The Many Members of the Body (1 Corinthians 12) | Eyes to Heaven (Part 6)

Transcript

AR 9
THE MANY MEMBERS OF THE BODY
1 CORINTHIANS 12
2/22/2026
AUSTIN RUGH

Hello again. Let’s turn in your Bibles to John 17. We will be in 1 Corinthians the majority of our night tonight, but I’d like to recap a little bit about what Mike’s been going through in the mornings. We just finished our study on the High Priestly Prayer. So John 17 and our most recent passage, Jesus turns His attention from praying for the disciples to praying for us, future believers and the world. And He’s praying that we would have the same oneness, the same unity that He has with the Father.

Look at verse 21 of John 17. (John 17:21-24). It says, “that they, (referring to you and I) may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, (and for our purposes) that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.”

Mike talked about this morning how this is a unity that is supposed to be distinguishable. That is supposed to be such that the world can witness it. The end of verse 24, “so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.”

So we’re going to try talking about the unity of the church. And when God talks about the church, the metaphor that is often used and one that we’ll be turning to tonight, is that of a human body. So, all the parts are united under the head, and that head being Christ.

So let’s look at 1 Corinthians 12, so we can really run with this metaphor and we’re going to. And God does in His Word as well. So, we’ll spend a good portion of our time in these verses.
This passage, it’s mainly on spiritual gifts and how we’re all distinctly gifted in all the unique ways that God has brought us to this one local body, not this building, but this collection of individuals. And the way that these individual roles help make up the entire body.

Look at verse 12. (1 Corinthians 12:12-14) “For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For also by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. For also the body is not one member, but many.”

So we’re a group of distinct individuals with varying levels of giftedness, interests, hobbies, jobs, and yet all of us are under the headship of Christ. Look at verse 27. “Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.”

Mike talked about this a little bit this morning too, where one of the biggest threats is not from without the church but it’s within. And it’s a selfishness and it’s what I want the body to be. But this is Christ’s Body, not Austin’s body. And tonight we’ll try expanding on the metaphor of the church being like a body. All the parts united under the head. And just like a physical body that has problems, it’s the one that God supplied us with.

So 1 Corinthians 12, we’ll be spending most of the time. But this is the body that God gave us. And most of the time when we talk about the body of Christ, we stick to these tangible parts and talk about the spiritual gifts and they way that we all support each other for the furthering of the gospel and the work around here. The way that we compliment each other in service.

But I would like to try focusing on some of the more nuanced ways that the church is like a body. This is going to be a very topical sermon. So here’s what we’re going to talk about as it pertains to the way a physical body looks, operates, the way we think about it, and how the church is like a body.

We’ll talk about 4 things. Our appearance, our age, the way we have to adapt, and comparison.

So first we’ll talk about our appearance. Things about my physical appearance, your physical appearance, maybe that you wish you could change. Maybe things about your physical appearance that you like to draw attention to, and things that you like to hide.

Then with age, as you do age, things aren’t like they used to be. We can’t do some of the things we used to do. And at a certain point maybe we should know better. Maybe we don’t know any better and I might be time to address some areas that have been neglected for awhile as it pertains to the physical body and like a church.

Then adaptation. So maybe something becomes disabled, illness, maybe you’re working with an impairment. Some of you are in scooters now, either permanently or temporarily and know what that’s like compensating for a deficient area.

And then finally comparison. What it’s like to compare my body or our body to another. Maybe we wish it was more like someone else’s.

So let’s start with appearance. At some point, this is not a novel idea, there’s been something about our appearance that we wish we could change. Maybe you wish you were taller, shorter, wider, thinner. But God formed each one of us and yes, there are a few things that we can do to alter our appearance. You can color your hair. You can exercise, diet, clothing. You can get surgery. But if you’re too tall or too short, or my eyes are too wide or too narrow, you’re just stuck the way God has made you. And we like to hide those areas of ourselves we’re not happy with.

Maybe for you it’s your teeth and you smile with a grin instead of showing your teeth. Every kid that’s gotten braces had some period of time like that. Some of you have figured out that you have a good side and a bad side, and you’re good enough to posture yourself in a photo on that side.

But after a period of time, you just come to accept the way God has you. Hopefully you’ve arrived at the point where you’re even thankful for the way God has made you. That’s ultimately where we need to be.

At the same time, there’s probably aspects of your body that you can’t get enough of.
Like your good side. You know certain clothes that compliment you in various ways. I can get away with this, I definitely can’t get away with that like they can. Some of you have paid to get your colors done. This was a new idea for me. I’ve not done it. But if you don’t know what this is you can pay a consultant to tell you that you should never where the color red and you look better in blue. And people have purged their closets as a result.

But that’s my point. We are not ignorant about our appearance. We can play dumb all we want but know what we like and what we don’t like about our physical bodies.

Now let’s refer it to the church. What about the church? What do we like and not like about our appearance, about our body? The one that we are all collectively a part of and help make up the entire appearance. Are there things we wish we could change? Are there things that we like to draw attention to, and things we like to put off in a corner?

