Members of One Another

The body, the human body is an amazing, amazing organism that God has created. If you are an average adult, then you will do these things in one day's time. In one day's time, your heart will be 103,680 times. If you're the average adult, heart beat of 72 times a minute, then your heart will be 103,000 times, 103,600 times in a 24-hour period. In 24 hours, your blood will travel 168 million miles. You said, no, that's not possible. I think that's talking about every blood vessel, all the capillaries, everything, all the blood moving through, every part of your body, 168 million miles in 24 hours. You will breathe 23,040 times in 24 hours. If you're the average adult, you will inhale 438 cubic feet of air. You will eat 3.5 pounds of food. You will drink 2.9 quarts of liquid. You will speak 4800 words. That one varies also. You'll move 750 muscles in a 24-hour period and you will exercise 7 million brain cells. That one really varies from person to person. If you're the average adult, that's how much your body will do in 24 hours. No wonder you're tired at the end of a day. After all that, no wonder. You know what? It takes a lot of different members of the body to make all that happen, doesn't it? Those members of the body have to work together. The amazing organism that God has created in the human body thus becomes a very fitting picture for the church. Romans chapter 12 is where we begin today. We thought we were done with Romans, right? Because we did a series on Romans about a year ago. But we're going to jump back into Romans for just a few moments. Romans chapter 12 and verse 5 talks about one of the one and others that we're in a series on right now. The one and others, and it's this, we are members of one another. It's talking about being in the body. All of us are members of that body of Christ. We are members of one another. Romans 12.5 says, so in Christ we who are many form one body. Each member belongs to all the others. If you were to take the original language this was written in by Paul in the first century and translated just word for word, literally it would be something like this. And individually we are members who belong to one another. Or we are members of one another. That's what Paul is saying. We are members of one another. We are members who belong to one another. All the New Testament writers recognize this dynamic of the church and how we fit together in a body. But it is Paul who really describes it in detail in four of his letters. Romans, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians and Colossians. Paul talks about the body and he mentions that word 30 plus times in those four letters. About half of those times he's talking about the human body using it as an illustration of the church. Half of the time he's talking about the church itself being the body of Christ. It's a very fitting metaphor. It's a very fitting picture because the same dynamics that operate in the human body also operate in the body of Christ, in the church. And so that's why Paul says an important part of understanding the body of Christ is that we are members of one another. What I want us to do this morning is look at some passages that talk about, that emphasize the body concept. And we're going to look at some lessons we can learn about the body. Let's take the passages first starting right here in Romans 12. A little bit of a review. Okay? Just a bit of a review in Romans 12, in verses 3 through 8. In talking about this body metaphor, this word picture that communicates real truths about the church, Paul says the body, being members of one another, means that we must, it requires a proper evaluation of yourself. Requires a proper evaluation of yourself. Look at verse 3. He says, for by the grace given me, I say to every one of you, do not think of yourself more highly than you ought. But rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the measure of faith that God has given you. Okay? Proper evaluation of yourself. Members of one another means that first of all, you've got to have a proper evaluation of yourself. It requires that you do not view yourself too highly as Paul says, but also that you do not view yourself or evaluate yourself too lowly. He says use sober judgment, or in other words, clear thinking. And how do you do that? Well, he says, according to the measure of faith that God has given you. And what that means is that God has given everybody in his body something to do, and he has given us a corresponding ability to trust him to do that, because we can't do it on our own. And so it kind of works like this. Whatever God has given you an interest to do, an ability or spiritual giftedness to do, whatever God has gifted, he's also given you the corresponding measure of faith to trust him to do that, and to see him actually at work through you when you do that. So that's how you evaluate. As you get busy, as you get active in serving the Lord, God will confirm through effective avenues of ministry. As you see God working through you, you see that faith to trust him to do something. As you see that happen, that's how you properly evaluate what God wants you to do. Don't think more highly or more lowly of yourself. As you get busy in serving the Lord in different ways that you have an interest in, then God will show what he has for you to do. And you will sense that measure of faith you have to trust him to do that. That's how you evaluate yourself properly. But also being members of one another requires that we have a proper evaluation of others. Look at it in verse 4. