Body Life - Chapters 8-13 - #1
INTRODUCTION: Meaningful And Substantive Corporate Worship Flows Out of Healthy Community
Sometimes, I think we define healthy worship too narrowly. Before God and in reality, I think that corporate worship is much more than just a bunch of Christians corporately getting together to sing songs and focus on God.
PROPOSITION: Healthy worship flows from healthy Christians and healthy community.
TRANSITION: Let’s look at 3 things we need to do to be Healthy Christians and have a Healthy Community.
Lets begin with the summary statement in 1 Corinthians 10:31-33 and work back from there.
1. Focus on the Right Destination. 1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1 (There are 3 destination points here)
A. Pursue of God’s Glory. (Let’s define the pursuit of God’s glory as…)
· Seek to Honor God’s Name in all that we say, think, do, etc….(People should see Jesus through us!)
· Seek to experience the “WOW” of God’s presence.
B. Avoid being a stumbling block.
· Make decisions that facilitates the spiritual growth of others.
· Sacrifice personal gratification for the spiritual benefit and growth of others.
· Make people’s need A primary motive governing how you live.
C. Make Jesus the model for how you will live. (HOW CAN I DO THIS??)
· Choose to live your life the way that Jesus would live your life. (Dr. Ben Cross)
· Become a student of Jesus & His Life.
· Surrender yourself to the control and leadership of God’s Spirit. (This is what Jesus Did.)
2. Stop being selfish and self seeking. 1 Corinthians 10:23-24
A. This is the key verse in this whole discussion of Body Life.
· You cannot have body life without verse 24.
· The idea here is not that you should disregard self for the sake of others, but rather that you should not disregard
others for the sake of satisfying your personal wants or desires. In other words, don’t be self focused.
B. With maturity comes the ever increasing reality that we need to make choices that are in the best interests of others, not
ourselves. Unfortunately, people treat maturity/authority as an opportunity to be self-indulgent, not self-controlled.
(Parenthood)
C. What happens when each part of the body is committed to the values of verse 24?
· We practice and we will experience real vulnerability and real faith in God and Each Other
· We will discover that God has this uncanny way of meeting our needs as we minister to others.
· We will live out the reality of what Jesus said in John 13:35.
D. Trust Jesus and His Church
E. What kind of link are you in the body? (A healthy link or a broken link?)
3. Confront Your Pride. 1 Corinthians 8:1-3
A. Our Pride Lies To Us.
· Our pride tells us that we have everything under control when we do not.
· Our pride tells us that we can handle what we really cannot handle.
B. If we do not confront our pride, we will cause incredible harm to others.
· Satan’s sin and downfall was pride. Isaiah 14:12-15; Proverbs 8:12-13, Proverbs 21:4
· Our pride prompts us toward self-righteous, hurtful, destructive, callused, arrogant behavior.
Touch on the anonymously sent hit piece I received regarding Rick Warren and Dad’s question.
Touch on Bill Cariss’ response to the hit piece on Neal Anderson.
C. If we do not confront our pride, it will destroy us.
· Pride makes us blind to our weaknesses and flaws. (Pride whispers lies in our ears that we love to hear.)
· Pride encourages behavior, attitudes and beliefs that will be hurtful and destructive to others and ourselves.
· Our pride tells us that we know everything that is needed to know, when we do not.
· Pride creates competition instead of building what God desires in unity, harmony, vulnerability, openness, etc…
1 Corinthians 11:19
CONCLUSION:
As Christians, we need to make a decisions regarding how we will relate to God and the Body.
We need to choose to do this in a healthy way.
1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1 (NIV)
31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— 33 even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. 1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
1 Corinthians 10:23-24 (NIV)
23 “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive. 24 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.
John 13:35 (NIV)
By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
1 Corinthians 8:1-3 (NIV)
1 Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But the man who loves God is known by God.
Isaiah 14:12-15 (NIV)
12 How you have fallen from heaven,
O morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart,
“I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”
15 But you are brought down to the grave,
to the depths of the pit.
Deal With Pride 8:1-3
Use your freedom carefully – 8:9ff
Using our freedom without considering it’s impact on weaker believers is sin. 8:12
Love and faith chooses the path of sacrifice – 8:13
If we don’t grab a hold of everything that we can get now, will we ultimately lose out on things we could have enjoyed? NO!!!
If you think you will miss out, then you need to better understand what you have in Jesus. You need to better understand the nature of God and what he desires for us. Psalm 16:11; Ephesians 1:3; Romans 8:31-29
Find Balance Between Position and Entitlement – Paul chose to let go of certain things that he was entitled to, so that he could better leverage his ministry and impact for the Gospel. Note however that Paul did not release everything that he was entitled to. He did not release his expectation of being able to speak into the lives of the church or his expectation that they would honor his words or follow his directives.
Congregationally, because Paul chose to not capitalize on what he was entitled to, they treated him with lesser regard. On the flip side, it appears that the church resented/disrespected those who received the financial support that they were entitled to receive as apostles and servants of the Gospel.
Just because you are God’s child, it does not mean you have a license to sin or abuse others in the body. 10:1-13
Summary Statement – 10:31-11:1
Key Verse in this whole discussion – 10:24
We should never consider ourselves arrived enough that we can indulge in unwise behavior and think that we will be unmoved or un-altered by our actions and choices.
We have been made free to make wise decisions, not freed so that we can be self-indulgent.