting rid of negative gearing and other land taxes on extra homes. These are not terrible ideas, but just lowering immigration would have a better effect.

But either way, resentment is building and people are noticing this. People are starting to push for change. Australians are starting to become comfortable with suggesting increasingly radical policies to solve the housing crisis. The truth is, relatively speaking to other parts of the world, Australians have never really experienced true hardship, they have never experienced the bottom end of society being exploited so heavily that they cannot get relief, and the wealthy being able to lord this over them. Australia has never been a class-based society that has been divided so distinctly along wealth and status lines. But it is increasingly becoming this. Australia is creating a landed class, that has incredible political wealth and power, that is reaping the financial harvest, while their kids and grandkids struggle to hold their heads above water. Resentment is building. Because the country that was once the land of a “fair-go” where every humble family had a chance to own a home is no longer like that. It is now increasingly the land of the indebted, the bonded and the tenant.

Part of having a stable political system is people believing it serves them, and their interests relatively well, but most Australians are starting to become disillusioned on this. Something needs to be done soon, otherwise the stable, relatively free and prosperous life we enjoy here in this wonderful land, might start to fade out of reach of the majority, and when that happens resentment can go in any direction.

Is anybody listening? Is anybody paying attention to this?

List of References

---

[i] Kate Ainsworth, 2023, “Older Australians 'immune' to rate rises bought a quarter of properties sold in NSW, Victoria and Queensland without mortgages in 2022” https://www.msn.com/en-au/money/markets/older-australians-immune-to-rate-rises-bought-a-quarter-of-properties-sold-in-nsw-victoria-and-queensland-without-mortgages-in-2022/ar-AA1cfWht?ocid=emmx-mmx-feeds&PC=EMMX01

[ii] David Hayward, 2023, “Your beach house is lovely, but it’s killing Australia,” https://www.theage.com.au/national/your-beach-house-is-lovely-but-it-s-killing-australia-20230601-p5dd4m.html?fb_news_token=eBuWtmqHwKPejXRfJ%2F5TiA%3D%3D.rB01kNP4rTp2+Ryb4E8js4n+kHI5KO6%2F8Ao8LBZQAjSrk++934PSWVU5W4%2FjHuexcQVsfqY4kQ5p1Mkb%2FLopX3sPL1a5ePTaOWn5TYmNlDeuoOI+KsPjqDFEUDD%2FefE1r1RX2iYIQym3tJKJ1oLpDQMlMGr4glGWxNVM3imlsViFkTfOSujn5fZ+ZqHwHWtkn4l5SdpOWGoe1blwdOX81SrgV8+JH6XecvOKMrch7s0q2A+f+o4xMozBuFpV4DX6QYU4kb0QpgsAgPnB5ziV9eG+4yoZjHHQ0dJ1vxQCSj4ag90O8SsahI2smLG3zY7rwVVkSpm7ABe5fZk2cBpFqQ%3D%3D&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

Modern Architecture Is Evil

 

It is for this same reason that modern warehouse style churches, with big black walls are also offensive to the soul.

Beauty inspires.

Plan, solid black walls suck the atmosphere and life out of the room. Someone might respond, but that is counteracted by the infusion of atmosphere from the smoke machines and the ways the music and the lights are used. To which I would respond, exactly, the fact that you must counteract it, proves my point, doesn’t it?

The Medieval Christians get hammered often by modern people, even modern Christians, but they made places of worship works of art for a reason; their souls were elevated by beauty, and they wished to inspire it in others.

Think about this, the Medieval mind was more capable of recognizing beauty and recreating it, than the modern mind. How is this possible?

Two things:

1) The medieval mind was shrouded in the knowledge and propagation of the truthfulness and goodness of God. The atheistic mind is not capable of reaching the same heights, so consistently.

2) The modern mind is constantly bombarded by messaging that restricts its ability to lift up the good, beautiful and true in many contexts and this has an impact on its ability to both appreciate beauty and propagate beauty.