Just like our physical bodies, each part, everyone of you, was provided by God. Just like every part of me was provided by God. Each part of you was provided by God to make up this body.
And we can have our preferences about what we like and don’t like about our appearance, but never at the cost of unity. And being on this side of things for a little bit over a year now, I’ve learned that a number of us have a variety of opinions and preferences when it comes to our appearance.

The first one that came to mind, this is a little while ago, I overheard how one of you said that you’re my, not referring to me, you’re my favorite person that does announcements. And I remember thinking to myself, I’ve never once thought I hope Austin doesn’t get up to do announcements tonight. But our opinions and preferences just go so far. And that’s fine.

When it comes to our church body, there will be areas that we like to draw attention to.
For example, Bible teaching. I think that is the area we like to emphasize about our physical appearance the most. It’s something that we take very seriously, and we like to demonstrate it.

I was thinking back to the men’s chili cookoff. Toby Free shared his testimony and he articulated it better than I will, but he mentioned how refreshing it is to bring a friend or bring a family member to church and be confident that the Bible will be taught, that God’s Word will be preached. Whereas maybe you’ve gone out of town, visited a family member and if they’ve ever cautioned you or warned you, hey we’re going to go to church. They are going to do x, y, or z, or I know they do these things, but just bear with me. I’m thankful for that. There will also be people among Bible teaching, there’s also people that maybe we like to draw attention to. People we like to emphasize, introduce others to and maybe others not so much. We have Pastor Jesse out in the south lobby.

But on the flip side, there might be people we hope don’t make their way over to you on a Sunday. Or maybe you serve in an area with someone you don’t see eye-to-eye with. And I’ll be honest, I’ve been maybe discouraged by some of the ways that we don’t seem to love every part of our body at times. But every individual is an essential member of this body by God's design. Again, it’s not Austin’s body, the way I want it to appear is the way it’s going to appear. But God has designated each of these people. Just as you can’t unilaterally alter your physical appearance, you must accept and value these members as God has placed them.

So we need to learn to love those people we may not be naturally drawn to. And one of the best ways to do this is to give them more time and more energy needed to help them become more presentable.

Look at verse 23 of 1 Corinthians 12. “And those members of the body which we think as less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become more presentable.”

So just like how you might give extra attention to that area of your appearance that you may not like as much, that can be done in the church. So you spend hours in the gym or getting your hair and makeup sorted out, finding the right piece of clothing to make the best of what God’s given you. In the same way we should take these parts of the body that we might think need some work, or are less presentable and help them become more presentable. Not to cast them aside. So there are things that aren’t as pleasing to look at. But it doesn’t make them any less important. In fact, sometimes it’s just the opposite.

I think this passage is talking about those vital organs that are deserving of abundant honor.
Many of our members lately have had open heart surgery and one of them had asked the doctor to record their exposed beating heart while they were on the operating table. And I got to see that video and I will tell you it is not all presentable. But it is what, deserving of abundant honor.

So maybe we have some opinions on whether or not certain parts of our body are more or less presentable than others. But maybe they could be more presentable if you and I bestowed more honor on them. God is the One who made us look like this. Just like I’m stuck with the eyes that God gave me, I’m stuck with the body here that God’s given me as well. And we’re grateful!

We can have our preferences when it comes to the body. There’s a variety of preferences and opinions like announcements. But each person here makes up how we appear as a body. And there might be parts you like more than others. We don’t all have the same tastes and preferences. Some of us like the way one part looks more than another. But every part is just as part as the another. Maybe we can do more work on those less presentable parts. Maybe you could use more maturing, more attention, more patience to help it become more presentable.

If you do struggle with our appearance in one area, instead of hating that part of our appearance, maybe there’s something you can do to make it better. These are the areas that need your support. And often like the heart, they are the areas that do the most to support this body. If we don’t give it that great amount of honor, what can end up happening is this animosity, this embitterness.

But if you do, if you learn to love these parts, what I’ve been able to experience, even myself, is you end up learning to love that person even for their unique appearance that they have. Something you used to not even be able to tolerate about that thing, that person, the way we do things, now becomes the best part of that person. The most endearing part. So make an effort. Don’t avoid people. Give those people extra time and honor that God calls us to do.

Moving on. So that’s appearance. Age. The younger and the older. I’ve gotten to talk about this before and the example I gave is if you have the same T-shirt, like 15 years, then you are considered older. And I now am part of that community as well.

But the older and the younger. It’s an endless thing. Older people don’t understand the sense of humor of the younger. And the younger think that the older are just out of touch. It’s the way it goes. With age, the ways we operate change over time just practically. Maybe I’m less interested in extending myself in the ways that I used to be more prone to extend myself. Certain things that used to have major appeal now don’t have any appeal at all. Like how late you stay up. When’s the last time you did a summersault. It was something I was trying to think through as my daughter is doing them, I don’t know.

When we’re younger, we take risks, we make stupid decisions. We can be foolish.
And mortality hasn’t really set in, but everything is new and exciting. And that’s a sort of energy that can be contagious and sometimes maybe frustrating to those around. But everything is new and exciting. The first time that you get to drive. The first time that you get to start dating. The first time you start going to school. But as you age, imagine having to start your freshman year over again. It’s not the same appeal.