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same functions. So in Christ we hear a many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Now to have a proper evaluation of others requires three things. To have a proper evaluation of others means, first of all, we recognize unity. You see it there? He says in verse 4, just as each of us has one body with many members, beginning of verse 5, so in Christ we hear a many form one body. That's unity. We are all in one body. So to have a proper evaluation of others means we recognize we are all in one body. But it also means we recognize diversity, not only unity, but diversity in that body. See it in verse 4? Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function. That's surely true of the physical body, and it's true of the body of Christ too. We're not all geared the same way. We're not all built the same way. God does not intend this all to do the same thing. And if we would recognize that issue of diversity in the body, it would save a lot of hard feelings, misunderstandings, criticisms in the body, why doesn't this person do this? Why don't they serve in this and do this ministry? Because God maybe has an equipment to do that. We all have different functions. So don't do the gift projection thing where you project on everybody else what you have a heart and passion for. Maybe God's giving them a heart and passion for some other ministry, some other way to serve him. So we need to recognize that variety. Not all the members do the same thing. Don't expect everybody to do the same thing. Expect everybody as we should to be a part of the body and be active involved in some kind of service, but not all doing the same thing. Sometimes we have a feeling that if they're not doing what I'm doing, they're not spiritual. That's not the way God built the body. There's diversity in the body. So as you look at others and evaluate others, you do so with an eye for unity, with an eye for diversity, but also with an eye for mutuality. Mutuality, that means dependence on one another in the verse five. So in Christ we hear a many form one body and here it is, and each member belongs to all the others. Or individually we are members who belong to each other, who need each other. We are members of each other. We depend on each other, needing each other. So body life, being members of one another, requires a proper evaluation of self, a proper evaluation of others, and then a proper evaluation of your ministry. What God has gifted you and given you the ability and the heart desire to do. In verses 6-8 Paul introduces a number of different ministries that God may give us to do. This is not a complete list. There are others in other parts of Scripture, but he gives some examples here. Verse 6. We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve. If it is teaching, let him teach. If it is encouraging, let him encourage. If it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously. If it is leadership, let him govern diligently. If it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. I am not going to get into the meaning of all those different gifts. If you are really interested in that, you might want to get the CD of the message on this passage when we were going through Romans, went into that in more detail. All I want to say at this point is that God wants us to understand there are different ministries and whatever ministry He has given you to do, do it. That is the emphasis of the passage. Get to it. You know, do it. If it is teaching, do it. If it is giving, do it. If it is showing mercy, do it. Get busy. Get involved. Get involved in ministry is what He is saying. That is part of understanding the body concept that we are members of one another. Have a proper evaluation of yourself, of others and of your ministry. There is another passage that Paul uses the body concept in. That is 1 Corinthians 12. Would you turn over there, police? 1 Corinthians 12. This is the most extensive use by the Apostle Paul of this analogy of the body. There is a reason for that. The church at Corinth needed it because of the immaturity of that church and because of all the problems that church had. You know, Paul is writing this letter to correct the number of problems that he lists throughout this book and because of all of that, Paul goes to special links to explain how the church should function in terms of the body. Corinthian church needed that. Churches today need that. We need to understand how the body is supposed to function. How the church is supposed to function and it functions as a body, Paul says. Now in this passage, beginning in verse 12, Paul says that being members of one another, being a part of the body of Christ means four things. Here they are. Number one, we are all in one body. We are all in one body. That is the first thing that being a member of one another means. We are all in one body. Look at verses 12 and 13. The body is a unit though it is made up of many parts and though all its parts are many, they form one body. Notice how he is