INTRODUCTION
Psa 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
When the Church, which is the Body of Christ is functioning the way Jesus designed it to function, it is a wonderful environment to be in. It is an environment where each person is encouraged, supported, protected and nurtured; an environment where there is no backbiting or strife, but where everybody is on one accord, in unity, and where everybody knows beyond any doubt that they are valued and honored and loved by the rest of the body. That’s what the church is supposed to be like; and that’s what it’s supposed to be like right here at CCC.
But in order for any body to be all it’s supposed to be, that body has to be healthy.
ILLUS: When my body is ill, it’s not a pleasant place to be. A few months back I had a bad ear infection and some other things going on in my body. I tried to work through it, but eventually I felt so bad I went to the doctor and got put on antibiotics. It just wasn’t any fun at all going through that time of unhealthiness in my body.
And it’s the same way with the Body of Christ, which is the church. Jesus intended the church to be an environment where we are all having a Ps 133:1 experience. But in many parts of the Body of Christ it’s not that way. In fact, as I look around at the Body of Christ in this city and in this nation, instead of being a healthy environment, many times the church seems to be in the grip of a serious disease.
ILLUS: How many of you know what an AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE is? We all know that our bodies have an immune system that protects us from disease and infection. But if you have an autoimmune disease, your immune system attacks itself by mistake, and your body gets sick. Lupus, Multiple Sclerosis and Rheumatoid Arthritis are some common autoimmune diseases. Well, listen to this: “Autoimmunity is the failure of the body to recognize its own constituent parts as members of itself, which results in an immune response against its own cells and tissues.”
Why am I talking about this? Because it is my observation that many parts of the Body of Christ are functioning as if they have an autoimmune disease. The members fail to recognize one another as parts of the same body, and they often end up attacking one another.
Here in Romans 12, we want to look at some of the issues that can cause a church to behave as if it has an autoimmune disease. And we want to find out what each one of us needs to do in order to insure that the segment of the Body of Christ that we are a part of, in this case, CCC, stays healthy, the way Jesus intends it to be.
So, let’s talk about some things we need to do to have a healthy body.
1. I MUST RECOGNIZE THAT I AM AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE BODY OF CHRIST
Rom 12:4-5 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.
We are ONE Body in Christ. We are many members, but we are all ONE BODY! Even though are individuals, each with our own gifts and calling and place in the body, the bottom line is we are ONE body and ONE family. We are all part of one another.
In order for me to become all that God intends for me to be, and for me to accomplish in life all that God has called me, and ordained me, and anointed me to accomplish for Him, I need the rest of the Body of Christ. I CAN’T MAKE IT WITHOUT YOU … AND YOU CAN’T MAKE IT WITHOUT ME!
And that is why I cannot afford to disregard or not care about the welfare of all of the members of the body.
1 Cor 12:26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
ILLUS: Have you ever accidentally touched a finger to something that was burning hot, like maybe the burner on a stove? When you did, what happened? Probably, your whole body reacted to pull away from that touch.
But what if your arm had said, "I’m tired of pulling this hand up and down. It just keeps getting in one mess after another … if it’s not being burnt by fire, it’s being hit by a hammer; and I’m tired of it! I know that finger is being burnt pretty badly, but I’m not moving; it’s just going to have to take care of itself.”
Wouldn’t that be just absolutely stupid? Because when one part of the body suffers, every part of the body suffers.
And yet how many times do we see another part of the Body of Christ who gets himself or herself in some kind of trouble or failure. But instead of LIFTING THEM UP, and PRAYING for them, and ENCOURAGING them ... we stand back and CRITIQUE, CRITICIZE and CONDEMN them for messing up.
We don’t realize that what affects another member of the Body affects us. Instead of looking at one another to criticize and condemn, we should always be looking for ways to encourage and lift one another up.
Heb 10:24-25 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting (encouraging) one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Instead of having a self-righteous, condemning attitude toward one another’s weaknesses, look at what we should be doing:
Rom 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
The scripture tells us that we should be identifying with one another, even when - or especially when - that other member of the Body has messed up. When another part of the Body FALLS or FAILS or GETS INTO TROUBLE, I mourn for them just as if it was myself in that situation. I need to be praying for them - and doing everything I can to help them move from where they are to where they should be, and probably want to be.
2. I MUST DEMONSTRATE SINCERE LOVE FOR OTHER MEMBERS OF THE BODY
Rom 12:9-10 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.
For the Body of Christ to be a healthy body, we the members of the Body have to love one another SINCERELY. We have to be genuinely committed to one another.
Eph 5:28-30 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.
ILLUS: A couple of months ago, my wife Priscilla got a nosebleed that wouldn’t stop. It was about 2 o’clock in the morning, so I told her, "Good luck, I’ll pray for you," and I went on back to bed … OF COURSE NOT! I put my clothes on, helped her get dressed, got her in the car, drove her to the ER, stayed with her for a couple of hours until they released her. Then did it all over again later in the morning when the bleeding started up again. You see, I am committed to Priscilla, no matter what happens. It wasn’t even a question whether I would be there for her. She never has to wonder if I’m willing to do something like that for her. Why? Because we are one flesh - I am part of her, and she is part of me.
That’s the way it works when you really are part of one another. You see, sincere love is demonstrated, first of all, by WHAT WE DO for one another - and secondly, by HOW WE TALK TO and ABOUT one another.
