Finding Your Place Part 1

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Christians are blessed to be part of an invisible assembly, the body of Christ worldwide that transcends denominational barriers. Today, why it's so vital that we understand the body of Christ and our part in it.

Stay with us. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, I've been overseas and met believers for the first time with whom I felt an immediate bond. Is this because the body of Christ is worldwide? Not only that, Dave, it's worldwide certainly.

It's a transnational community. But the same blessed Holy Spirit who indwells all believers in this country and in the different countries of the world, that Holy Spirit who is a person unites the body in a way that is an encouragement and an immediate connection that you spoke about. I think that this series of messages can be a tremendous blessing to people, especially as we talk about spiritual gifts where we fit, how we should regard the gifts. For a gift of any amount, this series can be yours.

The series is entitled Finding Where You Fit. Here's how you can connect with us. Go to RTWOffer.com.

That's RTWOffer.com. Or as I frequently remind you, you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. Thanks for remembering that we are all part of the same body, working toward the same goal for the same glory of God. Now let's open our Bibles and listen to what the Lord has to say about us, the bride of Christ. I want you to look at the body that you brought with you today.

I think that you did bring yours. You've already seen it in the mirror, and we can tell that, by the way, as we look at you, that you've already seen your body in the mirror. I want to begin today by talking about a part of your body that you have never seen but one I know you have.

It's a requirement to attend Moody Church. It's your brain. Donald M. McKay, a specialist in brain research, described the complexity of the brain this way. In order to form a realistic idea of the structural complexity inside your head, imagine that one cubic millimeter of your cerebral cortex were magnified to the size of a lecture hall. In this magnified one millimeter cube, we might expect then, we would find, something to the order of 100,000 nerve cells. If each of these had 1,000 to 10,000 connections, each connection adjustable in ways that might be functionally important, then within this hole we would have a tangled structure containing up to a thousand million functionally significant elements. Depicted on the same scale, the nerve fibers running from the brain to other parts of your body would extend for distances up to a thousand kilometers.

But now let's take the arithmetic a step farther. The human cortex, that's your brain, is about 2,000 square centimeters in area and on average about three millimeters thick. In order to complete our imaginary model of your brain on the same scale, then we would need something like 600,000 of these lecture halls stacked side by side and three deep. That is the kind of complexity that challenges the scientist as he contemplates your brain ticking peacefully away inside your head as you drift off to sleep in church.

That's not the way the sentence ended, but that's the way I ended it. Can you imagine that you have that kind of complexity taking place in your mind at this very moment? It would be almost impossible for any scientist to tell us what's happening just in the communication process to think that I am forming words and those four words are able to communicate. It is a mystery that confounds us. Well, when God gave you the body that you brought with you today, he uses it in the Bible as a metaphor of the mystical body of Christ. I'm not sure if I like that word mystical because many people think that it means that it's somehow unreal.

No, it's very real, very, very real and direct. But the body of Jesus Christ in the Bible is likened unto the human body. And you know the passage of scripture of course is 1 Corinthians chapter 12, 1 Corinthians chapter 12. Last week our focus was on the first 10 verses and today we pick it up at verse 11 and 12, particularly there at verse 12. 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 12. And what I'd like us to do as we go through this passage of scripture is to notice three characteristics of the body of Christ that we should celebrate. And let us celebrate them today with great joy and great freedom.

What are they? First of all, that we have unity, unity. Verse 12, 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 by one spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves are free, and we were all made to drink of one spirit. For the body is not one member but many. Paul is saying, first of all, how do we get into the body? He's answering that question, the body of Jesus Christ.

We don't get into it by birth, we don't get into it by water baptism, we get into it by what he calls the baptism of the Holy Spirit that makes us members of this very special body, the body of Jesus Christ. He goes on to say, verse 15, if the foot should say because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body, is it not for this reason any less a part of the body? And if the ear should say because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body, is it not for this reason any less a part of the body? And the answer is no, it's still a part of the body even if it doesn't like where it has been placed.

First of all, unity. Notice that we are unified because we become members one of another. Paul says my thumb can't wake up someday and say to itself, you know, I don't like the other four fingers because they have much more sameness and I am different and I am tired of playing this role I'm leaving. No, it's stuck with the other members of the body.

And if you're a member of Jesus Christ, you can walk away from a church, you can walk away even into the world and you will be severed from the body emotionally and in some sense spiritually but if you're a true believer, you still belong but you're going to look very gruesome. I like to tell that story. It's a true story in Canada of a man who was visiting with a medical doctor and the medical doctor was on call. Some of you doctors know how often that happens and so the doctor had to leave and he said make yourself at home.

