1 Corinthians 12:12

For just as the body is one and has many members... so it is with Christ. 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... If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ, and individually members of it. (1 Corinthians 12:12–27)

What a junior high group and a beating heart reveal about being one body in Christ.

A Junior High Pastor's Perspective

When I tell people I'm a junior high pastor, I usually get that wince—"Oh, that's a tough age. I couldn't do that." But I love that age bracket. Kids come into my group out of children's ministry as squirrely sixth graders, absolute children. Over three years they hit puberty and go from children to young adults. It's a radical, exciting change.

There's also some really funny stuff. Here are actual things I've had to say to actual human beings: "Please stop sucking on the back of that chair." "You're two knuckles deep—please pull your finger out of your nose." "Blow that out, it's still on fire." And my favorite: "Dude, you can't throw rocks at a bald eagle." No eagles were harmed—he missed—but I did have a conversation with a ranger.

When these kids start to mature and step into high school group, there's a bit of a bummer for me. Jason is a stellar high school pastor, and he does a fantastic job, but I don't get to be part of seeing them enter that stage of spiritual maturity firsthand. That's not my role in the body, though. If I stepped in and pushed Jason aside, I'd be stepping on someone else's toes. The Lord called me to junior high ministry; He called Jason to high school. My job is to do my role—and that's a lot of what we're talking about today.

We Are the Body of Christ

Now you are the body of Christ individually and members of it.

Though there are many of us—services before and after you, churches meeting all over right now—we are one. We all create together one body, one organism the Lord has placed together. Romans 12:4–5 says the same: "For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually members one of another."

That's point one: we are the body of Christ. It's a simple, foundational point, and it's part of our vision here—we live life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus. But there's a purpose behind it. Christ didn't just save us and say, "Great, you're saved—now go out, Lone Ranger, good luck." He called us together to be a body.

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together... but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24–25)

As iron sharpens iron, so man sharpens the countenance of his friend. (Proverbs 27:17)

We're called to be joined together because we stir up, encourage, and sharpen one another—things that don't happen unless you're with a body of believers. Yes, get in your prayer closet and have your time with the Lord. But also meet together.

Sharpening is the harder part. When someone you trust comes to you in love and says, "I need to put you in check—this is what the Bible says you should be doing, and this doesn't match," it's grating. You sharpen iron by taking it to a harder, more abrasive metal—the grinder. It throws off hot shards; it burns; it hurts. But it does exactly what it needs to do. That's part of being one body, drawn together, loving and challenging one another in godly, loving fashion.

We Each Have Our Role

Going back to verse 4, point two: we each have our role in the body of Christ. Though we operate as individuals, we do it through the same Spirit. The many members make up one. I value my hand being attached to my body—if it's not, it's a bad day. My pinky and my foot are about as far apart as you can get and have very different functions, but they're still one body.

This isn't just about roles inside the church—teaching, ushering, running video, children's ministry. There are further reaches. What about your workplace? I don't have the freedom to go there, but you've been placed there. That may be your mission field. It might be serving at the Ronald McDonald House or locking arms with Alternatives Women's Center. It might be a club or a sport.

I know a guy who loves Frisbee golf—frolf. He goes out alone, finds a group of three that needs a fourth, and plays 18 holes. He's decided this is his exercise and his time away from the office, but as he plays he develops a relationship, and his goal is to minister and share the love of Christ. That's another reach of the body.

The Church as a Pumping Heart

I started thinking about why we gather in a building and then disperse, and a bit of my schooling came into play. The church makes me think of a heart. Without getting too technical: the left heart pumps oxygenated blood out to every far-reaching part of the body. The body uses the good stuff and sends back CO2 and toxins. The right heart sends that to the lungs, which take out the garbage and reintroduce oxygen, and the process starts over. The heart doesn't give the oxygenation—it just pumps in and out.

You come here week in and week out. Miles pours over the Word in his office so he can stand here and give you what the Lord has shared with him. That's life being breathed into you—a left-heart action. Then you go out to the far reaches, wherever the Lord has placed you, and you pour out light and salt and goodness to the world.

And a lot of times you come back, plop down, and it's been a long week. You sat with someone who lost their wife; you prayed for two hours after work. You come forward and we get to pray for you. That burden you've carried all week, you lay at the feet of the Lord. It's a pumping station—you come in, drop off the garbage, get renewed and refilled, and get sent back out.

Many Members, One Body—on Defense and Offense

For the body does not consist of one member but of many.