As you go on your body has different advantages and disadvantages when it’s young and when it’s old. For some of you, you have yet to do most of what God has to offer in this life. And then for other part, you hope God doesn’t over anything else in this life. But as it pertains to us as a united body in Christ, what does that look like? We’re all familiar with how aging works. Some more familiar than others. How does that play a role in the church body?


I think of Titus 2 and how the older are to minister to the younger. To teach them up. But I would like to try sticking to more of the nuanced things that comes with intermixing generations.

Younger people can think they know better. I can come along and think this old guy has been doing it for so long, so wrong, and I can’t wait to completely turn things around and do it a better way. It’s time for a change. The younger, they can have maybe more energy and sometimes, like I said, a more optimistic outlook on things. Change is fun. Change is abundant.
And once upon a time, all of these decisions that we have in here require a change. I was talking to John Schole about the change to add a drum set to the stage and how he was part of that first time we have ever had a drum set on the stage and how after the service he was told, that if that drum set was ever on the stage again, they would not be coming back. And now we built a box for it. So things just change.

Welcome Back is now Fall Kickoff. We have lyrics on the screen now instead of hymnals under the chair. And there is a more heavy emphasis on digital media. Things just progress. They change overtime as the new come in and the old go out. But the younger can also be foolish and make rash decisions. And worrying here as well.

Go to 1 Kings chapter 12. Here we get a look at the way King Rehoboam ran things. King Rehoboam was the son of Solomon, as in David’s son, the author of a few books in our Bible. Wisest man to ever (Solomon) be on the earth. He asked God for wisdom. God gave it to him. Unlike his father, Rehoboam was a fool. So after King Solomon dies in chapter 11, Rehoboam is tasked with figuring out how to manage this conflict that is brewing among his people.

Look at verse 6. (1 Kings 12:6-13) “Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the elders who had stood before his father Solomon while he was still alive.” This is the way things should be done most of the time. Rehoboam, he’s faced with an issue. He can choose to seek the counsel of the men who have served with his father for years and years and probably have seen this same exact situation before. Rehoboam is new to the scene, and these guys have seen it all.

“How do you counsel me to respond to this people? (verse 7) And they spoke to him, saying, If you will be a servant to this people today, and will serve them and grant them their petition, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.”

So the counsel is servant hearted leadership. Something that we even promote today. Things haven’t changed. It works. Be kind to them. Be generous and serve them.

“But (verse 8) He forsook the counsel of the elders which they had counseled him, and took counsel with the young men who grew up with him and stood before him. So he said to them, ‘What counsel do you give that we may respond to this people who have spoken to me, saying, (this is a request) ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’? Then the young men who grew up with him spoke to him, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to this people who spoke to you, saying, “Your father made our yoke heavy, now you make it lighter for us!” Thus you shall speak to them, “My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins! So now, my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” (Verse 13) And the king answered the people harshly, and he forsook the counsel of the elders which they had given him.”’”

So two counsels. We have people who have been doing this job for awhile now, offering their services and counsel to Rehoboam. Be nice, in short. Rehoboam declines it. He goes with the guys he grew up with on the block. And he says, “What do you guys think we would do? How about we make everything worse. How about we treat them harshly. How about we instead of using whips we use scorpions.” And this drives a wedge even deeper between the northern and the southern kingdoms. These brilliant young people really don’t do themselves any favors and this is all to bring about judgment that Solomon actually brought on himself because of his sin. But God is working through the ignorant moves of Rehoboam to accomplish it.

So this would be like if here at Indian Hills, me and Andrew Thomas closed the doors, came up with all the plans for all the ways that we wanted to do things, because we grew up here. We know what’s right, what’s wrong, who wronged us along the way, and the ways that we can make it better, or worse for you if we wanted to. We group together and now we are in the position of leadership. Or we could seek out the counsel of the hundreds of people here who have been doing this for a while.

So the young, they have their problems. But they also have their advantages. They can be the primary laborers. Depending on the stage of life, they just might have more time or energy to serve in different capacities and fulfill different responsibilities for the body. Youth no doubt has its advantages as well as its disadvantages.

And those mistakes, like the one Rehoboam makes, the ones that I will inevitably make or have made, they can sting. The damage can be severe and maybe take years to resolve. But what are we supposed to do? What are we supposed to do about the younger? Kick them out, be done with them, just keep doing things our way or the highway?

Now with regards to the older, this might sting as well. As being older pertains to our local church, it can be, again, a lot like having a physical body. As far as the advantages go, we are wise and taught. So maybe you are young in certain areas and old in others as far as the composition of this local body is concerned. Maybe you’ve been around long enough, you’ve made 10 times the mistakes, but as a result, you have a solution for everything that life throws at you.

But the older aren’t supposed to be organized over here, while the younger are over here. We cross paths and we interact with each other. And sometimes, those younger people have ideas we really don’t like. I’d like to present a couple of them.

Did you know that you could just bring your phone to church instead of using a physical Bible? It would be lighter, you would save yourself the space, it’s convenient. You could give it a try. I’m not a personal fan of that, I’m just using it as an example.