If you're hungry, just take whatever you like and so the guest after the doctor left opened the fridge to get something to eat and there he saw a human hand wrapped in a plastic bag and the story that I heard was that after he saw that, he wasn't hungry anymore. Now, you know, that's odd, isn't it? Why should that be repulsive? After all, what's wrong with the human hand? I'm looking at both of mine and you can look at yours and the hand is very beautiful, intricately made by God.

Nothing wrong with it. You can easily look at it but when a hand is severed from the body, that's when it is awful and I want to tell you today that there is no believer who is more miserable, no believer who is more difficult in his spirit than someone who says I'm a Christian but I don't like Christians. I'm not going to associate with Christians. I'm going to leave the church.

Now, they still are members of the body but because they have cut themselves off emotionally and spiritually, they begin to shrivel up and they begin to look pretty terrible. The Apostle Paul says that when we were baptized by the Holy Spirit of God, we became members one of another and nobody can walk away from the body of Christ. Like it or not, folks, you are stuck with us if you're a believer. Now, this unity means not only that I am a member with somebody else and joined to you, it means more important that we are members of Christ. Let's look again at verse 13. For by one spirit, we were all baptized into one body.

Whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, we were all made to drink of one spirit. Now, here's the astounding truth that the Apostle Paul shares. Even in verse 12, he says, for as the body is one and yet has many members and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, we would expect to read and so is the church.

But that's not what he says in the text. He says so also is Christ. Now, you look into your body, you look at your body, I should say, in a mirror and you notice that it comes generally speaking in two parts. There's the head and then there's the torso. And Jesus Christ is the head of the body.

It is the place, the control center that controls all the different parts of the body, but the same blood, the same life that is in my head is in the rest of the body because the union is so direct, the union is so complete that the head and the rest of the body share the very same life. And so it is that we share Christ, partakers of him. What an astounding passage of scripture.

And in verse 13, Paul uses the little word all two times. We are all baptized into one body. He didn't say now all those of you who are spiritual at Corinth, you were baptized into one body. He didn't say now all those of you who speak in tongues at Corinth, you were baptized into one body. He said for by one body, by one spirit, we were all baptized into the same body. And then he said we were all made to drink of the same spirit.

Now when you drink water, it goes inside of you. Two aspects of the ministry of the Holy Spirit that ought to bless us. It is the baptism of the Holy Spirit that puts me into Christ. It is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that puts Christ into me. Jesus said I in you and you in me. More than 100 times in the Bible, the Apostle Paul uses that little expression in Christ. In fact, every time God gives us a command in scripture, it is based on the fact that we are already in Christ. Remember, everything that we are asked to do is based on what Christ has already done and we are in him. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Our connection with Christ is so direct that Paul says in Ephesians we are members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones, and you can't get rid of bones without destroying the body. That's how integral it is.

That's how connected it is, a part of him. Well, you say if that's true, why all this misery in the world? Why all these trials? Why all these heartaches? Why all these difficulties?

Does he feel what we are going through? Because the body is a unit. You know, many years ago, and it is getting to be many years ago, when I was out on the farm growing up, we were building something and I took a hammer and I was trying to pound in spikes and see how few hammer blows I could get the spikes in with.

Probably not in the best of mood, maybe working out some of my aggression. But I remember hitting my finger. You know, to this day, I know which one it is.

Is this one here? Because the fingernail is considerably larger than my other fingernails because I got a brand new one. And, you know, when I hit it, we didn't go to the doctor until the next day, but all the other members of my body were so concerned about what happened that they stayed up all night with the finger.

They really did. Does Jesus feel your pain? That's what some of you are asking, and the answer is yes. So, so, why persecutest thou me? My body is feeling the hurt and the torture of believers who are being cast into prison and put to death.

I am hurt. Yes, we have a high priest who can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. Our head is not detached from the body. It is a part of the body.

It feels with the body. It shares its life with the body, and it also shares its honor with the body. Ephesians chapter 1, Christ is above all principalities and above all powers. What does it say in Ephesians 2? And he has raised us up together with him that we might be seated also at the right hand of God the Father.

If the head is in heaven, the body has to be there too because the head is not severed from the body. He shares his honor with us. He shares his victory with us. Romans chapter 6, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?

God forbid. How shall we who have died to sin live any longer therein? Know ye not that so many of us as our members of Christ have been baptized into his body? Again, a reference to spirit baptism. Like as Christ was raised from the dead, so we too should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in his resurrection, so we shall be united with him also in his death and ascension.

And that's essentially what Paul is saying, and therefore we can walk because the head and the body are connected. We are one. We have unity. Write it down. We have unity.

Secondly, we also have diversity. We pick up the text in verse 17. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? You imagine the whole body and eye. You take this big eye, you put it on the couch, and all that it can do is watch television. If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? One big ear. Imagine that.

