1 Corinthians 12:12-14 (ESV)

The challenge is for you to examine how you think about church. 

In American culture, we have the tendency to see our experiences through the eyes of a consumer. 

How do you see yourself in the church? Are you a consumer or have you begun to see yourself as one of the servants? 

The metaphor the Bible uses is body. But it is more than a metaphor; it is a spiritual position. 

When you are born again, you are baptized into the body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:12-14 (ESV)

Paul writes, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.”

This is how God wants us to see the church. The church is the body of Christ on this earth and we are a created part of the body. 

The metaphor of the body is used so we will see the strong connection we are supposed to have with each other. 

Paul is talking about the universal church that transcends time and space. 

Paul is talking about the local church where we actively live in connection.

It is impossible to read this passage honestly and see ourselves as independent believers who are not connected to anything but the universal church. 

1 Corinthians 12:15-27 (ESV)

The family is intimate, caring, and connected but there is nothing more intimate than the body. 

The church is revealed as a body. As followers of Christ, we are members of it. 

Life comes in the fullness of service. 

Diversity is characteristic of the body of Christ, but love is essential for real church to produce real life.

Disclaiming responsibility does not remove responsibility.  

When any person rejects the rule of Christ, the church is weakened. 

When any person rejects their place in the church, they lose the life that comes through the church. 

When any church rejects the rule of Christ, that church dies.