How about we study God’s Word using a different translation than the one we’ve been using for 25 years? Maybe we don’t need to keep hymnals in the back of every seat anymore, or
once upon a time, this was decades and decades ago, it was a decision to add on to this building and talking with the people involved in that, every time the decision was made to expand, there were people who did not enjoy that opinion. And maybe some of you are a part of that where I remember the issues. I remember the people that left as a result. There’s always going to be that.

Now all of the sudden, these younger people aren’t making sense. In fact, I might even think they’re outright wrong. Maybe they should stay in their section, and I’ll stay in my section. And what happens is the younger will grow embittered with the older for their resistance to change and the older can grow embittered against the younger for their desire for change. And these negative thoughts can enter your mind. You know if you’ve been around for any amount of time, you might be thinking, you know things used to be better.

We had an organ, we had purple pews. Everyone brought a physical Bible with them. I get this a lot when it comes time for summer camp. So some of you that grew up in our youth ministries went to the most podunk camp that you could find on the map. I went there too and it’s the best way to describe it. And I think you would find it to be a compliment if I called it that. And you think that’s the way camp should be done, versus the current generation who would, I’ve received threats about going back there actually. But those were the glory days we might think. We did it right. This was better the way it used to be.

Turn to Ezra chapter 3. The older beating down the younger with their waves of resistance and also the younger beating down the older, or visa-versa, with waves of change. It’s nothing new. Here in Ezra following the events of Nehemiah where the Israelites rebuilt the wall, Israel takes on the task of rebuilding the temple. So what’s happened is Solomon’s temple, the temple that was coated in gold, beautiful, magnificent, priceless, has been turned to dust. It’s gone. It’s been taken away. With that one destroyed and Israel having been exiled for a while, they come home and they decide its time to rebuild the temple.

Look at Ezra 3:10,11. “So the builders laid the foundation of the temple of Yahweh. Then the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise Yahweh according to the directions of King David of Israel. (verse 11) And they sang, praising and giving thanks to Yahweh, saying, ‘For He is good, for His lovingkindness endures forever upon Israel.’ And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised Yahweh because the foundation of the house of Yahweh was laid.”

Our first group, we’re going to have the young and the old here. The first group is ecstatic. They are singing, they are getting all dressed up, they are shouting praises to God. His lovingkindness endures forever upon Israel. These people, they grew up in exile. They have never seen Solomon’s temple. They’re just excited to have a temple in the first place.

“Yet (Ezra 3:12,13) many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, the old men who had seen the first house of Yahweh, were weeping with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many in loud shouts with gladness were raising their voice, so that the people could not distinguish the voices of the shouting of gladness from the voices of the weeping of the people, for the people were shouting with a loud shout, and those voices were heard far away.”

You have these people, both groups, I’ve seen the old temple, I know how good we had it. How good things used to be. This stinks. By comparison, this isn’t it. I miss the way things were. Really putting a damper on the foundation process of the new temple. But I think this is just the way it goes. Since history has been recorded you have the old remembering the way that things were for them, the way we did it was right. And then you have the young who come in and they’re just happy with anything. Don’t they have standards? We used to be somebody. Now we have this amateur temple.

But things change with age. What once was preferred is sometimes even forgotten. And that’s fine. Just like each of us may prefer something about the past over the present, so here we all are with each other. A mixed bag of generations all with varying preferences and opinions. But should any of that ever come at the cost of unity? We can let age be one of the best things about our body or one of the worst things about us. And more often than not, I am encouraged to say that it is our greatest strength, one of them. While we’re all entitled to our preferences and opinions, I’ve been encouraged by the amount of support everyone has.

There’s a number of new people that are involved in various leadership. There’s a number of new people even visiting and things are changing once in a while and generally speaking there’s a great amount of support. I’ve felt this even for myself, where I can be like Rehoboam who may be seeking counsel from my friends and making foolish decisions, but you all have been very patient. People have been doing it for years and years and years and I can be there or you can be there for me when I need counsel. So we have newer people taking on leadership roles around here, myself included, and I have not lacked a single bit of reinforcement.

We have months of experience, mixing with decades of experience. And now we have this speed boat of a church that can sometimes take you for a ride, if you remember that reference, and we are all doing that together. Sometimes that means tolerating the younger person taking counsel from their younger friends and other times it means tolerating the older person reminiscing about the way things used to be. Hopefully less and less of that as time goes on.

But like a normal body, like I’m going to be talking about in 30 years, and like maybe some of you are talking about today, it just comes with age. I don’t think we have to be surprised. I'm not saying that makes it right, but I think that’s just a part of having age.

Now let’s move on to the ways our body has to adapt as it relates to a church body.
We physically adapt all the time. Specifically, when we have to compensate for a deficient area. Maybe you’ve injured yourself and your body is healing. You roll your right ankle so you shift your weight to the left. When you break an arm, your first thought isn’t I’m never going to use this arm again, chop it off, send it away. No. For a time if you break your right arm, the left arm just does double the work. And that’s to be expected. You’re stuck with the body that God’s given you and you’re going to make the best of what you have.

