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 one Spirit we were all baptized into one body— Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. ¹⁴ For the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵ If the foot should 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 should 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 be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 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 parts, 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 parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,         ²³ 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, ²⁴ which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, ²⁵ that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶ If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. ²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”

One of the questions I hear most often about the Church is, “why do I need to be a member of a Church?” Sometimes it is worded this way, “where do you find Church membership in the Bible?” If I think the person is sincere, I usually take the time to point it out to them.

Well, as the Lord allows, this coming Lord’s Day morning I will “point it out” to all of us! Few things are clearer in the Word of God than the priority of the Local Church and the responsibility of every Christian to be an active and participating member of a bible-believing Local Church.

Before I point these things out from the text above, let me emphasize, as does the Bible, that the Church is the Body of Christ.

First, the Church is formed the way a body is formed. God forms the Church by implanting the seed of the Word of God in the womb of the human spirit. And, just as the body comes into the world through birth, the Church comes into the world by way of the “Second Birth.”

Second, the Church functions like a body functions. Just a body is one body made up of many different parts, so it is that the Local Church is made up of many different “members”. These members are very different in design and function, but they are all essential to the overall health of the Body.

Third, the Church fails like a body fails. A body fails for at least four major reasons and these are the same four key ways that a Church fails!

A body fails when its members are either missing, or present but not functioning; or when its members are unhealthy or damaged; or, as a result of poor diet and/or lack of exercise. All of these are reasons that a Local Church fails as well.

If we get the diagnosis right, the corrective is both simple and clear. A body as well as the Local Church needs all of its members present, functioning, and healthy!

All around us we see the human tragedy of disability. We see people with “members” of their body missing, or that are not functioning because of accident or disease. Sadly, this is all-too-often true of Local Churches as well.

No “Body” can be more healthy than its constituent parts! In these verses, Paul argues that one part of the body cannot say to another part (or member) that “I have no need of you.” A healthy body – and Church – must have all of its parts present, functioning, and healthy.

Sadly, a Local Church that does not is disabled. Like people, some Churches are more or less disabled than others. But, the ideal is for complete function and perfect health.

My hand is part of my body whether or not it works well. I, like you, are part of a Local Church whether or not we are present, functioning, or healthy. The question is this: if our members are not present, functioning, or healthy; just how disabled are we as the Body of Christ?

This is real life and it really matters. I hope to see you Sunday with a smile on your face, your Bible in your hand, and your family and friends by your side!