Modern society is highly judgemental and critical of many eras of the past. Some of this is justified, after all, we have advanced technologically in many ways. But some of it is very misguided, many ancient peoples were far more capable of looking to their predecessors and seeking to emulate what they did so well. But the modern mind is largely shrouded by the bleak landscape that surrounds the majority of its thinkers on a daily basis. When you are surrounded by the horrors of the concrete jungle from day to day, it is very easy to forget how much more beautiful things can be. 

The modern mind needs to be reawakened to beauty. A lot of modern architecture is very evil in its presentation, it lacks all that is good and beautiful. Though this is not true everywhere. I drove with my family through a beautiful upper middle class neighborhood recently, where all of the houses were very striking. They were simple, made from various kinds of brick, but they were done so well as to fit into the environment around them, that they gave a strong sense of beauty. So this tendency to search for beauty in creative endeavours still exists in mankind, may it be more greatly awakened. 

Your Enemy Knows This

 

Image: Unsplash

Have you ever had a debate with someone, no matter who they are, and at the end of the debate the two of you were more at loggerheads than when you started? You have both entrenched into your positions?

This is a common human experience because people are often not convinced simply by information, people are more often convinced by consistent programming and emotional triggering.

Your enemy knows this. Your enemy knows that you can be swayed by consistent messaging, and by consistent exposure to programming, and so you are swamped daily in this world by messaging from every direction that seeks to teach you lies and nonsense.

But you know who else knows this? Our Lord Jesus Christ, and that is why he has designed his word to work as it does. So how do we undermine the programming of the evil one?

Well, it is actually very simple you must spend consistent time under the teaching of God’s word.

To Not Warn Is To Hate

 

Image: Unsplash

Many people in our society today think that it is loving to simply affirm the sinner in a dangerous way of life. This is because our word today defines love as affirmation. But there is nothing more dangerous than affirming someone in a dangerous behaviour. 

I addressed this in a sermon recently, and here is a short excerpt from that sermon.

We need more and more Christians to boldly love as Christ would have us love. What I did not say in this sermon, because time did not permit, is that very first time we are commanded to love our neighbours in the Scriptures, it is in the context of being honest with them.

Look what Moses wrote,

Leviticus 19:17-18, “17 You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”

In discussion about what love is many people have completely forgotten how the Bible itself defines it. To not hate your brother in your heart is to seek to reason frankly with them, so that you do not incur sin because of him. To not hate your neighbour in your heart is to avoid seeking to avenge yourself on him, and instead seeking to convince them of their error as much as you can.

Some of the people considered the most hateful in our society today, because they talk so much about sin and the foolishness of our society, are doing far more to love their neighbours than the people who are simply affirming their neighbours in a destructive way of life. Remember this. 

The Whole Body Working Together

Image: Unsplash

You can watch the video of this sermon here.

Introduction

For 7 or 8 weeks we focused in on various Spiritual gifts in the Bible, from tongues, to Apostles, to prophets, pastors, teachers and more. We have examined many of these gifts in great detail, and we have seen some important things.

We have seen that these gifts are given by God as he wills.

We have seen that these gifts have not ceased, but some things may have changed over the years. For example, we should not expect Apostles today to be like the 12, but this does not mean there are no longer apostles of a kind, we just call them missionaries today.

We have seen also the most important thing is that these gifts are given to us by the Spirit of God to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. This is central to the purpose of these gifts, not to lift up people, but to lift up Jesus.

There are many other gifts we could look at, and we will cover some of them today. But what I really want to focus on today is the overarching message of 1 Corinthians 12. Our guiding passage for this series. There is so much in this passage that we have not yet covered, and there are important applications from what Paul says here for all of us.