Some of us were born with or have developed permanent disabilities. If you can’t walk, you roll. I know several of you are missing parts of your hand from various accidents over the years. There is vision loss, hearing loss, hair loss. And it is what it is and we adapt. God has blessed us with a physical body and we live in light of whatever He’s blessed us with.

And the rest of the body, it can try to make up for whatever area is deficient. We don’t have to leave it to fend for itself. We’ll nurse a disability when possible. You can commit extra time to rehabilitating a part of the body that needs that attention. And sometimes, you are left to suffer with it for the rest of your life. That’s just what comes with having a physical body sometimes. And I think the same exact thing goes for a church body.

Turn back to 1 Corinthians 12. So in a body the size of ours there are going to be some parts that aren’t as efficient or useful as others. For example, my right arm cannot throw like my left and that’s fine. I use my left arm for different things, and I can use my right arm for the throwing. It’s just the way it is. Likewise, not everyone is going to be able to sing like Aaron or Andrew. Not everyone is going to be able to mix sound like Jake. Some people, maybe they can serve in a capacity every single week and some people can serve in a capacity every month.

We are all parts of the body here and each serves in the unique way that God has gifted us.
And sometimes that might mean someone else or myself is more gifted than another. But what do you do in that situation when one part of the body is suffering, do you forget about it, wait until its fully healed and then you move on and you just sit around waiting for it? No. You have to adapt. So if Jesse is suffocating under a thesis, do we shut all the lights off, close the building for a little while and then wait to come back? No. If one of our women gives birth, do we call her up and say hey you’re serving on Sunday, you can’t not be there? No. We’ll even coordinate meals and we’ll help them out. It’s just what happens when one part of the body is going through something, the rest of us exist to help it along.

(1 Corinthians 12:25-26) “So that there may be no divisions in the body, (again our purpose is unity) but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it.”

Many of you know Gary, who heads up our Media Center. He just had a procedure done as well and several of you took the initiative to go and help him and his wife prepare for all the different crafts that were going to be happening for the different kid’s ministries and made sure that when these weeks came along, that we weren’t expecting him to carry that whole burden. We helped carry it for him. It would be ridiculous if I was in the post op room with pipe cleaners trying to say, “Gary, there’s work to be done.” But instead, we all come around to help when one part is suffering, we have to adapt, just like a physical body and give it the attention that it needs.

When one part suffers loss, illness, trial, the rest of us are here to adapt and give it the attention that it needs.

Turn to Ephesians 4. So we have a number of people gifted here in similar ways and when you have numerous people, there are going to be maybe many people that are gifted in similar ways. And some might be more useful in that gift than another. They would be my first pick to do this instead of this other part.

But I think to look at it like redundancy is unbiblical. I think the church is not a business, it’s not a team with a bench. We have our number one salesman and you just wait, or first string and you just sit on the bench until we need you. But each of us brings something unique to the body, and we would not be good stewards of you or of me, if we just had you sit out until the better option couldn’t be used anymore. I think we are called to extract as much value from every single part and put it to work.

(Ephesians 4:15,16) “But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is Christ, (key component, Christ’s body) from whom the whole body, being joined and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the properly measured working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”

So maybe for you, you have identified areas that you are deficient in, in terms of the way that you can help support the body. Maybe you aren’t as effective in a certain area as someone else. Maybe you can’t communicate as clearly. Maybe you can’t give as much. But like
your physical body, we just have to adapt. If you can’t fulfill these areas maybe I can for you. Maybe for a time or maybe indefinitely. If the injury is temporary and can heal or if it’s just a permanent thing that we need to tolerate the rest of our lives.

And as far as it pertains to others, if I’m noticing these things about myself and I need you to come along and help support me, maybe we can look for ways to maximize their impact. We adapt. Again, if your right arm, if you are the right arm and the left is down for a little bit, train it. Help it. Restore it. Maybe it will never come back.

I read a story about a girl that was born with half of a brain. That’s just the way she was born. This is the way she arrived into the world. But over time the other half of the brain almost completely compensated for it. She graduated high school, she gets to enjoy her life now, and that may be the way we are figuratively speaking. Maybe we just don’t have this part. God didn’t deem it necessary. God didn’t desire us to have it. And maybe the rest of us need to come along to compensate for not having that particular part. We adapt.
We come alongside each other and help carry the weight. If there’s a place for you, there’s a place for me. There’s a place for poor vision. If I can’t see, I’ll make do with what I can. If there’s a deaf ear, well maybe someone can make some room for it. But people here are the people God has equipped this church with. Strong or weak, it’s what we have to work with.
Just like your physical body you were dealt with, whatever God has dealt you with, then you make the best of it.

So too we make the best of the way God has equipped us. It’s on leaders to identify these areas and give attention to them. Sometimes that does mean maybe reassignment. If I tell you I’m a hand, but I have never picked up anything a day in my life maybe you’re not a hand.
Leaders are appointed to steward and make some of these hard decisions. Then for other members of the body, unless that decision by the leaders is made, it’s on us to accept our condition. Maybe we are just stuck with one eye. That might look like having a person whose personality you don’t prefer is serving right alongside you. Oh well. Love them.

