What Is Your Picture of the Church ?

[0:00] This morning we are going to be in 1 Corinthians 12, looking at a portion of that, and we've had other readings from other portions of the Scripture as well.

[0:13] And one of the things that we're going to be looking at is, what is the church, and what is your picture of the church? If there was a picture of the church for the world to see, what is that picture? And as part of that, what we're going to be looking at is, what is membership in the church, or what are the members of the church, if the church is the body?

[0:41] And we're going to be looking at that through 1 Corinthians and some of the other readings. And so, the purpose of doing this, we heard from Ephesians chapter 4, we heard that the body grows, verse 16 of Ephesians 4, the body grows when each part is working properly, is what Paul says.

[1:05] And Paul said that apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers are given as a role to equip the saints for the work of ministry so that the parts of the body work together properly, and therefore the body grows. And so, the aim, the aim in all of these things that we do is to see the body grow. That's what the purpose is. That's what Paul is encouraging the folks in Ephesians to do. The body ought to grow up into the fullness of Christ, into the unity of love, and be built up. And the body can only grow if all the parts are working properly together.

[1:50] And a way that Jesus ensures that that happens is that he gives the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers to equip the saints for ministry in order for all the parts to be working so that the whole body can grow. So, anything that we do, the aim, we need to remember, the aim in all of these things is the growth of the body. That's the agenda, that's the purpose, that's the goal, and all the things that we do as a church. And that what, even me specifically, by being a minister of the Word, by being a pastor and teacher, is to enable the body to grow for the growth of the body. And so, that is the aim of this. So, let me read from Corinthians, and we'll have these other passages in mind, like Ephesians 4 and elsewhere.

[2:45] 1 Corinthians chapter 12, from verse 12. Paul writes this, For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and all were made to drink of the one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member, but of many. If the foot should say, because I'm not a hand, I don't belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, because I'm not an eye, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body.

[3:41] If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members, that is the body parts in the body, each one as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. Again, Paul goes on to imagine a different scenario. The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you. Nor again, the head to the feet, I have no need of you. On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. And on those parts of the body that we think less honorable, we bestow the greater honor. And our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now, you are the body of Christ, and individually members of it. This is God's Word, and we pray that He would bless the reading of it.

[5:16] So, I want to ask two questions. As we're exploring this, I want to ask two questions. First question is, when you hear the word church, what do you think of? What comes to your mind when you hear the word church? Just think for a moment all the things that come to your mind when you hear the word church. What picture does that conjure up in your mind? And the second question is this, consequently, what do you think of when you hear the word or term church membership?

[5:51] What does that conjure up in your mind? The way that you think of one of these things will affect the way that you think of the other. The way you think of church membership will affect the way you think of church, and the way you think of church will affect the way you think of church membership. Now, there are many ways that we encounter membership in our culture, in our society, but the point is, as a church, we do not want to settle for anything less than what the Bible tells us. And anything that we do as a church, we do in order to help us do what the Bible tells us to do. That's not to say we don't do things to help us do that, but we don't want to settle for less than the picture the Bible gives us, nor do we want anything that we do to hinder or detract from the picture. Anything we do is to help us and help enable us to do what the Bible tells us to do. So, what do you think of when you hear the word church? What do you think of when you hear the term church membership? What you think of one will affect the other? How do you think of a church? We explored this back in April, the last Sunday of April. We looked at the church. We looked at what a hundred people would say in the culture. Non-Christians, perhaps, would say, it's the building.

[7:23] Most Christians would probably say it's not the building, it's the people. But what do you think of when you hear the word church? Is church like a business, or is it like a voluntary organization?