talking about the human body here as an example and he says the same thing in two different ways. If you notice it carefully, he reverses the order. He says the body is a unit that is the unity, though it is made up of many parts, diversity. And though all its parts are many, diversity, they form one body, unity, unity, diversity, diversity, unity. He mentions it the same thing but different ways. He is getting across the idea that we are all in one body. That is the way the human body operates. You have one body. That is all you got. One body. So all of your bodily members are in one body. Now he applies it to the church. At the end of the verse he says, so it is with Christ and then he applies it in verse 13. For we were all baptized by one spirit into one body. Now that is the formation of the body. You know how you got into the body of Christ? He says, yeah, I went through one, one and I met with a pastor and we talked about my salvation and all and I joined the church. No, no, that is the local assembly. But how did you get into the body of Christ as a whole? At the moment you were saved, the Holy Spirit placed you into the body of Christ. You didn't feel anything, you didn't sense anything, you didn't see anything, it is not an experience you have, it is just a spiritual reality. When you got saved, the Holy Spirit immersed you, placed you into, Paul uses the term baptized you into the body of Christ and you were placed into his body. At the moment you got saved. That is the formation of the body. Notice again the diversity of the body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, he says they are in verse 13. So it doesn't matter your ethnic background, it doesn't matter your social status, whether your Jew or Greek ethnically, whether you are slave or free by way of social status, it doesn't matter. No matter what your background is, all of us who are saved are in the same body. See, so we are all in one body. That is the diversity in the body and then the power to live in that body, the end of the verse, we were all given the one spirit to drink. We all can take in the Holy Spirit and use his power to live out body life in the body of Christ. So Paul is saying in those two verses we are all in one body. So that is what being members of one another means, we are all in one body. Secondly Paul says it means the body needs you. The body needs you. There are some of you sitting here this morning that have not figured that out yet. You don't think you are important to the body. You don't think you fit anywhere or you are not sure where you fit. Paul is saying the body needs you, every one of us. Notice how he says that in verses 14 to 20. He says now the body is not made up of one part but of many. So the body has to have lots of parts to make it function, not just one part. And then he says verses 15 to 17, each part is needed for the body to function. Look at how he says it verse 15. If the foot should say because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body, it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 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 cease to be part of the body. 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? So Paul saying every part is needed. The body needs you. Notice how he reinforces this by saying that God has designed every part to have a place in verses 18 to 20. But in fact God has arranged the parts of the body, every one of them just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be as it is? There are many parts but one body. So the body needs you. Every person who is saved is needed in the body of Christ. You say, wait a second, I am just the finger nail on the little finger. Well, the body needs that. The body needs you to be that part. You may not be the heart, you may not be the lungs, you may not be the liver, but you are a part of the body and the body needs you to function. So Paul saying members of one another means we are all in one body and the body needs you. But thirdly, it also means you need others in the body. You cannot do without other people in the body. You need others. Paul emphasizes this in verses 21 to 26. Notice how he says it. Verse 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. I mean, can you imagine that in the human body? That's ridiculous. For one part to say to the other, I don't need you. Now Paul applies that to the church. On the contrary, verse 22, he says, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. The word weaker can also mean hidden. The idea really is there are hidden parts of our body that we don't see. And so we tend to think about the parts we do see. We see our hands, we see our feet, we see our eyes, we see our ears. Those are really important parts of the body. You can't see your heart. You can't see your liver. You can't see your lungs. They're pretty important. So those parts that are hidden are indispensable. You need those parts of the body. Verse 23, and the parts that we think are less honorable, we treat with special honor. Less honorable parts, Paul speaking of parts that we don't give much attention to. We like the torso. Most of us don't have a very honorable torso. But we treat it with honor in the sense that we clothe it. That's usually the idea of this word, and particularly in this context. So we treat that