In Touch Ministries

Dr. Charles Stanley: God has placed all of us here in the body of Christ to depend upon each other. You may feel absolutely totally adequate within yourself, that you don't need anything or anybody, but I want to tell you, my friend, if that be true, you have been deceived. God hasn't ever created anybody sufficient within himself or herself and needing no one else.

Guest (Male): Community is vital to the well-functioning of a society, but today on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley, you'll see how it's even more essential to the church. Learn about your responsibility to the other members of the body of Christ from 1 Corinthians chapter 12. Stay with us as the series continues.

Dr. Charles Stanley: Now, why did God put us in a body called the body of Christ or the church? He placed us here for a number of reasons, one of which was that we may grow. And as He says, grow into the fullness of the stature of Jesus Christ, that is continuously being conformed to the likeness of Christ.

God doesn't want us out of balance. He wants us balanced in our personal lives, neither does He want a church out of balance. He wants that church balanced in ministering to each other, evangelism reaching out, teaching, discipleship, instructing, worshiping—He wants a church to be balanced. In order for a church to be balanced, the membership must be balanced. In order for the membership to be balanced, we must grow in Christlikeness.

So that if you're one of those persons who feels that you don't need anything or anybody, then first of all you've been deceived, and secondly, you do need somebody else. Let me show you just one thing—there are many, but just one. God never created anybody on the face of this earth who did not need to be loved by somebody else. Never has been anybody like that. Nor has He ever created anybody who didn't need to love someone else.

And there are people who make it through life who never learn to love, never seem to be able to reach out to love someone else, nor are they ever able quite ready to receive someone else's love, but they back off of it. Now, they may get through life, but they've missed the greatest thing about life: loving and being loved. Whether it's love toward God and being loved by Him or love toward someone else. All of my accomplishments and all of my achievements will have one big crack right down the middle until I have learned to give myself away to somebody else and in like turn be willing to receive that which someone else has to give.

God made us different with different functions in the body, interdependent upon each other because God has made us to be dependent one upon another. And He made us with that sense of inadequacy—listen—in order that we may be a strength and a help to one another. And you see, it's the other man's weakness that challenges me to become and reach my potential by doing what? By reaching down or reaching out to help him become everything God wanted him to be.

Somehow when you get down to helping somebody else, that's when God roots into your life those character qualities, that depth of understanding, and feeling, and emotion, and completeness, and contentment that doesn't come any other way. God didn't make you adequate within yourself. He made us, He said, to become a part of the body of Christ in order that we may build up one another.

We're living in a world that is hurting, suffering on the inside, suffering on the outside, and they're looking for hope and for help. And probably more people are more conscious of that today than they've been in a long time. And yet the greater hurts, my friend, the greater needs are not surface needs. The greater needs have been there all along. It's just that surface needs just intensify those deep emotional needs that have been there all along: anxiety, fear, frustration, loneliness. They've been there all along. Then when you come along and place a physical or material need on top of that, it intensifies that and makes the emotional need even that much worse.

Why has God saved you, placed you in a fellowship of believers, instructing you in the word, deepening your heart, deepening your understanding of God, laying one principle on top of the other week after week? Is He laying these principles into your life, is He challenging your life, is He changing your life, is He developing in your life, is He working something into your life in order that you may go out and just make more money and do more of this and do more of the things that you want? Or is He enriching your life that your life may become like a spring and a well to people who are thirsty, people who are hungry, people who are tired, people who are lonely, people who are hurting on the inside, reaching out, hungering, pleading for somebody to recognize that they are somebody worth knowing, somebody worth loving, and somebody worth helping? That's what the ministry and the caring of the church is all about.

Listen to what Paul said in this 25th verse. He says not only has God composed the body with different parts, a particular design and different function, he says in verse 25, "In order that there be no division in the body, but that the members should have the same care one for another." Now watch this. For example, as long as your bodily functions are going normal and natural, then you're healthy. You can run, skip, hop, jump, feel great and whatever it might be, digest your food. But if some part of your body—for example, suppose your liver says, "Well, I'm taking a big vacation on the 7th of February, I'm just flat not going to function, just count me out. Everybody else can function but I'm not going to work." Then you'd be in a hospital pretty soon.

Listen, God never built the body of Christ to function at half mast. And you see, in most churches that is exactly what's happening because we've got a whole segment over here that's paralyzed. They've been talented by God at birth, gifted by God at the new birth, but the gift isn't being poured out into somebody else's life. And if it's not used, paralysis sets in. Where there's paralysis, there's apathy, and after a while they just soak and sulk in being religious but not pouring themselves out into the life of the people. They become like a stagnant pool, receiving, receiving, receiving, receiving, never giving out, and after a while it's slime all across the top. That is not what He's talking about.

He says no division in the body, that is, the body functioning properly, every part doing its thing, every person in their place doing what God has called them to do, which will not be exactly like somebody else does. Now He says in the body that we are, according to this 25th verse, He says we are to care for one another. That means I express concern for—listen—caring for somebody begins with a sensitivity of knowing there's a need, a deep sense of compassion, desire that gets my whole body turning if necessary to go to that person, reach out and give of myself to them.