[7:36] Is it like a club? Is it like a service provider? Because we encounter the word membership in our culture for all of these things. But what way do you think of the church? The church is a very different thing. It's like the Bible. Sometimes we are, or people in general, are led to believe that because the Bible is a book, it's just like any other book on the shelf. It's just like any other book in the world, any other book in the library. Similarly, the church, as a group of people, can often be viewed just like any other group of people in society. So what do you think of? What way do you think of church? What about church membership? How do you treat church membership? Do you treat it in one way or the other? Do you treat it in perhaps more of a legal way, or perhaps a business-like way? Do you treat it like a body, or do you treat it like a voluntary organization? Do you experience it? Maybe, perhaps, do you experience it like a club or like a service? Is there an experience of membership that has different levels or privileges or perks? Is it optional? Is it not? People view it differently depending on their experience. Is there a difference between your status? What is the difference?

[9:06] All these questions people ask. The way you think of church will affect what you think of membership and vice versa. And so the question that I want to explore is, where are you, wherever you are, whatever your experience is, where are you getting your picture of what church is? Firstly, church.

[9:27] Where are you getting your picture of what church is? Secondly, where are you getting your picture of what church membership is? Are you getting your picture from the Bible? Are you getting it from a tradition?

[9:43] Are you getting it from a document? Are you getting your picture from your experience? Or is it a bit of a mix and match of all of them? We all have a picture, but where are we getting our picture of what the church is and what membership is? And wherever we get our picture in, whatever our picture is, that will affect how we live our Christian lives. So, our understanding and our picture and our practice of what church is, our practice of what membership is, should come from the Bible. And remember, Ephesians 4, the whole goal of this, the way we think, the way we practice, is in order that we grow. It's in order that the body grows. So, whatever picture we have, it must be whatever systems we have, whatever help we have, whatever things we have in place, must be in order that the body would grow. It must be a way that enables all the parts to work properly so that the body can grow. Whatever we do in our practice and the way we think must be for the growth of the body. That's the goal, remember. And therefore, if there's any structures, any systems, anything we add, it shouldn't be less than what the Bible says, but it should also enable us to do what the Bible says. It shouldn't detract us from that.

[11:06] And so, we're talking about where our picture comes from. Where does your picture come from? One of the terms that the Bible uses to give us a picture of what church is, is the word body. The church is a body. And not just any body. The Bible says, you know, Paul says, you are the body of Christ.

[11:33] Now, Paul is saying this to the church in Corinth. He's not saying it to the church universal. He's writing a letter to Corinth, and he's saying, you are the body of Christ. And the whole reason why he's saying it to this local church is because the metaphor doesn't work universally. Christ wouldn't give a foot to one city and a hand to another city. That wouldn't work. The whole metaphor is to help a local church learn what they are and how to function. And so, the church is the body, not just anybody, but the body of Christ. So, if you were to talk about your picture, just think about the picture that you have. If you were to talk about church and what you think about it, imagine that somebody arranged for an artist to sit beside you, and the artist was from a different country. He didn't understand all the terms. And the person said to the artist, okay, you need to paint a picture.

[12:32] They're going to give you a description, and you need to paint a picture. Now, you're going to hear the word church, right? And I know you don't know what that means. Don't worry about it. It just simply means body. It's like a human body. So, whenever they talk about this thing, church, you're going to paint it like you're going to paint a body. Now, what would that painting look like by what we say?

[12:52] Every one of us, myself included, what would that picture look like? What would the body of Christ look like at the end of this painting? Now, the Bible talks in different ways. It doesn't use the term body all the time. It uses other terms. Sometimes it uses the term, the bride of Christ, the wife of the Lamb. So, if this artist was told to—here, someone's going to give you a description. And don't worry, when they say the word church, you don't understand what that means. It simply just means bride. And so, they're going to talk about this thing, and you're just going to paint a bride.

[13:28] And so, based on their picture that they give you, you're going to paint a bride. What would that look like? What would the bride of Christ look like? Now, I've got two paintings.