part that's less honorable with honor. And then notice what he says next. And the parts that are un-presentable are treated with special modesty. Parts that are not presentable to public, we clothe in special ways. We treat them with modesty. So we recognize that we're to give honor to those parts of the body too. Verse 24, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. I don't have to close my hands. I don't have to close my face, although some of you probably wish I would. Don't have to do that. That then need any special treatment, but other parts of the body do. So we give proper treatment to every part of the body. You see? But he says in the middle of verse 24, but God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it. In other words, the parts that don't seem like they're very important. In God's eyes are important. So what he's saying is you need others in the body. Verse 25, so that there should be no division in the body and that its parts should have equal concern for each other. Okay, now he's applying this to the church. He says if one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. In other words, whatever is happening to the one part of the body, the others because we are members of one another. We're vitally linked to one another. Others hurt when one part hurts. Others rejoice when one part rejoices. I was reminded in a very graphic way of this just a couple of three weeks ago, when we had our church picnic, you know those heavy metal tables then at the pavilion. If you drop one of those things on the concrete floor, it'll put a new crack in it. I mean, those things are heavy. Well, I dropped one of them, but not on the floor. I dropped it on my toe. And for the first time ever, I had worn sandals to the church picnic. I'll never do that again. I'll wear steel toe boots next time. But I dropped it right on the toe, big toe. And that thing started bleeding. And for a week, it bled from underneath the toe, from around the whole toe. It was blood coming out. There was all kinds of other stuff coming out. I can't describe. Isn't that fun to hear? It was a mess for about a week. And I couldn't, I couldn't push off that foot. So I had the walk like Chester. You know, I couldn't, I couldn't push off of that foot and walk right. And so then the other part of my foot started hurting because I was putting too much pressure on it. And then my knees started hurting. By the time I'd get home and the evening, I was worn out because of one little body member that was hurting. The whole body was affected. And that's the way it is with the body of Christ. When one member hurts, we all hurt. And we need to be sensitive to that. Recognize that. And when one part is honored, everybody's clapping. Yay! Go, Ilyud! We're great for you. We're rejoicing with it. You need others in the body. And then one other thing Paul says about the being members of one another. What that means is that God is sovereign and how He places us in the body versus 27 to 31. He says, now you, okay, you, the church, you are the body of Christ. And each one of you is a part of it. Now look at verse 28. And in the church, God has appointed, first of all, and then He mentions a number of different kinds of spiritual gifts. Not going to get into those again. Some of them were designed only for the first century. The miraculous type of gifts as the church got started. Some of them are permanent still operating today. But in verse 29, He says, are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all were? The idea is no. Not everybody does the same thing. God has sovereignly put us in the body as He wants us in the body. What He wants us doing. You see, the way it works is that God has gifted you with an ability to serve Him that He gave you at the moment of salvation. God has also given you other natural abilities. God has given you heart desires, things you love and enjoy doing. He's given you a personality that He has shaped that will fit in some places better than others in the body of Christ. He's given you life experiences that have helped to shape and mold you to be able to reach out to other people in certain ways. Put all of that together, God has placed you in the body exactly where He wants you to be. To serve Him in some way. You say, John, how do I find that out? Take class 201 in another month or so. Actually, we'll be talking about that. We're going to offer that again to the whole church. We'll talk about how God has put you together and formed you and made you to serve in some way. You need to be sensitive to that and find out where that is. But the way it happens is as you get involved in service and in ministry, you find out what your heart desires and what your best fit it for and your effectiveness rises to the surface in this area, maybe not so much in that area. That's where you find out where God has placed you. But God has sovereignly placed us all in His body in some way. Being a member of one another, members of each other, dependent on each other means we're all in one body. The body needs you. You need others in the body and God has sovereignly placed us in the body. Not everybody has the same place, same passion about the same thing because God has made us all to do different things. Now, there's another passage where Paul uses this body concept, but we