A Chosen Generation

The 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians is very encouraging to me because it so clearly teaches that every member of Christ’s body (every born again believer) has a special place of service designed by God specifically for them. (vs. 18)
The question is, do you and I know what that means for us? Many Christians tend to think only of those in leadership positions, such as the pastor, as having an area of service in the local church. But that is not the case. “Can the foot say, ‘Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body? ”(vs. 15). No! The foot is every bit as much a part of the body as any other member!
You and I may not be one of the “comely” parts (vs. 23). Most people have a face that looks a lot better than their liver, but the liver is just as needed as the face. No one gives much thought to their liver until it starts to malfunction. If you are serving in your local church as a “liver”, don’t get discouraged and start thinking, “My job must not be very important. No one ever notices or acknowledges my labor.” That’s okay! Just keep serving the Lord faithfully in humility just where He has placed you!
I heard a sermon about this once, and the preacher said, “Some people are the armpits – all they do is cause a stink!” Don’t be that kind of body member! You need to find a useful area of service. It is commonly said that 90% of the work in a church is done by 10% of the people. If that is true, in what percentage group are you? If all the church members were exactly as faithful as you, how many people would have been in church Sunday morning? Sunday night? How about Wednesday prayer meeting? And those are just attended things. How many people would have been involved in any outreach this week, or special projects at the church? How many would have done any service at all for Christ?
You might say, “Well, God sees my heart and knows that I love Him. I don’t think that I need to be at EVERY church function to prove that.” Attending church functions isn’t the point of this chapter – the point is that every believer has a place of service designed for them by God – are you and I doing what God has designed for us to do? Are we serving God?
A sure sign of how much we are fulfilling our “bodily duties” is by whether or not we are contributing to “schisms” in the church (vs. 25). I have observed that almost without fail conflict in the church is caused either by people who have never really served and contributed to their church, or by people who have noticeably cut back their service. Very rarely will someone purposely cause pain to a body they feel very much attached to.
The other sign of whether or not we are a contributing part of the body of believers is by how much we feel both the joy and sorrow of another member of the body (vs. 26). In our physical bodies, we feel the pain in a hand, or head, or foot, and it affects our whole being. So it should be in the spiritual body of believers.
If you have been struggling with feeling like you’re really not belonging and a vital part of your church, and it is a good, Bible-believing church, ask yourself, “Am I serving in my God given place?” If you are not, and you would like to be, but don’t know where to start, ask your pastor! If your church is anything like mine, there are lots of unfilled service vacancies! Like anything else in life, you get out what you put in (and actually, in God’s service, you get out much more than you could ever put in!)

Well, this is my first “BRF”! Anne and Mrs. B have been encouraging me for a long time to join, but I have just been so busy with other studying that I haven’t been able to yet. But I am done all studying until September, so I want to take advantage of this Bible study. I am sorry that this is a day late, but I was gone all day yesterday.
I honestly think that we could just do “Chapter Review Friday”. There is so much in God’s Word, especially when you are really watching for things to be able to share with others. So, though I did study the whole section, I am going to focus on just one chapter, mostly because I type slow. Here goes:
1 Corinthians 7.
Vs. 1 – Paul says that it is good for a man not to touch a woman. I know that this verse is often used to promote a “hands-off” policy before marriage, but however good that policy may be, I don’t believe that is what this verse is talking about in context. What I believe that Paul is saying is that it is good for a man to stay single (compare with verses 8 and 26.) If someone feels like they just won’t be able to contain themselves if they don’t marry, then by all means, marry, but it is better to stay single (vs. 9).
Paul makes an interesting statement in verse 25. He says that he had “obtained mercy to remain faithful”, and I believe that he is referring to his single state. It is not easy to be single! Yet, God calls some to a single life, and He will give mercy to remain faithful in that calling. I believe that every Christian single ought to come to the place on their life where they are completely willing to be/stay single if that is what God has planned. The church as a whole has done a great disservice to Christian young people by always preaching about preparing for a godly marriage, but rarely, if ever, exhorting young people to be willing and preparing for a godly single life. Many girls, especially, just assume that they will marry and be a “keeper at home” and they never consider, “What if God can use me best single?”
This is a hard, hard thing to surrender to. If young people could begin to at least consider this possibility early in their lives, they would have more time to come to grips with it and it wouldn’t be that at 30 they finally start to wrestle with the thought that God may will for them to serve Him as a single person.
This is a bit of a rabbit trail, but I believe that every young woman ought to learn some skill or vocation whereby she can support herself as a single woman and/or serve with in fulltime ministry. I am NOT talking about being a “career woman”. I am talking about having a career potential that ideally will not be a large waste of time or money should the young woman end up marrying at a younger age (this could even be something that she could do out of her home like the virtuous woman did i.e. my sister Emily is an amazing floral designer and is able to run a very nice business directly from her home in order to bless her family.) There are dozens of options available, and I encourage all mothers of girls who may be reading this to not focus so much on raising wives and mothers, but more on raising virtuous women who will be prepared to serve and honor God whether as a wife and mother or as a single woman. A daughter who learns to keep a home, to love and care for children, to surrender her will, and to be loyal and loving will be well equipped to serve God regardless of her married state!
As a person reads this chapter, they may wonder, “If marriage is such a good thing, created by God and so beautifully picturing Christ’s relationship with the church, why would Paul so strongly encourage people to remain single?” For one reason – to serve. A married person must care for their spouse and children; a single person can devote that time to God (vs. 32-34). It may be that God will call a single person to the mission field, or it may be that He will use them as faithful servants in the local church.
It is no sin to marry (vs.28). Marriage is honorable. A person never ought to spurn marriage because they are so wrapped up in a career – that is completely losing the point of why a person ought to stay single, which is to “attend upon the Lord without distraction” (vs. 35).
If there is anyone that is reading this who is really struggling with surrendering to God and trusting Him completely in this area, I highly recommend a book called “Did I Kiss Marriage Goodbye: Trusting God with a Hope Deferred.”(This would also be a good read for those of you who married young so that you can better empathize with your still-single friends!)
I use to really not like 1 Corinthians 7! But I thank God that He has given me grace to be able to trust Him in this area. I know that I am single today because that is God’s perfect will for my life today and I can serve Him best this way, today. If and when I will be able to serve Him better married, then God will bring me together with the right man. Please pray for me and all the other Christian singles that you know that like Paul, we would be given mercy to “be faithful” in whatever calling God may give us.