Rom 12:13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
This verse is telling us that WE TAKE CARE OF ONE ANOTHER! We take RESPONSIBILITY for one another.
Gal 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
It’s the LAW OF CHRIST that we EACH take responsibility for the other members of the Body, and that we do whatever we need to do to help to bear one another’s burdens.
ILLUS: I am an only child … so I don’t have much first-hand experience of this in my own family. But my wife is one of seven children in her family. And you know one thing I’ve noticed about them? They don’t always get along - sometimes various ones have issues, and sometimes there’s just family drama going on. But the one thing I have observed is that THEY TAKE CARE OF ONE ANOTHER. For example, whenever things get tight financially for one or the other of them, the others send money to help.
You see, families take responsibility for one another. And we, the church, the Body of Christ, are God’s family on earth. So, if we are going to be a healthy Body, we must be a body where each of us is looking out for the other members of the body.
Phil 2:4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
You know, there are some churches where if you don’t show up nobody will even notice that you are not there - and that’s not the way it should be. When people are ill, we put addresses and phone numbers in the bulletin so that we can call one another, send cards of encouragement, and find out “what can I do to help?” So, the things that we do to take care of one another are vitally important to the health of the Body.
But there is something that I believe is EVEN MORE IMPORTANT to the health of the body than what we do for one another - and that is … WHAT WE SAY TO AND ABOUT ONE ANOTHER.
3. I MUST BE SURE THAT MY TONGUE PROMOTES HEALTH AND NOT INJURY IN THE BODY OF CHRIST
I believe that THE GREATEST DESTROYER OF HEALTH IN THE BODY OF CHRIST IS OUR TONGUES.
James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.
Any time we talk about other members of the Body of Christ, we need to know that we are handling dynamite! Because it is so very easy, if we are careless with our tongues, to end up doing the devil’s work of tearing down the Body, instead God’s work of building it up. More UPHEAVAL, STRIFE, CONFUSION and DRAMA are caused by what we say about one another than by anything else that happens in the church.
Prov 12:18 There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health.
When we are not careful about what we say concerning other members of the Body, our tongues can be like a sword … hacking the church, and people, and people’s reputations to pieces, and destroying the health of the Body of Christ. On the other hand, when we are wise in the way we use our tongues, it promotes health, both for us individually, and for the Body of Christ as a whole.
So, how can we make sure that our tongue is the tongue of the wise - and not the tongue of the foolish; a tongue that promotes health rather than destruction?
Eph 4:29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for NECESSARY EDIFICATION, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
Here’s the standard that our use of our tongues needs to meet. It’s embodied in two words in this verse that we need to really focus in on - NECESSARY and EDIFICATION. As you know, to edify means to build up. So one thing this verse is telling us is that every word we say about any other person in the Body of Christ should be a word that is NECESSARY FOR THE PURPOSE OF BUILDING SOMEBODY UP … and, of course, NEVER FOR TEARING SOMEBODY DOWN!
If what we have to say about other people in the Body of Christ is not both NECESSARY and EDIFYING, we shouldn’t be saying it.
Understand this: any time I say something that is NEGATIVE or CRITICAL about somebody else in the Body of Christ to anybody but that person, there is a very good possibility that I am tearing down the body instead of building it up.
Look back at Rom 12:9. “Let love be WITHOUT HYPOCRISY” . . . SINCERE! Not hypocritical and not two-faced. Not saying one thing in your presence, and something else behind your back. You, as a member of the Body of Christ, should be able to have absolute confidence that I, as another member of the body, will never say anything about you to someone else that I wouldn’t say to your face. And that whatever I say will be for the purpose of building you up rather than tearing you down.
There is so much to talk about on this subject that we don’t have time for today. But there is one thing I want to make sure that we don’t miss …
Mat 12:36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.
IDLE WORDS - or PURPOSELESS words - are DANGEROUS words! Whenever I am making IDLE COMMENTARY on other people, commentary that does not have a definite purpose to edify and build up, I am on very dangerous ground!
And what’s the #1 way in which we engage in idle commentary about other people? HINT: it’s a 6-letter word that starts with G, ends with P, and has two S’s in the middle. GOSSIP! Gossip is ANY UNNECESSARY OR UNEDIFYING COMMENTARY about another person.
ILLUS: One of my friends in the city where I used to live recently wrote and said, please be in prayer for the church out there, it’s going through a hard time. She didn’t tell me any more, and I haven’t asked. Would I like to know more? Certainly! But why? It wouldn’t help me to pray. I can pray for them now, knowing that God knows their need. And there isn’t anything I can do to help from hundreds of miles away; if there were, I’m sure they’d just ask me. Really, I’d like to know more just to satisfy my curiosity. And so, if my friend and I got involved in a conversation about what is going on at the church, you know what it would probably end up being? GOSSIP!
Why? Because it would be a conversation about other people in the Body of Christ that is not necessary to edify and build up. And that’s always dangerous. It’s just too easy to pass on information, whether true or not, that ends up hurting people and reputations, even when that’s not our intention.
So, if I am going to contribute to the health of the Body of Christ, I’m going to be very careful that ANYTHING I say concerning another member of the Body passes two tests before it comes out of my mouth: It has to be both NECESSARY and EDIFYING. And if it doesn’t pass both of those tests, then I need to just keep my mouth shut!
Prov 16:24 Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.
Lord, help me to make my tongue one that brings health, and not a sword, to the Body of Christ.