[13:40] I've got a picture of two paintings, and I must sincerely apologize, right? I'll describe it if you can't see it well or if you can't see it at all. I will describe it, but I meant to bring two larger copies of it, and I forgot, and that's my own fault, and I'm sorry for that. But I'll try and hold this close to you. I've got two paintings of a body, right? In fact, two paintings of a bride, right? And I want to show them to you. Right, here's the paintings. And so, maybe you can see that.

[14:12] Let me describe it for you. One of the paintings, does anybody know who—does anybody want to guess at one of the artists? So, a few folks are saying, Pablo Picasso. So, one of the paintings is this kind of odd, out-of-shape cubism, I believe, was the style of painting. It's a bride, like a girl with a white dress, but her face is just triangles and rectangles in a really odd shape. It just, I mean, if—maybe I could ask the guys, would you want to date this person on the right if you saw them walking about? On the left is another painting, and it's a kind of generic painting of a girl with a flowing white dress and a veil and kind of gold band around it, and it's a lovely painting.

[15:07] It's a really nice, realistic painting of a bride. Let me tell you, the painting on the right, the Picasso painting, 14 million pounds.

[15:24] 14 million pounds, and the other painting, six pounds. And so, if you were to choose a painting for your house, what would you choose? Now, maybe if money wasn't a problem, what would you choose?

[15:38] Maybe you would like a Picasso, but here's the picture. So, what do you think out of these two representations of a bride, what do you think most resembles the picture that we have about church in our mind? So, when you think about church, do you automatically think, what a beautiful, lovely thing? I mean, who thinks that, really? If you do, that's terrific. You're—please tell everyone, encourage everyone, because we all need it. Now, part of that is our understanding, right? Sometimes we hold a different picture than what the Bible gives us. Part of it is our experience. We don't really experience what the Bible describes. You know, Jesus says that your life is hidden with Christ and God. Paul says that in Colossians. And so, what we are is not yet visible, not yet seen.

[16:34] But nevertheless, all the readings we heard this morning were about this wonderful picture the Bible paints. But what does our picture paint? What more closely resembles the picture that we paint?

[16:49] Now, what would it look like by the way we talk about church and the way that we treat church? How do we treat church? And what picture does that paint for the world? Because whatever picture we hold is the picture that we present to the world is the picture that we present to the world.

[17:07] And so, think of it this way. Think of it this way. The picture you have in your mind of what church is and what membership is is the kind of picture you're going to present to the world. You know, we can't get around that fact that we just automatically present these things to the world.

[17:23] And I'm really sorry I don't have these bigger versions. So, what is the picture you have of church? Because as long as Jesus is not on this earth, the church is it. We are it. His hands and feet, the church is the body for the world to see Jesus.

[17:45] And so, the church is his bride. The church is the picture to the world of the thing that Jesus died for and the thing that Jesus is preparing as a bride for himself. The picture you have is what you will present to the world. So, where do you get your picture from and how are you presenting it to the world? Now, I do want to get to the other metaphors the Bible uses, the other terms. But first, think about the scripture readings we heard earlier on. And I have a few others to think about. But if you were to look at these two paintings, one Pablo Picasso, Cubism style, a weird, unhuman-looking bride, and the other one of a realistic, nice-looking, flowing dress and bride.

[18:34] And if you were to attach one of these passages from the Bible to one of these paintings based on the reading, which painting would you attach it to? So, let's try this out, okay? 1 Peter 2, we heard it.

[18:48] You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

[19:00] You're chosen, royal, holy, for his possession. Which one would you attach it to? Does that sound like Picasso? It doesn't. I don't think it does. Even more than that, right? Ephesians 5 says this, Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the words, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. Which one does it sound like Paul is describing? Without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, which sounds like he's ruling out Pablo Picasso's image of a female, which was Dora Mar, which was one of his lovers, and he didn't treat any of his female companions with any respect, and some of that is reflected in the way he painted them. But that doesn't sound like Paul's talking about a kind of Picasso, Cubism-esque representation of a bride, does it? What about this? 1 Corinthians chapter 11, Paul says this, and he's talking about the church. He says, when you come together, it is not for the better, but for the worse. When you come together, there are divisions among you.