So today we will touch on some of the gifts we have not gotten into here yet, and then we will work our way through this passage and wrestle with what Paul is seeking to say to the Church in Corinthians. Remember, Paul is addressing some issues in this Church, things he is not happy about, quite a few things. He is unhappy that they are causing divisions over which leader to follow, Paul, Apollos or Peter. He is unhappy with how they are handling their own spiritual authority. He is unhappy with how they are dealing with the man committing adultery with his own father’s wife. He is unhappy with the fact that they are suing each other in secular courts of law and not dealing with it in church. He is unhappy at how married couples are applying their vows. He is unhappy with how they are approaching the faith of weaker brothers. He is unhappy with how they are supporting gospel preachers and approaching meals with pagans and taking communion and more. He is challenging this church to address its shortcomings.  

So, this should frame how we approach this passage in 1 Corinthians 12. The Corinthian Church, one of the earliest Churches in the history of the world, is not an ideal church, or a perfect church. It is not getting the usage of its spiritual gifts right. It is a church in need of much correction, and that is why there is so much there for us today in the modern church. So, let’s see what Paul has to say about the functioning of the whole body.

The Other Gifts (vv.7-11) – From this list we have looked at already tongues and prophecy in some detail. Today, I want to start by addressing some of the other gifts that we have not covered yet. remember Paul tells us,

“7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”

There are some remarkable gifts in this passage which we have not explored yet, but let’s briefly have a look at them. Paul’s emphasis here is not to write an exhaustive list of all the possible gifts, but to note that every single believer is gifted by the Spirit to serve the Lord in the Church and in society.

Knowledge and Wisdom – He first mentions Knowledge and Wisdom, “8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,” At an initial glance you might be tempted to bring these two gifts together, but they are not the same. They overlap, but they are not the same.

Knowledge is knowing something. Wisdom is knowing how to apply what you know. This is very different.

So, if we take this into account, then Paul is saying sometimes people will supernaturally know something about a person, or about an event, through a manifestation of the Spirit. Others will have a manifestation of the Spirit which helps them apply knowledge in a Godly way.

We see an example of the supernatural gift of knowledge in Acts 5:1-5,

“But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” 5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it.”

Through the divine power of the Holy Spirt, Peter was able see through the lies of Ananias and Sapphira. He knew something that only God, Ananias, and Sapphira could have known.

We see an example of the gift of wisdom in Corinthians where Paul says, 1 Corinthians 7:25-26, “25 Now concerning the betrothed, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. 26 I think that in view of the present distress it is good for a person to remain as he is.”

The Bible does not answer every question for every situation we find ourselves in, sometimes we need divine wisdom to make a decision. Sometimes we just need to decide for ourselves.  

Paul is being guided here by the Holy Spirit with divine wisdom. He does not have a word from the Lord about this specific situation, but he is using this gift to apply a supernatural wisdom.

In this context he is working out how to respond to a crisis they are going through, which appears from our history books to have been a famine. He advices them that it is probably best not to marry until the crisis is over. But he says later it is not wrong if they do.

These are powerful gifts with great application.

I sometimes wonder if I mum had this gift of supernatural knowledge. She was able to know things that I had no idea how she knew. I remember once I was taking my Walkman to school, and mum saw that and said, “Don’t do it, it’ll get confiscated”. I said, “I have been taking it for weeks and nothing happened.” So I took it. Guess what happened that very day?

Sometimes you just know something that you shouldn’t know. The Holy Spirit reveals this to you.

Faith, Healing and Miracles – He next mentions faith and healing, “9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles,” Again, these gifts strongly overlap. To be able to lay hands on someone and say, “Be healed” or see another miracle happen takes faith. But there are differences.  

There are many examples of this in the book of Acts, like when Peter says to crippled man, walk (Acts 3:1-10). Or when it says in Acts 5:12 that the Apostles did many signs and wonders. Or in Acts 6:8 where it tells us that Stephen was doing great signs and wonders. A great example of supernatural faith is in Acts 27:30-32,

“30 And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered the ship's boat into the sea under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow, 31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship's boat and let it go.”

Paul knew that they would be ok, because an angel of the Lord told him that he must stand before Caesar (Acts 27:23-26). But he also knew that some things had to happen for him to survive. His rock-solid faith in the midst of the crisis won over the centurion, who came to trust him.

