"What Part Do I Play?" (Part 1 of "Am I a Church Member?")

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 14 Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot would say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear would say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many members, yet one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." 22 On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; 24 whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, 25 that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

What does it mean to be a church member? I suppose for some of you that’s an easy question to answer: being a church member means at some point in your life you made a decision to “join the church.” You either made a confession of faith and were baptized in a certain congregation, you “moved your letter” (a phrase leftover from a time when churches were required to keep a record of its members since taxes were paid to or through the church), or you “joined by statement,” which means you were once part of another church that has since closed, moved, or didn’t keep good records. For some, being a church member means you come to church services with at least some regularity: you’re here for Sunday morning worship enough to at least notice familiar patterns like when to stand and when to bow your head to pray. Still, for others, being a church member is something like being a member of a social club, a fraternity, or a gym: they pay their dues (we call it a tithe or offering, but they see it as membership fees) and in return, they get to use the church facilities for birthday parties, basketball practice, weddings, and reunions. Then there are those who see membership as a form of sacred shareholding, as if their presence and money translates into power and influence. Those who see membership this way are the one who worry themselves with counting nickels and noses, the ones who seem to know how often everyone else is at church and how much they give to the church. They see “levels” of church membership (and of course they’re on the top level!). Then there are those who see church membership as a sort of “family business.” Their family helped start the church (whether 2 years or 2 centuries ago); their family makes up a plurality of the weekly attendance; therefore, their family (and usually one or two particular individuals in that family) ought to be on every committee, board, and council in the church, and every decision needs to be passed by them before it’s voted on by the church.

I want to tell you something this morning that some of you may not want to hear: none of these things are what it means to be a church member. Membership isn’t only about where your “letter” is, how often you attend service and which services you attend, nor is it about “paying your dues,” “belonging to the club,” having enough money, or being a member of the right family. Membership isn’t about getting benefits or having influence or power; it’s not about what you can get out of the church.

Now, lest we get too discouraged, these sorts of misunderstandings about church membership aren’t really anything new. In fact, it seems that the Church has been struggling with these things from the beginning. We know that because of Paul’s correspondence with the church at Corinth. The Corinthian church was riddled with problems: arguably, many of them stemmed from a poor understanding of what it means to be a member of the body of Christ, the Church. There were divisions in the church at Corinth: some of those divisions had to do with what some of us in pastoral ministry call “preacher worship.” Some of the members claimed they were disciples of Paul, while others liked the style of Apollos, still others claimed to follow Peter (since he was the “rock” after all ), then there were those sorts who like to trump everybody in those sorts of spitting contests—you know the type, the ones who will say something that everybody else already know, but they say it like they just discovered gravity or something, the ones who would say, “Well, you might follow Paul, Apollos, or Peter, but I follow Christ!”

Can’t you almost hear the arguments that happened at Corinth, the divisions Paul is writing to correct? “Well, I think the church needs to meet earlier in the day. We’re eating the Lord’s Supper too late and it’s keeping me up at night.” Another says, “Well I think we ought to keep it right where it is: that’s the way we’ve always done it.” Then another would chime in, “Well when Pastor Paul was here we always did it this way, but I know Brother Apollos likes to change things…”

Of course, the divisions at Corinth ran deeper than just playing favorites with pastors. One of the biggest issues at Corinth was the presence of those in the congregation who believed their social status and wealth afforded them privileges over the other members of the congregation. They believed they were exempt from the struggle for righteousness, immune to the effects of even the pagan social mores of the time. Paul speaks against one man who is sleeping with his step-mother, a man who likely held power in the congregation and was therefore allowed to continue in his immorality. That happens you know? Some people come to church, write a big check, make a show of their presence, then once their outside the doors of the church (some don’t even wait that long) they speak and behave in ways that reflect anything but the Spirit of God within them. These folks, however, are rarely called out because they’re seen as critical members of a congregation, and if they are upset they’ll take their attendance and money and go somewhere else. Can I tell you something? Congregations have become paralyzed in recent years over the fear that if they seek to correct the immoral, sinful behavior of some of their own people they’ll lose them, because we’ve been fooled into thinking that the only thing that matters when it comes to church is how many people are there. Many congregations are more at ease with division than they are discipline; such was the case at Corinth.