It might be true that our eyesight isn’t great. But God has given us the eyes we’ve been given.
And we’ll work with what God’s given us. Otherwise, we fall into the trap of our last point, and that’s comparison.

Turn to Revelation 2. So how does the church relate as we think about our bodies? Appearance, age, the way we adapt, and now comparison. We could talk about comparing one part of our own body to another, but I think we pretty much covered that. What I would like to do for the remainder of our time, is see how our body might compare to another church body.

So when it comes to our physical bodies, we can get easily wrapped up in comparison. Maybe we abstain from envy, but comparison nonetheless. I don’t think comparison is always sinful.
We don’t have to play dumb or act like I’ve never noticed this before. Some of our bodies, they just can be different. Just like our physical body. Some might be healthier, some might be unhealthier, some might be bigger or smaller, however you might look at it, we can compare the body.

And due to a number of factors, there are going to be things that you have opportunities for that I don’t. Whether resources to take better care of yourself, or the means to have someone else do the hard work that you would otherwise have to do. Like a church. Maybe a church is equipped with hundreds of people, and we can all lighten the load for everyone else. Or maybe there’s one guy to do everything. Just the way that God has equipped that body. But we can compare each other.

And what happens if when we compare, it’s more than just basic observation. What if I do fall into the sin of envy or jealousy? I wish I had what they have. 1 Corinthians 12 is all about this. Why can’t I do the things that they want to do. I want to be this way, instead I’m that way.
They’re a lot better at this than I am. We have the saying that comparison is the thief of joy. And we can let it be. There’s nothing wrong with making an observation, but it can lead to sin.

And when it comes to comparing our own body, we can also make efforts to build it up into what we’re comparing it to. I’m not a stranger to that. There’s always room for growth. But sometimes you’ve done all that you can. You will never be completely like another person. You can do your best to try, if you’re comparing yourself one for one, you can make your best efforts to check all the boxes until you get so so close. But eventually you’ve done all you can and your body will never be the same as someone else’s.

How does that work for the church body? How do you and I as a collective body compare to another? This is why we’re in Revelation 2.

Every church is going to be comprised with a completely unique set of parts. Just how none of my parts are the same exact way as your parts, and just how like my body has different strengths and weaknesses to yours, so to our church body is going to have different strengths and weaknesses to another. Or how I might experience different blessings and trials compared to you, another church might do the same.

So different church bodies go through different things. Some are experiencing the excitement of growth and development, and some are bleeding out. Some churches are loaded with people incredibly gifted by God. At the same time, some churches are maybe going through quite a number of issues. Maybe at the pastoral level. Maybe at the member level. Maybe both.

This is what comes with being a body. Not everybody’s going to be the same. Some are going to excel in some areas that others need some serious work in. We can work on our problems. We can cater to our strengths, put efforts towards our weaknesses. And sometimes, we just have to accept I’m not going to be the same exact body as someone else’s.

This is why I’d like to compare the churches in Revelation with you, starting with Ephesus.
So I like to imagine that there is a representative from every single church present with each other in the same room and Jesus is talking with them in the midst of the others. So as one is receiving the review, the others are looking and maybe judging or questioning and comparing themselves to the way they look to the other. So we’ll walk through the churches and see what they do well and what they could work on, some of the churches, just to illustrate the diversity of each local body.

Verse 2 (Revelation 2:2,3) Starting with Ephesus. “I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot bear with those who are evil, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, you also have not grown weary.”

So this is what they’re commended for. Ephesus receives a glowing review here. They toil, persevere, and they reject false apostles. What a great church. I hope we can be more like that as we’re going through the line. But did you hear about their problems, what this body is dealing with?

Verse 4 (Revelation 2:4) It’s a pretty severe problem. “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” This is told to Ephesus. This is not told to anyone else. This is told to their church, their local body. These things you are doing well at. Keep it up. This is an area that you can work on.

What about Pergamum? Verse 14. (Revelation 2:14,15) Moving our attention. If you’re in the room with these people, we’ve pivoted. “But I have a few things against you, that you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.”

So we’re thinking like, this is a church? Can you believe it? We would never allow our body to be given over to sexual immorality or idolizing. But while the church in Pergamum falls short here, they’re still a beacon for Christ in a satanic culture. Look at verse 13. (Revelation 2:13) “I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.” So they have their issues, but they’re also in this terrible part of town where Satan dwells, where Satanic influence is just rampant and Christ commends them. You have stood strong, you hold fast My name and did not deny me even in the midst of this terrible situation.

Moving on. Thyatira, they receive a similar review. Verse 19 (Revelation 2:19) “I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your last deeds are greater than at first.” So again unique churches all standing alone and the way that they are represented is just laid out here, individually for each of them. Not how you compare to someone else, but you. But they also have the same issue with idolatry and sexual immorality.

Verse 20. (Revelation 2:20) “But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and deceives My slaves so that they commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.” Things to work on and if you were to take this to present day, I don’t think any of us would even step foot in some of these places. They practice these things. They make it a habit.