I guess you'd have to turn off the TV and turn on the radio. Paul doesn't use this illustration, but it came to my mind. If the whole body were a mouth, what would we be? And you say, well, you know, there have been people for whom that description at least remotely may apply. Paul is saying there is diversity. There is diversity.

Do you know what this means in practical terms? Number one, no such thing as inferiority. No such thing as inferiority. Paul goes on to talk about those lesser members that we give no honor to, and he says they are even more necessary. Verse 22, on the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And then he goes into the description, I should say, of those that are less honorable. And what he's talking about is those parts of our body that we would never display in public, Paul says they are just as important as those that we very gladly display. It is because the body has no such thing as inferiority. You can't say to the toll, I don't need you. You know why there is inferiority in the church?

And I would like to take care of that in the next couple of minutes if I could. I'm going to try, but I'm not so naive as to think that I can accomplish it. But let me tell you why. It's because of the idea, the perverse idea, that church is going to church on Sunday and having a wonderful meeting, and that's church. And when you go to church, you notice that there are certain people who lead the service, there are certain people who sing because they're particularly gifted, and therefore people say, well, I can't sing like that, I can't read the scripture like that, I can't speak like that, and therefore there's nothing for me to do. Oh, please get rid of that idea forever.

Bury it. What we need to do is to understand that the body of Jesus Christ is to go about the earth healing the brokenhearted. The body of Jesus Christ comes together on Sunday, but it has its ministry on Monday and on Tuesday as we go out into the world and represent Jesus in stores and factories and office buildings and wherever we may find ourselves as his representatives.

And that's what we need to understand. And we will never electrify the church again. We will never see the church transforming society unless once again we understand the vision of Jesus going about explaining to people how they can have a relationship with God, explaining forgiveness and reconciliation to God and going into the highways and the byways, being willing to be identified with the people of the world to lead them to the Savior about whom we sing so beautifully. And that's the responsibility of the church. You know, my friend, I think that the Church of Jesus Christ is much more prepared for the crisis that we face than we realize. It is God who has brought us to this moment, and the Church of Jesus Christ has tremendous potential. If you've been encouraged as a result of the ministry of Running to Win, I want to remind you that the reason that Running to Win can bless so many people is because there are those who invest in this ministry.

And we're so thankful particularly for those who stand with us regularly with their prayers and their gifts. Would you consider becoming an endurance partner? Endurance partners are those, as I've already mentioned, who stand with us regularly. If you want more information, here's what you do. Go to RTWOffer.com.

That's RTWOffer.com, and then click on the endurance partner button, and it'll give you the information that you need. Or if you prefer, you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. Because of the fact that so many people invest in this ministry, thousands upon thousands are blessed. Thanks in advance for taking our hand and standing with us. It's time now for another chance for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. Loyalty to a nation's flag—what is a Christian's obligation?

A man named Lance wrote to us with this story. I went to church on Sunday, the day before Memorial Day, and we were asked to stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. flag. After that, we were asked to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the Christian flag. I was wondering about your thoughts on saying the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. flag in general, and also saying it in a sanctuary in a church. Lance, I commend you for your question.

It's good. I'm going to give you the answer that I'm comfortable with, and I hope that our audience is able to listen in and also to respond to what I have to say. First of all, I don't think that there's any necessary conflict between our loyalty to the flag and our loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ.

You remember Jesus said, Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. So we need to understand that we have two commitments, and here on the Fourth of July, in an afternoon concert, we also say the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. So I think that it is perfectly fine to do that.

However, I would also like to caution us. It's possible to become so nationalistic. This is exactly what happened in Germany under Hitler, when the people were so nationalistic, they believed that whatever was good for Germany was good for Christianity and vice versa. And as a result of that, their nationalism took precedence over their commitment to the cross of Jesus Christ. That is a terrible danger.

So I think in answer to your question, it's fine if we understand the two spheres and making sure that we are not guilty of excessive patriotism, but that whenever there is a conflict between Caesar and Christ, we always defer to Christ, and we never give to Caesar that which belongs to Jesus. Thank you, Dr. Lutzer, and thank you, Lance, for your question. If you'd like to hear your question answered, go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer, or call us at 1-888-218-9337.

That's 1-888-218-9337. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. In the Body of Christ there is great diversity. Mature Christians enjoy the gifts of every member of the body, since each believer has a unique contribution to make to the growth of the Kingdom of Christ on earth. Next time on Running to Win, more on the wondrous diversity that marks the Body of Christ, and why it takes each one of us to make that body complete. Running to Win is all about helping you understand God's roadmap for your race of life. Thanks for listening. For Dr. Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.