There were others who saw their wealth and power as a source of privilege in the congregation at Corinth. Paul writes about the way the church would come together for worship, for the Agape meal (the early Church’s take on communion, a big meal shared by the entire congregation—I think I like their way a little better). You see, the rich folks would come together early and start partying; they’d pass around the plates, the wine, just having a big ole time. Then, after 5:00, when all the working folks would get off and show up for worship, there was hardly anything left, just radishes in the salad bowl, the rolls someone left in the oven too long, and pots and pans scraped clean. Even the good wine was gone. All those who got their early (the rich, the powerful) had eaten and drunk all the good stuff, and they were all sitting on the couches in the living room, while the latecomers (the poor, the working folks) had to stand outside on the porch. When the church gathered for worship around the Lord’s Table, they gathered for the wrong reasons, and people were left out, ignored, or purposefully put outside because they weren’t a part of the wealthy elite, because they weren’t the “right kind of people.”

Then there were those who believed that their role in the church was what made them more important than others. In the verses we’ve heard throughout worship today, in chapter twelve of 1 Corinthians, Paul speaks to the congregation about the importance of spiritual gifts, and he stresses the diversity of those gifts. See, there were some at Corinth who believed their gifts were more important, more valuable, than the gifts of others, particularly those gifts which involved being seen and noticed by others, the gift of speaking in various tongues. There were those in the congregation who believed that, while God may gift everyone, there are some who God really gifts, and those are the exceptional people, the best church members, because their gifts are evident and can be seen by a lot of people. So, these people began to belittle others whose gifts weren’t so publicly evident; they began thinking that they were irreplaceable, that while the church could go along without some of the others, it would surely die without them.

To this way of thinking, Paul points to the familiar metaphor of the human body. He explains that the body is made up of many members, many parts, and each part is especially made to perform its function within the body: each part is both unique and a part of the whole. Every person’s role is important; no one is above anyone else. To a pinky toe, this is good news, but to a mouth…well it means it has the same value as a little toe. To someone who’s been told they have nothing to offer, to someone who’s been told they’re not that important, to someone who has quietly prayed for God to use them in whatever way God can in the life of a church, this is good news. It means that they are valued—you are valued—even if you think your gifts can’t be used, even if you think you don’t really do anything for the kingdom of God, you are valued by God! You are just as important as those who love to tell others how important they are; you are just as valuable as those who write the big checks, pray in eloquent language, sing with beautiful voices, and teach the Bible. We are all equally part of the same body.

To someone who views church membership as a means to an end, who often asks, “What can I get out of the church?” the apostle’s words grate on their nerves. They want to be seen as indispensable, as if their gifts, their time, their money matters more than others. That’s what I’m learning more and more about God and Scripture in my life with Christ: whenever we think it’s about us, whenever our focus is on ourselves or anything other than God, the words we read and hear make us extremely uncomfortable.

Paul’s words to the church at Corinth and the church at Williams are words that remind us that we are all indeed equally part of the wonderful work of the kingdom of God, and we all have a part to play. After all, faith is not a spectator’s sport. It isn’t about showing ups, finding a good seat, hoping to be entertained. It isn’t about having everything your way. It isn’t about trying to be the head; it’s about resting in the joy and love of God that you are called to be a part of the body! So, I suppose the question before us now is this: “If we are all equally part of the body of Christ, called to use our gifts together for the kingdom, what part do I play? What can I do to be a better church member, a better follower of Christ?”

Our reading this morning ends with verse 31 of chapter 12, “strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.” Paul encourages the Corinthians to strive for those gifts that lift up the whole congregation—not just oneself, yet still he speaks of a more excellent way. What way? A way to be a better church member? A way to be a closer follower of Christ? A way to live more and more in the Spirit of God? Yes.

Hear what Paul’s very next words are:

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

I want to add something to what Paul says here, something about what it means to be a church member. “If I attend every church service and meeting, but do not have love, I am simply a seat-filler waiting to be seen. And if I give a lot of money to the church budget and designated offerings to the ministries of my choosing, but do not have love, I am simply a source of revenue which can be replaced by the One who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. And if I use my talents, my resources, my time for the church so that I might have my name spoken and my back patted, but I do not have love, I am not a church member.”

Friends, I am convinced that we all play a part in the kingdom of God. I am convinced that all of us are equally important. However, I am convinced that if we are only in it for ourselves, only worried about our own preferences, desires, and tastes, we are not doing the will of God. So ask yourself, “Am I a Church member? Do I strive to always be last, to put others ahead of me, to serve others and not my own need for power and recognition? Do I seek first to love God and my neighbor? Am I a church member?” Amen.