Next we have Sardis. And what can we say about the body in Sardis? I was trying to think through what it would be like to actually be a member here. There’s only a few of them that are worth mentioning. Verse 4. (Revelation 3:4) “But you have a few names in Sardis who have not defiled their garments, and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.” So there’s only, a church, not exactly sure of their size, only a few of them that are worth commending. They have different geographic situation than us. It’s not like you can walk five minutes and find a different church. But they’re not ever told to get up and leave. Instead, they’re commended for their faithfulness.

Meanwhile verse 1, it says (Revelation 3:1) “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: This is what He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.’” So this church, the way they stand alone is only a few of you that are worth mentioning. The rest of you, spiritually dead.

John only records nice things to say about Smyrna and Philadelphia. They don’t have any problems that are at least mentioned. Smyrna remained faithful during tribulation and Philadelphia remained faithful to God’s Word and Christ.

But then on the complete other end we have Laodicea. Nothing nice to say about them.
Verse 15. (Revelation 3:15,16) “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. Because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.” Notice how this is like, hey these are all things that you guys could all collectively work on. No, each of you are going to be different. You are all comprised of different individuals.

Of course, I’d love for our church to be compared to and commended like Smyrna or Philadelphia. But we know the areas that we can work on, to grow in. And the areas that we need to grow in will differ from the churches down the street. Bodies are going to have problems. Every church body that has ever existed has had problems. Not very many churches last over a couple centuries let alone half a century like our own.

But think about what the situation, what it must have been like in Sardis. Go back to chapter 3 verse 4. In verse 1 Jesus says that the church is spiritually dead. But there are a few people in attendance that warrant mention. (Revelation 3:4) “But you have a few names in Sardis who have not defiled their garments, and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.”

Again, just try to think if you were one of these few people. It would be very bleak. I would maybe start looking around. But then I’m thinking these people are commended for their testimony. That’s the body that they are a part of. Sardis would be a complete disaster without them.

I like to think that we have more than just a few undefiled parts of the body, but the point stands. There are going to be maybe some parts that need some work. Maybe some parts that are spiritually dead. And we’ll deal with it, because this is our body. Jesus doesn’t tell those few to pack it up and go somewhere else. That’s not what you do with a family. You tolerate one another.

By comparison, Philadelphia looks pretty nice. That’s Philadelphia. You keep your focus. You are Sardis. You are Indian Hills. You’re not Philadelphia, you’re not Ephesus, you’re not any of the other churches. You are Sardis.

I’d like to look about some other churches here. We’re not going to turn to all of these different churches. I’ll give you some context. But let’s think about how these other churches work and we’ll go church shopping. I think that’s the term that people like to use. So pretend we’re new to town and we need to find a church. And I’m going to walk you through real examples of what really happened at the cherry pick time I chose in churches in the Bible.

So we know about the church in Jerusalem. So if we’re thinking about where are we going to go next, what are we going to try, we’re new here. Jerusalem, the leader there is the brother of Christ. That’s a pretty compelling component. That’s probably an area they would like to emphasize about their appearance. They are super devoted to prayer. We can check it out, but half of their members are going to pressure you to be circumcised when you’ve arrived. If you were to think about that practically today that would be insane. But that was the Jerusalem church. They were full of legalistic people saying you can’t be a true Christian unless you do these things.

What about Antioch? If you’re familiar with Antioch, they were a missions hub. Paul was intimately acquainted with them. They were probably massive in size. A number of people getting saved over there. At least it has been recorded for us. The only negative thing about Antioch is Peter, Jesus’ disciple, really upstanding guy, if you were to cross paths with him he will pretend he doesn’t know you because he’s afraid of what his Jewish friends would think. Imagine if our church leaders were anyway like that. And it doesn’t make sense.

Or Corinth. Maybe one of the more familiar ones for us. Like we’ve been in 1 Corinthians, there’s plenty of gifted individuals in Corinth. We can go check it out. They’re going to have every spiritual gift that you could name. But they’ll probably sue you in court. And one guy is sleeping with his mother-in-law and they just let it happen.

Where should we go? There’s Rome, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae, Thessalonica, are all options as well. But each of them, you’re going to have to take your pick between self-righteous Jews, legalism, some of them have abandoned Christ, disunity, some of them have stagnant involvement.

Why does every church have problems? Because we are there. That’s just what happens. It’s not to say that we just have to accept the way things are. We should seek to grow and excel in all areas. But we can’t forget that we’re going to be people. We still have to bear with one another. It’s easy to pick apart some of these churches because they’re written down for us.

But what could people say about Indian Hills? Probably a lot. If it were on the postal route in Revelation, what might Jesus have to say about us in our section. And many of the things might even be true. And then what? Of the churches that we talked about, all but two had some rebuke. And then all but one had something that they were commended for. We’re not a perfect church. There are things that we could probably be rebuked for.

So what are we to do considering that we have problems? We stick it out and address them.
Now if it’s a matter of doctrine or conviction, that’s a different story. But if our problems are with individual parts that make up the body, I think we need to sort it out, just like your family. You can’t see eye to eye with maybe every single member of them. They’re still your family.