Have you ever caught something out of the corner of your eye, careening toward your face? As a junior high pastor, that happens to me frequently. If you have time, your eyes send the signal to your brain, your brain sends out the call, and your hands come up, your torso twists, your legs and feet engage—boom, you brace. It's not just the eye. The whole body comes together to defend itself.

We fight a spiritual battle too—not against flesh and blood, but principalities and powers. Think of a boxer throwing a punch. A good one isn't a sloppy swing of the arm; the whole body engages—the torso twists, the legs drive, the eyes lock on, the breathing steadies. In slow motion you see all the members operating as one. So it is with us: we defend one another and go on the offense in the name of the Lord, taking the gospel out.

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... God arranged the members in the body, each one of them as He chose.

If the hand decides, "I'm not a foot, I'm out," then when something comes careening toward your face and your eye cries, "I need your help," and the hand refuses—you get hit. Just because you're not a pastor or someone who seems more important doesn't mean your role isn't vital. The eye is impressive, but it's useless if it gets injured.

I can't walk behind the counter at Jack in the Box and start preaching—the manager will tell me I'm not health certified. I can't stand in line and say, "Give me twenty minutes before I order, I want to tell you about Jesus." But you who work there, behind locked doors I can't access—when a coworker sits across from you on break with tears in their eyes, you don't need to get me on the phone. You've been placed there. You are the pastor overseeing that situation. You get to say, "I'm so sorry. Can I pray for you?" That is a critical, vital role in the body.

The Honor of the Obscure Parts

On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor.

How many of you thought about your aortic valve today? Your coronary sinus? Most people don't, because they're obscure—but every one of you is using them right now. The aortic valve stops blood from flowing backward into the heart; without it, blood would just go out and come back, going nowhere.

One of my professors was at lunch with some engineers when the aortic valve came up. They looked at the pressures it withstands and said, "This makes no sense—this little fleshy valve should be a failed system." Enter the coronary sinus, a little cup-shaped area. Your heart beats more than once a second—whack, whack, whack. As the valve starts to shut, the coronary sinus creates just enough suction to dampen it, so it closes gently instead of slamming. Without it, the system would fail in about fifteen years. None of us would be alive.

You might say, "I have no need of you"—but you do. None of us thought about the coronary sinus, yet it helps our whole body run. For one member to say "I have no need of you" is dangerous. Our bodies are intricate; they operate as one and do best when they do just that.

God Hates Division Among His Body

But God has so composed the body... that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together.

Consider the colon—not a dignified part, and I won't go into its processes. But if it's not running properly, your whole body is in agony. By its very job it receives honor, even though it's considered dishonorable. The Lord gives honor even to parts that seem dishonorable, so there be no division in the body.

I appeal to you, brothers... that all of you agree, and that there be no division among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. (1 Corinthians 1:10)

Point three: God hates division among His body. God doesn't say He hates things very often, so when He does, I listen carefully. Proverbs 6 lists six things the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers. Notice the imagery—eyes, tongue, hands, heart, feet, lungs. This is a body in discord, a dysfunctional body.

Why does God hate discord? Think of ischemia—what we call a heart attack, stroke, arterial disease, pulmonary embolus. All of those are division: a clot holding blood from getting to a member, keeping healthy things from where they need to be. It's destructive because it kills tissue. I've done cardiac scans after heart attacks where part of the heart wall has died; some people end up pumping 50 to 75% less blood—all because of a blockage, a division cutting off what the body needs.

That's what division is in the body of Christ. You need something, but you're blocked, stuck, not receiving what you need. Christ died for His church; it's understandable He would hate for it to be destroyed, especially from within. Ischemia—division—means death to a member. That's never a good thing.

How We Live as One Body

So how do we avoid divisiveness?

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and... forgiving each other... And above all put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. (Colossians 3:12–15)

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor... Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another... Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:9–21)

That's not just how we avoid division—it's how we're called to live as a body. If you're wondering, "I know my role, but what do I actually do?", it's right there. Colossians 3:12–15 and Romans 12:9–21 lay it out: here's how to live a life within the body of Christ.

Why We Speak of the Body Today

Why are we talking about being a body today? Because we're taking communion.

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. (1 Corinthians 10:14–17)

As we take communion today, we want to remember Jesus—His life, His death, His resurrection. We remember that He died for our sins, that He died for us to be united as one body. It's by Him that we are here today, and by Him that we have the privilege of taking communion. So I invite you to come before the Lord with us and sing praises to Him.