To have supernatural faith, is to have a sure hope and sure knowledge that God is going to come through, when others doubt. To have the ability to heal is to believe in that moment that God wants to heal someone through you.

We are all commanded to have faith, but have you ever just known that God was going to do something? Have you ever just had faith to persevere or ask God to work in a certain way when everyone else said it was hopeless? Have you ever had the faith to ask for something big, knowing somehow that God would come through?

The gift of healing or miracles is more controversial, because there are so many charlatan faith healers today. There is probably only a couple of other gifts more abused than this one, teaching and prophecy. But the idea that God can heal someone through one of his people is not controversial at all. It is just much rarer than other gifts.

There are genuine testimonies of people being healed. There are also examples of preachers stacking congregations to trick people into thinking a healing has happened. But healing is still offered in the Scriptures, James 5:14-15 –

“14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”

Why doesn’t God heal always as we want? I think it can be for many reasons, it may not be his will, he may want us to pursue him more, it may be that we don’t really believe, or it may be sin in our lives, or a combination of these things. We don’t always know, we just know that if he says no, we should pursue him more, because this is ultimately what he wants and what is best for us.

Some people don’t like the idea that unbelief can stop miracles, but I get this idea from Jesus himself, Matthew 13:57-58, “57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” 58 And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.” The important point is this is just one of many possible reasons.

Lastly here, discerning the spirits – “to another the ability to distinguish between spirits.” This is an incredibly important gift. Demonic spirits are a reality in this world. I have started reading a book recently about a Christian psychologist who decided to note what the voices were saying to his patients who were schizophrenic. He noted something interesting, the voices all appeared to be saying the same thing. Which is remarkable, considering our dreams are not the same, our internal thoughts are not the same, our experiences and imaginations are not the same. He started to realize that a lot of his patients were hearing from similar spirits which always had the same messages, to hurt themselves, or others and stuff like this. He realized there were Satanic spiritual forces at work.

Note that Paul warns us about this, he says, 1 Corinthians 12:3, “Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.”

And the Apostle John likewise says, 1 John 4:1-3,

“1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.”

False spirits will oppress people, even believers, especially believers who are weak and given over to things like porn, alcoholism, drugs and other ensnaring sins. They will also possess non-believers, and harass believers through various means, including through possessed people. They will give false or true messages to witches, mediums and false prophets making them appear powerful. They will use displays of power and cunning to deceive people. They will also often pretend to be good people and go under the radar, working their wicked schemes subtly. Be watchful for such things.  

Paul encountered a person like this in Acts 16:16-18,

“16 As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” 18 And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.”

They say never minister out of annoyance, but this passage shows it can’t always be true.

 John also tells us that antichrists will infiltrate the church,

“18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:18-19).

So, this is a vital gift. We need the Holy Spirit to sharpen our senses to the spiritual forces of darkness around us, we are in a spiritual war, and spiritual forces are at work.

But we should not miss that more important that even what these gifts are exactly is how Paul brackets his discussion of these gifts, as he says, “7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good…11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” In other words, the most important thing we should take from this passage is that to each believer a gift is going to be given.

Some are going to be given insights of knowledge or wisdom, or the ability to have more faith, or to discern spirits, or to be teachers, and evangelists, Romans 12 mentions hospitality, service, leadership and more. And each of these gifts comes together to strengthen the church.

It is important to note that Paul does not spend much time expanding on what all of these gifts are in 1 Corinthians 12-14, he does expand on some, but not all. The reason for this is that this is not his emphasis. His emphasis is what he focuses on next.

One Body With Many Members (vv. 12-27) – His most important point is that all of us who believe are vital members of the body of Christ, with important functions to fulfil.

“12 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. 13 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. 14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 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. 16 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. 17 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? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 21 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.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 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, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”

The main point of Paul’s argument in 1 Corinthians 12 is very simple: You are all needed in the Church for it to function well. All of you, every single one of us. No body can work properly without all its parts doing their job. “For the body does not consist of one member but of many.”