[20:42] If you were to attach that to a particular portrait, what would it be? It'd probably be the Picasso. You're not doing what you're supposed to do. You don't look like how you're supposed to look like.

[20:53] Or Acts 19, verse 32, some cried out one thing, some cried out another, for the assembly the church, the church, was in confusion, and most of them didn't know why they had come out.

[21:09] Most of them didn't know why they came together. Do you know why we've come together today? Now, this verse in Acts isn't actually talking about the disciples of Christ. It's talking about a rowdy public assembly in Ephesus of people out trying to discuss what's going on, and it's just a public assembly, but it's strange, because how often could that be used to describe the church?

[21:35] One cry out one thing, one cry out another, there's confusion, and most people don't actually know why they've come together. Do we know why we've come together? What about this? What picture do you have of the church? If you were to describe the church and the artist was to paint it, and then you gave all your description, the artist was doing his painting, he finished it, and he put a wee sheet over it, and then you heard the angel from Revelation 21 say this to the apostle John, come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the lamb, and the artist pulls the cover away from the painting. What picture do you think they would see? Do you think it would be what the angel expected to show the apostle John? Here's the, come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the lamb.

[22:31] No, I didn't mean that. I didn't mean that. Pablo Picasso. What picture does the Bible give of what the church is? We don't often see it or experience it, perhaps, on a Sunday, but truly the Bible gives a far grander, more glorious, and more beautiful picture than we often hold in our minds.

[22:53] And so, the point of all of this is that if we are to grow as a church, we must understand what the church is. If we are to grow as the body, we must understand what the body is. And as Paul says in Ephesians 4, all the parts of the body must work properly in order for it to grow. We often, myself included, we often all tend to think too little and too lowly of what the church is.

[23:22] Later on, we're going to take communion. We're going to be reminded that Jesus gave his life, his flesh, and his blood for this, for this thing. How on earth can the world understand why he did that, or what it is he's doing with us? We often think too little and too lowly of what the church is.

[23:43] We tend to think of this thing that we do on Sundays like we do any other type of club or organization in our society. We all tend to think, myself included, that we're not really as connected to one another as the Bible says that we are. So, the Bible says that we are like limbs in a body.

[24:05] 1 Corinthians 12, limbs in a body. Ephesians 4, that we are joints holding everything together. And so, are we really like that? Do you know any limbs in the body? What would it be for a limb to be separated from the body? Would it not be a pretty bad thing for the limb? Would it not also be a pretty bad thing for the body? Pretty sure the body would miss that limb. And I'm pretty sure this morning, we are missing some folks who we know are a part of the body. Are we not? We are missing some folks. We feel it. When one part of the body suffers, the whole body suffers.

[24:50] My friend the other day was telling me about his dad has a problem in his toe, and it's been an ongoing thing. But his toe, as little as it is, and this problem that he's not yet got seen to, is affecting the rest of his body. He's walking with a limp now, and he's got a sore back and all that kind of stuff. And he's like from such a small part of the body. So, I want to tell you briefly, before we look at some of the other metaphors, very briefly, I want to tell you some of the problems in Corinth. So, the reason why Paul brings up this body and member metaphor is because there was a problem in Corinth. In Corinth, there was this artificial dividing line. You could say it was a fence. Some of the people had put up a fence within the church, and the fence was running right through the church. If you imagine a circle and then draw a line right through the circle, that's what they were doing in Corinth. So, the circle was the church, and the people were drawing a line right through the church, like a fence, with Christians on either side of the fence in the church. And Paul said, this is not right. This is an artificial dividing line, and you've got it all wrong. The dividing line, the actual line and the fence in reality is around the circle. It's not through the circle, it's around the circle. It's between a Christian and a non-Christian, one who is called out of darkness and one who is still in darkness. But the people in

[26:29] Corinth were doing this. The rich were coming to the love feast, the meal, the agape meal. They were coming before a lot of others. The slaves still had to work late, and so the rich were coming, and they were having their portion, then they were having seconds, then they were having thirds, and they were eating up all the elements that were supposed to be shared as communion. They were drinking all the wine and eating all the bread, and then the slaves, when they got there from their work, there was nothing left. So, this is 1 Corinthians 11, and Paul says, do you humiliate the poor in the body of Christ?

