Summary of The body
Preamble
Wes discusses the title of his message and discusses what the message is not about. It isn’t about body image. Today’s message is about the church: “the Body.”
Our culture is a “Me culture”
A self centered culture. This type of self-centeredness can creep into the church. Sometimes the “me” concept is good. For example, we sing songs at church about our own relationship with God. After all, we do have a personal relationship with God.
Our culture and the “selfie”
Wes also discusses how there is a new dad (well not so new anymore) and it is the selfie – taking photos of yourself. It is a form of bragging all about one’s self and experiences that are unique to you.
We are missing out on the wealth of relationships
Even at Church we ignore our need for quality relationships. We treat church like a Starbucks order: “I’d like half worship, half message, whipped cream entertainment, with a hint of God.” And if you don’t get what you want from church you’ll head down the road until you find it.
1 Cor 12:12-26
Wes has the audience turn its attention to a passage in the Bible that describes a healthy church experience (aka: collection of believers). God has designed his Church to be proportioned correctly. Thinking of a physical body we can understand how God has designed his Church; it all works together for a common goal.
A struggling church
We can see how a church that isn’t well balanced will struggle. A church that has a “sore” part will cause it to struggle. Wes provides an example of how his own shoulder is a weak part of his own body. When his shoulder hurts his whole body hurts. And our own desire to be self-centered will lead to self-help. We strive to service ourselves. We don’t want to rely on others for help — even in the church community. Yet a church is meant to be a support network. Yet church has become a place where we must look perfect, with no need for help from others.
Being on our own: the me culture
We have tricked ourselves into thinking we have to take care of ourselves. We have tricked ourselves into thinking it is important to be self reliance; being a needy person is bad! But the truth God has created his Church to be a unified group that works together — like a body! We need each other.
Four Questions
-
- Do I matter to the church? Yes you do. We are all important within the group dynamics of the church. 1 Cor 12:12-26 points out we all play an important role.
- Do I cease being a part of the church if I don’t attend? No, but it is important to have fellowship and friendship and connection with other believers. The Church isn’t about a morning meeting on Sunday. God’s Church occurs all the time.
- Does my attitude and relationship with Jesus make a difference? Of course! The quality of your relationship affects the church. If you are in a negative funk with Jesus, angry at God, or burnt out and refuse to serve are all ways to effect the church.
- How often should I engage in a church experience? If you choose to disconnect from the church, it is as if an arm was cut off from the body. It is still an arm but it is useless to the living body. If we refuse to meet with one another we cannot champion each other. (Hebrews 10:23-25 “…spurring each other on…”)
Conclusions – there is a way you can serve
Wes provides several examples of how people can serve within SouthRidge. This serving will lead to a healthier SouthRidge and a spiritually healthier you!
About the Speaker
Wes Linde is the youth pastor at SouthRidge Church in Langley. He became a believer in his late teens and when God called him into youth pastoral ministries he nodded and said, “that makes total sense!”