just looked at it last week. So we're going to skip over it this morning. It's a great passage on the body. We saw last week Paul talks about how the body builds itself up as each member does its part. Again, the idea that we're all necessary, every part, we're members that are mutually dependent on each other, we're members of each other. Let's move right on though to the lessons that we can learn from this body concept about members of one another. There are three lessons I think we can apply from these passages. Number one, no Christian can function effectively alone. In God's body, in His church, there are no lone rangers. There's none of the individualism that is so characteristic of the American spirit. We have to undo a little bit of our national leanings and history here. There are no cowboys. There are no lone rangers in the body of Christ. We need each other. We cannot do this alone. And by the way, that has to do with worship. You say, when I wait a second, I can go out in the woods and worship God on Sunday morning. I don't need the church. And God talks about when you gather together as a temple, we are the temple, corporately together. That's when God shows up. That's when God comes and meets with these people. He says, I will walk among them. God is here, pleased with our worship, if our hearts are right with Him. It's an awesome thing. It's an amazing thing. You can worship God on your own, certainly, but you cannot fulfill everything God wants you to do, even in worship without the body. You cannot grow in all the ways God wants you to grow without the body. That's why we're really putting a focus in this series on everybody getting into a growth group, getting into a group beyond the worship service, a Bible fellowship, or hopefully beginning the first of the year, small group, where you can be in touch with other people because it takes this relational side to grow properly. You cannot grow properly in isolation. You need others and their impact on your life. That's what Paul said. You need the body. You cannot serve effectively by yourself. You say, well, I can witness to my neighbor. I don't need anybody else in the church to do that. Yeah, okay. But you cannot serve effectively in ways that God wants you to without the rest of the body. You can depend on each other. That's what Paul is saying here. No Christian can function effectively alone. Again, think about your human body. When you get a speck of dust in your eye, what happens? Your eyelids reflexively close to try to protect your eye and get that out. Your tear ducts begin to flood water into your eye to wash that out. Instinctively, your finger goes up whether or not it should. It goes up to help a little bit. Your body swings into motion. Parts of your body swing into motion to help that eye out. That's the way the body functions and that's the way the church is the function. Just like the human body, the head of the body Christ has designed the church to function together. Not in isolation, but to function together. We have many members. We are members of one another. We're dependent on each other. And no one can say, I don't need the foot. I don't need the hand. I don't need. No, we need each other. You cannot function in isolation in the body of Christ. In his book, Outliers, Malcolm Caldwell tells the strange story of Christopher Langen. Christopher Langen was a genius with a staggering IQ of 195. Now to put that in perspective a little bit, Einstein's IQ was 150. Langen was an absolute genius. When he was in high school, he could ace any foreign language test just by glancing at the chapter for two or three minutes before class. And it never missed anything. He made a perfect score on his SAT, even though he was so bored at one point, he fell asleep during the test. Brilliant, genius, absolute genius. But Caldwell tells in this book how he had no one to help him develop those gifts and know how to use them. Here's the way he says it. Langen never had a community to help him capitalize on his gifts. He summarizes his story in this one sentence. Langen had to make his way alone and no one, not rock stars, not professional athletes, not software, billionaires, not even geniuses ever make it alone. And because he had no direction, no help, no one to be with to help him utilize and understand how to plug in those amazing gifts he had, he ended up spending his life on a horse farm in rural Missouri. There's nothing wrong with being a stable guy in a horse farm. Nothing wrong with that. But a guy with a genius IQ of 195 could have been the next Einstein. He had no community. He had no body to come alongside him to challenge him as to how he could use those amazing gifts. Nobody makes it alone and nobody makes it alone in the body of Christ either. No Christian can function effectively alone. We are members of one another. Second lesson we can learn from those passages is that no member of their body is so important that it can function without others. No member of the body is so important that it can function without others. It's almost a restatement of the first lesson but it's got a little different twist to it and it addresses our pride. No member of the body is so important that it can function without others. That's the reason why in all of these passages Paul's emphasis is on humility. In Romans 12 he talks about not evaluating yourself too highly. Evaluate others properly. In 1 Corinthians 12 he says at the end of chapter 12 some of you are eagerly pursuing the best gifts, the most outstanding gifts. I want to show you a better way and the better way is love. Putting others first. Valuing others more important than yourself. You write a whole chapter about that chapter 13. We didn't look at the passage in Ephesians 4 but Paul prefaces his thoughts on the body in Ephesians 4 with these verses and verses 2 through 4. Be completely humble and gentle. Be patient, bearing with one another in love and we'll look at that one another later in this series. Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body, one spirit just as you were called the one hope when you were called. Be humble he says. Nobody is so important that you don't need others in the body. I know there are some ministries and some gifts that carry more responsibility but in God's eyes none of them are more important. Again, think about your human body. We think of it in terms of the parts that you can see that are more expressive or more obvious. Your hands, your feet, your eyes, your ears, your tongue, those kinds of things and there are lots of parts that you can't see. You don't know what they're doing. Your heart, your liver, your lungs can't see those parts of your body but they're very important. Now I know what some of you may tend to think. Wait a second John, the analogy breaks down because there are some parts of the body I can do without. So there are parts that are more important. I can do without a finger, I can't do without my heart. I can do without my gallbladder, most of you do, but I can't do without my liver. Okay, okay I'll give you that. I understand that. But here's what Paul is saying. The finger has an important job in the body that no other part can do, not even the heart. The heart cannot do the job of the finger. It takes the finger to do the job of the finger. And so in that sense, every part is as important as the other. That was beautifully illustrated last October when the San Francisco Giants won the World Series. It had been 52 years since the Giants won a World Series. When I was a kid growing up in the 50s, I loved the Giants because my favorite player was Willie Mays. Now last time they won a World Series, Willie Mays was just getting started with the Giants. But they had one of World Series in 52 years. But there was one person that was on the team back in 1958 that was still with them last year when they won the World Series. His name is Mike Murphy. Oh, he'll never be in the Hall of Fame. He'll never get written up in the sports columns. He'll never see his name on the scoreboard or in the box scores. He'll never be selling merchandise for millions of dollars in endorsements. But Mike Murphy is an absolutely critical part of the San Francisco Giants. Back in 1958, he started as a batboy. And he worked his way up to a clubhouse attendant and finally over a period of years became the equipment manager. And so players' uniforms are clean because of Mike Murphy. The bats are ready and in their place because of Mike Murphy. Batting helmets are there because of Mike Murphy. The cleats, the shoes are cleaned because of Mike Murphy. Every piece of equipment the team uses is in its place at the right time because of Mike Murphy and his staff. And that was the reason why the New York Times reported in the clubhouse that when the trophy was being given to the team, the owner of the San Francisco Giants presented the trophy to Mike Murphy. And then he gave it to the players. What a fitting picture of a part of the body that never gets recognized by the press. Oh, it's not Tim Linsichum, it's not Buster Posey, it's not one of the Giants players. But Mike Murphy is critically important to that team. They cannot function without him. And that's a lesson we need to learn in the body of Christ. There's no member of the body that is so important that it can do without the other members. There's a third lesson. And that lesson is that each member of the body should contribute to the unity of the body. There's a tremendous emphasis on that in these passages. There being one body. We're all members of it, but one body. And the unity of that body is emphasized over and over again. How do we contribute to the unity of the body? Well, we contribute by valuing each other. And by valuing the variety of gifts, we create discord when we criticize one another because someone's not doing the same thing we are. Maybe God didn't impend them to do that. Maybe that's not their part of the body. So work toward unity in the body. Not discord, de-emphasize personal differences. Focus on mutual goals. What we're seeking to accomplish in the body as a whole. That's why all of these passages emphasize unity, including the one of the Ephesians. Look at this verse in Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 3. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. And then Paul introduces the body concept. Do everything possible to keep from misunderstanding, to keep from divisions. One of Esop's fables so beautifully captures this. Esop writes in the only way that he could in his fables. One day it occurred to the members of the body that they were doing all the work, and that the belly was getting all the food. So they held a meeting and decided to quit working until the belly considered to take its proper share of the work. So for a day or two the hands refused to take any food. The mouth refused to receive it, and the teeth had no work to do. But after a day or two members began to find that they themselves were not in very active condition. The hands could hardly move. The mouth was all parched and dry while the legs were unable to support the rest. Thus they found that even the belly in its dull, quiet way was doing necessary work for the body, and that all must work together or the body would go to pieces. How true of the body of Christ. Unless we all work together in unity, the body goes to pieces. It gets scattered and fractured, disunified. One of my favorite movies is Remember the Titans. I love sports and I love that movie. One of the reasons I love that movie is a true story. It's the story of a high school football team in northern Virginia in 1971, just after the integration of public schools where those who had been in black schools were now together with whites in the schools. It was a difficult year, but the story is really of a football team that learned how to love each other and of a community that dealt with that same issue of racial tension. It's a great story. The school ends up hiring a black coach because they feel maybe he'll be able to come in and provide some bonding between the players. The guy who was a white coach takes a demotion to assistant coach. Early on in a summer camp, two week camp before the season starts, there are two leaders who butt heads. Gary Brito is an all-American defensive end, a white guy who is used to being the leader of his team. But now that the black players are playing with them, Julius is also on the team a star defensive end for the black school. And they and those first few practices butt heads against each other. And there's racial tension. One of the first nights they're put in a room together and Julius puts a poster on his wall of several black athletes receiving awards at the 1968 Olympics. And Gary says, I'm not going to look at that for two weeks and a fight erupts between the two of them when Gary tries to tear it off the wall. The whole team is involved in a brawl between whites and blacks. And then one day in practice or after practice, Julius approached Gary and said, you're supposed to be the leader of this team. The white guys are not blocking for the black running backs. And you're not calling them on it. You're supposed to be the leader of this team. Why don't you step up and be a leader and Gary realizes he hasn't been the leader. And the next day in practice, he calls some of his fellow white players on that very issue and slowly but surely the team begins to bond and come together. They win their first game, second game to go through the whole season, undefeated. And by the end of the season, those guys are really close and the community is coming together. After they win the regional championship, Gary, the star defensive end is injured in a horrible car accident and is paralyzed from the way they are. The whole team shows up at the waiting room at the hospital and we're going to watch what happens next. How you doing, sir? You all right? You all right? How are you doing? Not too good. Not too good. How bad is it? How bad is it? He's paralyzed from the lifestyle. Don't say that to me. Don't say that to me. Sorry, this is the dude. Sorry. Sorry. He doesn't want to see anybody but you, too. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. That's tears. I'm going to make my boy walk again. Only Cleans allowed in here. Are you blind? Don't you see the family resemblance? That's my brother. All right. You think I would banged up you since you're my Camaro? I was so sorry, ma'am. I should have been there with you. What are you talking about? You wouldn't have been in the bed right next to me. You can't be hurt like this. You're super mad. I was afraid of you, Julius. I was so what else I was afraid of. No, no, I was only hating my brother. Is that too what though? When all this is over, you're going to move out saying they could go together. When you're going to move out saying they could go together. Okay, and we'll get old. We'll get in fact. We're going to be always like white between us. Left side. Left side. We are not just members of a team. We are members of a family. We're members of a body. We're members of one another. Let's pray together. Father, thank you for that amazing illustration you've given us in your word of what it means to be members of one another. To be a part of the same body. And when one member hurts, we all hurt. When one is honored, we all rejoice. Lord, we confess that sometimes the body doesn't function like you intended it to. Because sometimes we're more concerned about our own particular ministry or way of doing things. We don't see how the variety of the bodies intended to function. Sometimes, Lord, we don't notice the people that are hurting. Or if we do, we don't swing into action like we should. Oh, God, forgive us where we fail you. Help us to operate more as a body. Help us to worship together. Help us to grow together. Help us to serve together. Help us to really, in all respects, be a body. Members of one another.