[27:13] You just want to humiliate people in the church? You're excluding people by using up all the stuff, and you're not considering the whole body. Then when he goes on in chapter 12, he says this. He says, one part of the body can't say, because I'm not an I, I do not belong to the body. Paul actually says, even if you do say that, it doesn't make you any less a part of the body.

[27:46] And so, wherever you are, Paul's criteria in 1 Corinthians, Paul's criteria is, if you are a Christian, if you are in Christ, then you are a limb in his body. That's his criteria. If you're in Christ, then you are in his body. So, it's wrong for someone to say that you're not in his body.

[28:10] This fence that we have shouldn't go through the church, it should go around the church. Now, that's not to say, please hear what I'm not saying. I'm not saying that the process of coming through the gate of the fence is any different. There's a process for everyone to come through the fence and into the body. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying where we put the fence can sometimes be artificial.

[28:37] We can sometimes be guilty of doing what the Corinthians were doing. Another thing that Paul went on to say is the eye cannot say to the hand, I have got no need of you. The head can't say to the feet, I have no need of you. Some parts of the body will do more or less than other parts of the body.

[28:54] Is that not true? Years ago, they used to cut out the tonsils, cut out the appendix. Ah, these things don't do anything. We've actually found out they do. They do do something. But it's beside the point.

[29:09] They're part of the body. They're part of the design for the body. Every part of the body has a function and a belonging in the body. And Paul says, you can't say to one part of the body, you don't belong, or I have no need of you. And so, in Corinth, Paul is saying to these rich people, when he says, he says, in one spirit, we were all baptized into one body. And then he says, Jews and Greeks, slaves and free, because the Jews were thinking the Greeks aren't part of the body.

[29:40] The free people were thinking the slaves are not part of the body. We don't need them. Or vice versa, you know. Some people were saying they're not part of the body. And Paul's saying, I beg your pardon, they are. The Jews need to know that the Gentiles are a genuine part of the body. The free people need to know that the slaves, as lowly and poor as they are, are genuinely a part of the body. And so, Paul is saying this. We are all part of the one body. We were all made to drink of one spirit.

[30:09] And so, what is our picture? What picture do we hold? What picture do we present to the world? We don't want to be creating an artificial dividing line within the church that has some Christians on one side of the fence and some Christians on the other side of the fence, because that's not what the picture the Bible gives. Now, let me just briefly explore a couple of reasons why this happens. In our culture, sometimes why this happens is because people on the inside of the fence want to guard the thing on the inside. And biblically, that's the right thing to do. We want to guard the purity and holiness of this thing that Jesus is building. But the way that we guard it sometimes can be artificial and unbiblical or unhelpful or… I've heard someone put it this way, that we shouldn't make the door to the church narrower than Jesus makes the door to His kingdom.