We are not all the same, we do not fulfil the same roles. If I were to ask you, would you rather lose a leg, an arm or an eye, what would you choose to loose? How about none? They all fulfil vastly different roles, but they are all vitally important to us. 1 Corinthians 12:18 - “18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be?”

Diversity of roles and functions is built into the body of Christ, it has to be for a body to work. There needs to be very different parts fulfilling very different roles. We can’t all be teachers, or singers, or musicians, or Sunday School teachers, or whatever. Otherwise, nothing else would work.

But the flip side of this is that we all need to be involved, look what Paul says here, “21 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.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,”

Both the head and the eyes are more fragile than the hand and the feet, but they are even more indispensable. Headless just does not work. Losing eyes weakens everything. If parts reject the body the whole body weakens and so do those parts.   

But I see another application here as well – the quickness with which we Protestants leave the body. If I were to pick the greatest fault in Protestant Churches, I would say it is our sectarianism. Protestants are quick to either leave a church or leave to start another church, usually on a personal issue or fine point of doctrine that outsiders would not see the same chasm as we would.

Protestants almost specialize in magnifying differences and minoring on commonalities.

This has been happening since the day at the Marburg Colloquy that Luther and Zwingli could not agree what “This is my body” actually meant. They agreed on 14 out of 15 points, but could not agree on the last. This fractured the entire Protestant movement.

It is common for Protestants to say, we do not need this or that group. And some groups we do need to separate from, others not so much. This is relevant to myself and our church, because our union is doing things that some of us consider not properly Baptist. Some of my friends have left the union over it, with their churches even. My thinking is that staying as long as we can helps us to have a better influence. Some of my pastor friends see it differently, I understand why. But I can’t help but not that separating is the Protestant’s oldest tradition.

In fact, a lot of the book of 1 Corinthians tends to rebuke the faults in the Protestant church, even our penchant for denominationalism, or tying ourselves by name to a certain person or movement.

We are stronger all working together – Paul speaks into this by essentially saying that we are all stronger working collectively, than we are individually, “26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”

-        This is why the Spirit of God empowers everybody.

-        This is why the Spirit of God empowers everybody differently.

-        This is why the more of us who get involved in the various ministries of the church, the more healthy our church feels and the more we can see it come to life. Because this is how God intended things to be.

-        This is why when less people input the opposite happens. It is a very simple and practical principle.  

Application – So how do we apply this sermon today? I would recommend you ask yourself these questions:

-        How do you believe God has gifted you?

-        Where can you see need in the church, and know you could help out?

-        What do you like to do, and how can you use this to bless your church?

-        If you aren’t serving, why? Maybe you have a good reason, you are in a season of life where you need to build into your family, or you are recovering from burnout, or you are not well, or you are relatively new to the church and just getting your feet. But outside of these and a few others other reasons, you should challenge yourself with this question: if I am part of the body, shouldn’t I participate?

Conclusion – Paul’s message is very simple: the whole body working together. Let me finish by noting this, we don’t serve to be saved, we served because we are saved, Paul tells us this, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 – “12 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. 13 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.” What makes us part of the body of the Christ? When we turned from our sins and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ who died for us our sins, we then receive the Holy Spirit who baptizes us. It is the Baptism of the Spirit that saves us, makes us Christians, and makes us part of the body. Therefore,

-        You are not saved by service. I would never want you to get confused about that. You are saved to live as Christ would have you be saved.

-        You are saved by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, not by your works. Therefore, your works should flow not out of guilt, but a free choice to contribute in this world as Christ would have you contribute.

-        If service becomes a burden for you, always let me know, I don’t want to see that happen. It is good to honour our duty, it is bad to burn ourselves out.

-        Remember this, the greatest will be the one who serves the many, and there is none greater that our Lord Jesus Christ, because none served more than he. Let’s pray.