Download LESSON 4 - CHURCH MEMBERSHIP HELPS YOU DEVELOP Eph

LESSON 4 - CHURCH MEMBERSHIP HELPS YOU DEVELOP
Eph 4:8-16 - Elders given to help the body be built up in love, grown up healthy, equipped
for ministry,
Church membership, like Baptism & Communion, is an outward sign of your inward
commitment. Placing self under responsible accountability in order to grow and have a
context to develop your gifts. Elders exist to help the body grow & function in a healthy way.
1Cor 12 1:-31
“1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I would not have you ignorant. 2 You
know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, even as you were led.
3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calls
Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy
Ghost. 4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are
differences of administrations, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of
operations, but it is the same God which works all in all. 7 But the manifestation of
the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.”
The HOLY SPIRIT is the subject of Ch 12...HE IS VERY DIVERSE
Not gifts/people but the 3rd person of the Godhead who indwells, gifts and equips God’s people
HS is perfectly lined up with Father/Son...we need a full, not limited, view of Him...He’s the
infinite HS!!!
12:4 HS gives Diverse (different/distinct) gifts
12:5 HS gives Diverse (different/distinct) administrations (types of service/ministry)
12:6 HS gives Diverse (different/distinct) operations (effects/results)
12:7 Spiritual gifts are the MANIFESTATION of the multifaceted Spirit of God...huge
variety
The HS gives us gifts to help make Him famous, not us! They benefit others, not just
us.
The HS fills & builds up the body of Christ who, in turn, display God to the world
The Corinthians were hung up on what was best, rankings, having the #1 spiritual gift
Ch 1-4 fixated on one perfect leader
Ch 7 fixated on one perfect marital status/set of circumstances
In 12-14 it seems they fixated on “the one, ideal spiritual gift to be desired” (tongues)
You would think Paul would go all conservative at this point...Yet he did not even “outlaw”
tongues. Instead he argued for a more diverse display of gifts to more fully display God's
one, true Spirit. This is an interesting way to argue for unity... Didn't say, “Everyone
CONFORM/be the SAME” but play YOUR diverse part as ONE UNIT! Too often churches
strive for sameness & conformity b/c they think they can create unity. Honoring God, unity &
equality in Christ are NOT about emphasizing sameness. Squeezing people into a few
similar roles (preacher, teacher, singer, missionary)... Stifles growth and produces a VERY
LIMITED view of God...God gets “boxed in” & less well known. It denies that every person
who has the Holy Spirit is a walking mini-portrait of God. God literally uses each gift to
reveal something about His multi-faceted self.
“12 For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of that one
body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit are we all
baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free;
and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
12 The body is one (a single unit/organism) = dismembered parts are not a body
It has many members (limbs or parts) = a body which is missing parts is incomplete
13 How did this happen? By one Spirit who made them one body through a “baptism”
We're not a bunch of little, spirit-filled bodIES...ONE BODY(Ch 3 one field, building,
temple)
1 green bean isn't a field, 1 brick isn't a building, 1 hand isn't a body (“Thing” Addams
Family)
Also notice Paul didn't say “BECOME” one body, he said you “ARE” one body...live like it!
Churches s/b cautious/leery of any means used to “achieve/manufacture” unity (Gal
3:2-3)
Ever been part of a team building exercise? Design - get people on same page,
create oneness
Church unity is about the HS not sameness of function...Jew, Gentile, bond (slave), free,
male/female
“14 For the body is not one member, but many. 15 If the foot shall say, Because I am
not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear
shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the
body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were
hearing, where were the smelling? 18 But now has God set the members every one of
them in the body, as it has pleased him. 19 And if they were all one member, where
were the body? 20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.”
Parts are parts regardless of their feelings
As a believer, have you ever felt/do you feel useless, unneeded, dissatisfied,
jealous?
Notice, it is NOT wrong to desire other gifts (12:31); it is wrong to think your gift is
unneeded
It is incorrect to think, “Christ's body can function without me”
The body would be incomplete if parts were missing
Would it survive? Sure! Even a human body survives with a few parts missing.
BUT would it be fully functional? No! It would NOT shine as brightly as it could
God wants the church body to do more than just “survive” on a few working parts
God designed it to run as a whole unit (Orchestra, choir, vehicle, farm, building...)
If you think the church is being fully effective today, you're wearing rose colored glasses
We may have small successes but we're far from what Jesus promised we could be (Jn
14:12)
We need to call each other to use our gifts so our church becomes a “full display”
“21 And 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 No, much more those members of the body, which
seem to be more feeble, are necessary: 23 And those members of the body, which we
think to be less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor; and our
uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.”
Let us rephrase so we can grasp the huge error being presented here...
“Some parts which God created and placed in an organized manner to best fulfill His
eternal, secret, master plans believed they didn't need other parts created and
placed for the same purposes.”
It is simply NOT true (no matter what we believe; must allow this to become our
mindset)
Here's our problem: We tend to think of “church” in ONE context (Sunday)
Sunday is just ONE of the MANY important things we do together as a body
To only view Christ's body in Sunday context is like ONLY viewing your human body at the
dinner table
In order to see other parts as valuable, it helps to view the church as a body in many
contexts
In small groups we get to see gifts of hospitality, mercy, empathy, comfort, laughter, etc.
If we're building a house, other gifts will take center stage
Fixing a car, helping people break cycles of poverty, doing a project
Different gifts shine in different contexts
It is your shepherds' (elders) job to lead you to various fields of discovery
You won't discover your gifts in isolation but rather as we serve together
If the eye was left on it's own to discover all the ways it could serve, it would be...myopic!
Like a human body, we discover the usefulness of our parts TOGETHER
Hence, this is the value of partnering together in membership in one location
“24 For our comely parts have no need: but God has tempered the body together,
having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked. 25 That there should be
no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for
another. 26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one
member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now you are the body of
Christ, and members in particular. 28 And God has set some in the church, first
apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of
healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? are all
prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? 30 Have all the gifts of
healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? 31 But covet earnestly the best
gift”