[31:18] We shouldn't make the door any narrower than Jesus makes. Now, what is the process of going through the gate of the fence? It is about affirming and confirming someone's faith. We want to confirm that someone genuinely is a Christian. This happened even with Paul the apostle, had to be confirmed by the apostle. He went down to Jerusalem, and he had to be confirmed, and Barnabas, they were all suspicious of him, and Barnabas had to say, no, it's okay. He is genuine. And they inspected him, I'm sure. They watched him, I'm sure. And this happened. This is the process. We want to affirm someone's faith to be true. We want to test someone's faith to be true. Because you don't want… And this is the right attitude of people who want to guard the thing on the inside. We want to avoid allowing wolves into the fold among the sheep. That's the right thing. We don't want to allow wolves to come among the sheep. And so, we need to guard the thing. But in our process of guarding, we might be too stringent and exclude people, which was happening in Corinth. And so, sometimes the problem that people have on the inside is that people on the other side of the fence are not presenting themselves in a way that is maybe consistent with the faith, or their maybe lives are messy. They don't know if the person is truly a Christian. Or even if they do know the person is truly a Christian, they think, well, we don't know if they're responsible, if they're mature, if they're committed. But quite often, where we go wrong sometimes is that we think that the things that they will do if we allow them in, we're preventing those things from happening. But we're not, because the things that we are concerned about are happening anyway on this side of the fence.

[33:26] They are happening in every single church. The things that we are concerned about by the other people on the other side of the fence are already happening by the people inside of the fence. It happens in every church, in every place, in every time, even in Corinth in the first century.

[33:40] And so we can be too stringent with our concerns and worries that we forget that these things are already happening inside of the fence. There's already a messy church inside of the fence.

[33:55] And so are we hindering people coming through into this side of the fence because we're worried about the mess? And then on the other side of the fence, the people that have problems with the fence quite often have a problem with the fence, not because there's a fence, but because of the way that people on the other side of the fence guard the fence. And that's often the problem that people have. And so we could look at the Bible and say, well, where is the fence supposed to be? Because there is a fence. It's you're in Christ or you're not in Christ. For Corinth, you're spiritual or you're not spiritual. They thought people in the church were not spiritual. And Paul says, no, if you're in Christ, you're spiritual. If you're not in Christ, you're not spiritual. That's the line. It's around the church. So it's the process. We want to know that Paul's criteria and the Bible's criteria of membership is not what we experience in the world. And even the things that we use, they ought to help us do what the Bible tells us to do. But the picture the Bible gives of church and membership is that church is a body, like a human body, a bride, and members is the word limb.

[35:10] Everyone's a limb. If you're in Christ, you're in His body. And so what we need to do, the process is, we need to determine who truly is in Christ. And it's not like people might think, who are you to say whether I'm a Christian or not? Well, that's all well and fair. But we need to guard the sheep from wolves. And so we do need to confirm someone's faith. And we do that through repentance and baptism and profession. And we see whether someone truly is a Christian or not. And if they are, then we enact that process to enable them to come into the body. So the picture Paul gives is that everyone in Christ, all the Christians are members in the body. Now, that's not to say anything about changing the process as to which you get into the body. It's just to say that all the Christians should be in the body. All the Christians should be considered members in the biblical term that we use for membership. Now, very briefly, just as we finish, I want to talk about some of the other metaphors in the Bible. And we're going to explore this further down the line. I'm not saying anything about changing the mode to which we do this, but just the fact that, biblically speaking, all the Christians should be in the body. Another metaphor used is citizens in his kingdom. Christians are called citizens in his kingdom, citizens of heaven, citizens of the kingdom of God.

[36:46] Children in his family, in the household of God, limbs in the body, we've looked at, and sheep in his flock, sheep of the good shepherd. And so here's a thought. What is it supposed to be like being part of these things? What is it supposed to be like being a citizen in the kingdom of God, in the kingdom of Christ Jesus? In church, in this thing, in this body, we ought to all feel like we are citizens in his kingdom. The church is like an embassy on earth. In a foreign country, there is an embassy that represents another kingdom. Church represents a kingdom that's not of this world. And so when you, if you are a citizen of that kingdom that belongs to Jesus, and you come into the embassy, you should feel like a citizen. Now, if you lose your passport in another country, and you go into the embassy, what do they want to do first? What do they need to do? They need to confirm that you are, in fact, a citizen, don't they, before they start handing out passports willy-nilly. That's the process. You know, we're not saying that there's not a process. There is a process to confirm whether someone is part of the body. And so membership, in that term, simply means that you are a passport-carrying