It can be easy for me to compare my family with another. Your in-laws versus my in-laws or whatever it might be. But what’s the point of envy or jealousy? At the end of the day, they are still going to be your family. You’re stuck with them. And that’s the way we are with each other. God made us all part of this body. So we have to work with what God’s given us.
Maybe you wish that we had the same makeup as other churches somewhere else. Sorry. This is the body that God’s given us.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we were doing the same thing that they were doing? Just like my own body, maybe sometimes I wish I was doing something else like somebody else could enjoy. That’s just the way it is. It’s fine to observe things. But this is what we got. And just like your physical body, you work with what God’s given you. That means our challenges are going to be different than other churches. Just like all the churches that we just read.

And why? Because every single church body is comprised of different parts than ours. Every single part is different than our parts. Maybe our arm is permanently deformed and it prevents us from ministering effectively in a particular area. That’s ok. That’s where God has us.
Meanwhile, maybe our feet are super swift, and we can spread the gospel like no one else. Great. Praise God.

If you look out the window, you will see other churches that can do different things, some better, some worse. And when they look out the window, they’ll see us doing different things too, some better, some worse. But by God’s sovereign plan, you guys are what I have to work with. And God’s given us, I would say, a pretty spectacular body. I think we’re looking pretty good.

People are coming to know Christ. Pouring time and energy into each other’s lives. We’re adapting to the different needs that come up in helping in whatever areas need attention.
Because that’s what the family of God does. We don’t walk out when someone needs our help. We’re here to help people when they make mistakes.

So just to review, what do you think about our body? As far as appearances are concerned, of course we can always look better. But this is the way that God built us. If I were to try to assign different parts of our body, different strengths or weaknesses, I would say our music ministry is like a luscious head of hair for example. And that’s great. Praise God that He’s blessed us with very talented musicians.

Meanwhile, if I were to describe our body’s ability to maybe minister to the young singles crowd, it’s like a wound that’s healing. We once had a young singles crowd, then you all got married and now it’s healing. And I would say Tyler and Galen, they would be part of that healing process, the young adults Bible study. So there was a need and we’re trying to tend to it. It receives extra attention whereas compared to maybe some other formats, some other ministries we have that are just running themselves.

Now if we’re talking about our body’s willingness to serve, I would consider us a pro athlete.
I was in the building just this week and I came across Todd Smith, and I said, “Hey congrats, didn’t you retire?” And he’s telling me, yes, this is my first week of retirement, working how many decades that he had been. And he’s wearing latex gloves because for his first week of retirement, he was scrubbing the floors of the kitchen here in this building. And I thought that was amazing. And I wanted to share it.

But it’s good to look at it in the mirror once in a while, just to see our appearance. If something is in my teeth, I hope you’d tell me and I can address it. The age of our body is another one of our strong suits. Some churches are going to be heavy in the younger crowd. Some are going to be heavy in the older and I think we have a pretty nice blend.

But with that comes a whole range of issues. But if we were all 25 years old, ignorance would be bliss. We’d all be spending money on shiny things, we’d be making errors (practical and theological) all over the place, because change is fun and if you don’t adapt you die, supposedly. Then if we were all 80, we’d have a harder time changing anything up or starting something new. Because why would we. Everything is working just fine.

There will be times that we might look back and long for the ways that this particular area used to be. It’s ok to remember. But I think back to what we looked at in Ezra, while the temple wasn’t anything like the glory it once was, it’s what God willed. It’s what God wanted for His people at that particular time.

In this body, we have to tolerate one another and the range of experiences and opinions that we can all bring. Ultimately, we submit to the leadership that God appoints over us. And then after that, we bear with one another through the mistakes and decisions that go against our preferences. There are going to be advantages and disadvantages to having a large age spectrum. We can play to our strengths and I think we can put up with our weaknesses.

And one of the ways that we put up with the weaknesses is we adapt. We talked about the way we adapt. If all of our musicians called in sick, would we just say we’re never going to do music. No, obviously not. We would say you can sing into a microphone, maybe one person can play a guitar. Great. For some bodies, that is all they have is one guy doing everything, even working the pedal to change the lyrics. We’re blessed with more moving parts.

Go back to 1 Corinthians 12. God’s given every church, every body, the parts that they need. When one part of our body suffers, so does the rest. When your head has a cold, you feel it all over. When you have to do without an arm for a while, you can make it work. But if you really can’t do something, if you’ve tried everything, you tried to adjust this area time and time again, maybe God never wanted you to change it, or have it. That’s just the way it’s going to be with some bodies.

That’s exactly the parts that God has desired it to have. Meaning, it’s not going to have every part that you want.

Verse 18. (1 Corinthians 12:18) “But now God has appointed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.” Because whose body is this? It’s not my body and all the parts that I wish we had or I think should change. It is God’s. And He’s placed things exactly the way He likes. You might like the way another body looks, but this is the one you got.

Not everyone can look the way they “want” to look. God composed our church body just like a physical body. There are things that we can improve on and things that we can excel at. And there are other things that maybe we are just going to have to live without. But we’re going to stand together as a body, and as (John 17:23) says, “that we may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that God sent Jesus, that He loves them, just as the Father loves His Son.”

Let’s pray.