Session 12

God Will Use Me Specifically

From Understanding and Applying The Bible

1 Corinthians 12:12-26

12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[a] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it,25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

You might not know...
A lot of the Bible is written by a guy named Paul and he’s writing to churches who are just getting started. A few years earlier Jesus had died on the cross, rose again, and ascended into heaven, so people were trying to figure out how to lead the church and help people come to Jesus even while he isn't on earth.

What does it say?
The church must operate just as a body operates. Some people were created by God to be one thing (pastor, worship leader, etc.) but feel like something else is more important. The truth is that no one position is more important than another and that they all rely on each other.

What does it mean?
A house isn’t just a house. You can definitely look at a house and say, “that’s a house” and be right, but you could also say “that is a bunch of bricks, wood, concrete, roofing, and nails” and be just as right. A house is really just a lot of different stuff, making up one unified thing. The body of Christ (the church) operates similarly. Without different people using their individual gifts, the church is an incomplete body. There is a place for anyone and everyone to serve and be useful in the church.

What does it mean to me?
A pile of wood and nails doesn’t make a house, there must be a builder who has a plan and intention for every piece of materiel. I am God’s resource for him to do so much more than what I could accomplish on my own. He has given each a specific gift to serve the church in someway. If I choose to give myself to him and trust what he has planned, I can operate in my purpose and be a part of something bigger than myself.