[38:14] Christian, that you have a stamp that says you are a citizen of his kingdom. Another thing, what is it like to be like to be children in his family? Do you come into the body and feel like you're part of the family? Do you feel like you're a sheep in his flock? What would it be like to be separated from any one of these things? If you're not part of the thing, then it is like a citizen who is not, is in a foreign country, oftentimes assimilating to that country, and who's not going into the embassy, and who doesn't feel like a citizen of another kingdom. A child who's not coming to the family gathering. Now, the child is going to feel the pain of that, going to feel the absence of that. And not only the child, but the family are going to feel that too. Limbs in his body. What happens if you dismember a limb from the body? The limb dies. The limb feels it, and the body feels it.

[39:18] What happens if you separate a sheep from the flock? Well, the wolves gather, and the sheep doesn't stand a chance. And so, any one of these things, the reason for these things is not to say, you know, you're a part of the body, you're a member in the body, you're a body part. It's not to say, what are you playing at? You need to get involved in something. You need to work. That's not the reason. Paul is affirming people's place in the body. If you love Jesus, if you are known and stated, then you should be welcomed in and confirmed as a part of the body. Sometimes it's because of the process we have that people exist who are not part of the body. Sometimes it's because of the process.

[40:07] Other times it's because people resist the process. One or the other. Many reasons. But the point that Paul makes is, you should be part of the body. The church is a body, and the criteria for membership is all the Christians. And so, we can't say to one another, you're not a part of the body.

[40:28] And we can't assume that no part of the body is working. You don't need to be involved in an official ministry to be a working part of the body. If you're a Christian, if you love Jesus, is it not true that some parts of our body are weak at times, and the other parts of the body strengthen it. And then at other times, that part of the body's strong, and it strengthens other parts of the body. And so, you don't ever need to feel guilty about how you feel as a Christian.

[40:59] You don't ever need to feel guilty about the struggles that you face as a Christian. Paul would say, just because you might say, I am not an ear, so I am not part of the body, Paul would say, that doesn't make you any less a part of the body. Brother, sister, you are a part of the body.

[41:16] Now, what we want to do in order to present this biblical picture to the world and to ourselves is we want to teach, we want to learn, we want to understand the Bible's picture, and we want to say, how can we practice that in reality? How can we practice it in such a way that all the Christians come through the gate into this side of the fence that all the Christians are part of the body and stated as such? That's the question. And so, we're going to explore that further, but I would encourage you, if you're going to discuss this, talk about this, then do it in a way with a regard to the biblical data. The picture the Bible gives, let us talk like Bereans who find our picture from the Bible and who look at the things, the structures we put in place, as something that helps us do what the Bible tells us to do. And whatever we do, let us love one another and encourage one another all the more as the day draws near in order to build one another up into the body. Because this is what, this is the only thing that's going to enable us to grow together into the fullness of Christ. Let me pray, and then we're going to sing together.

[42:38] More could be said, more will be said. It's a glorious thing to be a part of the body. Communion is a wonderful celebration that you are part of His body, that He has died for you, that you are a citizen in His kingdom, a child in His family, a sheep in His flock under His care, and a limb in His body. It's an affirmation of who you are. You are loved, and if you are known to us, if you are confirmed in your faith, then what are you waiting on? Let me pray.

[43:17] Lord, we are imperfect people in an imperfect world, and we practice things imperfectly. If the church was just full of people like me, it would be a pretty imperfect church. But help us, Lord, to see the church the way that you see the church. Help us to see one another the way that you see each one of us. Help us to love one another, and include one another, and encourage one another the way that you love us, the way that you gave yourself up for us. Help us to understand these things, and help us to grow together into the fullness of Christ. We pray in Jesus' name for His glory, and His name's sake. Amen.