“Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”
– 1 Corinthians 12:27
I love this picture in 1 Corinthians 12:27. It’s all over 1 Corinthians chapter 12. It’s just a great, especially in the last half of this chapter, a great picture, word picture of the church as the body of Christ with all kinds of different members.
Just like a physical body has all kinds of different members, fingers, toes, legs, arms, a head, so the church is the body with all kinds of different parts and every part matters. The finger doesn’t say to the toe, “I don’t need you,” and the leg doesn’t say to the arm, “I don’t need you,” and our arms and legs don’t say to the heart, “We don’t need you.” To the lung, “We don’t need you.” It all works together and so the church is this way. We’re the body of Christ. He is our head and every part, every member matters and this is where I just want to encourage you.
Every member of the church matters. May God help us to see that all members of the church have gifts from the Spirit for the building up of Christ’s Church.
This Verse Reminds Us That We All Matter
As I was reading this and preparing to pray this verse, I thought about the number of people who are in a church who feel like they don’t matter. Almost like spectators who come to church, sit on Sunday, maybe interact with some people, maybe not even that. They walk away and think, “Yeah, that pastor, he’s really important,” or, “That leader is really important. These people do all these things. They’re kind of the way that make this whole church-run.”
But in the process, the adversary has blinded so many Christians to the fact that they are members of the body of Christ and valuable members at that — every single one of them and I want to encourage you. When you think about your church, one, to be a member of a church and to be committed to a body, a local body of believers and then as you’re committed to that church, realize you have gifts by the spirit of God for the building of that church and God has designed your membership in that church to matter, your part.
You have a part to play in that church that is vital for that church to be the body of Christ that it was designed to be. Believe that. Don’t let the adversary convince you otherwise and keep you a spectator in the kingdom of God and the body of Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:27 Encourages Us to Pray Others
God, I pray that every single follower of Jesus listening to this right now would know they are an invaluable member of their body, their local church, the body of Christ they call their church. May every single one of them know they have a part to play in Your plans in that church, for the building up of that body, for the growth of that body, for the health of that body, that you’ve given them gifts by Your spirit for that purpose and their gifts matter and so God, I pray that You would bring them off the sidelines. Engage them in the work of that body with humble confidence, humility because they know that they’re in the body of Christ only by Your grace and anything they have to offer is by Your grace, but with confidence, believing that You have given such grace.
God, I think about the members of the church I pastor. There are so many precious brothers and sisters. You’ve gifted each one of them supernaturally for the building of this church. God, I pray that you would help us as a church to experience the maximum effect of Your gifts, Your grace in all the members of this body. So God, I pray for this in the church I pastor. I pray for this in all the churches that are represented and those who are praying together right now, please, Oh God, help us to see the beauty of the body of Christ that we’re a part of and the value that we are in it as members of your body. In Jesus’ name, we pray, amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