You see, it isn't enough to come to church. It isn't enough to hear sermons. You and I are—listen—personally responsible to Almighty God, personally responsible to Him to give of ourselves to each other. He says He so composed the body of differing functioning people in order that what? That they may be caring for each other. The only way for this body to care for each other is that each member of the body be willing to give of themselves, to share themselves.

He says as you and I have been baptized into Christ Jesus, what happens? As we function as a body, we are functioning actively together, cooperating with each other, and God intends for the body to so function. So if you stump your toe, what happens? Your brain goes to work, hands move, everything goes to work to patch up the toe. If you broke your arm, your foot goes to work—it gets you to the doctor. You see, every part of the body cooperating, functioning, helps the whole body. And that's exactly what He's talking about. He says caring for each other.

Now listen to me. God has equipped you. I could name your spiritual gift, I could name some talents that I know you have, and I could say to you, but you're not giving them out the way God wants you to give them. Listen, there are never to be a need very long in any body of Christ because He said it's His way. He composed the body to function in a particular way. Listen, it isn't a matter of making money, not making money. It's a matter of loving somebody and giving myself away whatever it costs me. You see, our priority ought to be on giving. I'm not talking about money, I'm talking about self. I'm talking about time, I'm talking about life. Whenever you talk about time, you're talking about life.

And listen, the issue is giving myself and getting down with the fellow where he is, because if I'm willing to get down there where he is, I can help bring him up where he ought to be, and when he gets up here, then he's able to get down and bring somebody else up. You see, that's what God wants: you lifting the other fellow, that fellow lifting someone else, and what are we doing? We're growing and building each other in Christ.

I'll tell you it must grieve the heart of God to see people flock into church buildings all over America and flock out and never see each other until the next week. "Hi, how you doing? Glad to see you. Weather's great, isn't it? Beautiful Sunday. Look mighty fine this morning. Hope you're feeling good." You know what that is? That's not knowing anybody.

Listen, we have a society. We go home, we lock ourselves in our houses with our security systems and the bars on the door, and then we come out and we wave to our neighbors as we go by. You see, we're becoming more and more isolated, not more and more an aggregate people. But in the body of Christ, where you and I live and function and worship the Lord God, He wants us interdependent upon each other and each member of the body giving—listen, not money—self. Your life, your time, your natural talents, and your God-given gifts. He wants them explored, and experienced, and expended, and invested in the lives of other people.

And when you and I begin to do that, what happens? I'll tell you what happens. We begin to open up. We begin to get honest. We begin to say, "I do have a need." Think about this for a moment. If we said, "Is there—are there any requests for prayer here this morning?" I guarantee you 99% of the requests would be for people who what? Are sick. The truth is some of the worst kind of sicknesses don't come on the outside of the body. They're in the heart, in the spirit. You see, God intends for the body to function toward each other, corporately together, healing each other's hurts, holding each other up when each other is sinking. And a lot more folks sinking today than we realize.

That's what He's talking about. He's talking about us loving each other. He's talking about us meeting each other's needs. And let me show you something. Jesus said He put you and me here to be salt and light. Both of those change the quality of the circumstance. God didn't put you here to live in a shell, your little shell. You live in your home and your family and you come to church and you go to your job and you go home. You mind your own business and you're not going to hurt anybody else and you don't want them to hurt you. You want "me, myself, and I" to be well taken care of, and as long as "me, myself, and I" have what we need and we can go to church and serve God once in a while, I'm going to be satisfied.

I want to tell you, my friend, that's the way too many people are living who name the name Jesus Christ as their savior. And I want to tell you something. There's not a one of you seated here who can tell me that you don't know better, amen? Now what I'm saying to you is this—this isn't my word, here's what God said. God said He put you into the body of Christ to learn how and to care for one another. And I'm saying to you that the best, most effective way to do that is in small groups meeting week after week.

You know what's going to happen? And I've seen this already—God, I'll tell you, He knows my heart's get so blessed when I think about what's happening already. When I see people beginning to meet in small groups and open themselves up, get honest with each other, share their hurts and their needs and their hearts. What happens is a freedom. Everybody needs to feel three things. Everybody needs to feel first of all, "I belong." Everybody needs to feel like they belong. Secondly, everybody needs to feel worthy. "I'm somebody worth loving, worth knowing, worth being loved." Everybody needs to feel competent. "I can do it, whatever I'm required to do."

And you show me a person who doesn't feel worthy, competent—a person who does not feel that they belong—and I'll show you one of those persons who is struggling in life. I don't care what they may be doing on the outside, on the inside they're all pinned up. When anybody feels unworthy, unaccepted, incapable—friend, they'll never be able to enjoy life nor will they ever be able to do what God wants them to do.

Now listen. It's my responsibility and your responsibility to convey to people, "Man, you're somebody regardless of what the world thinks. You're somebody. You're worth me loving and worth me giving my time to." Not only that, "I believe in you. I believe that you can do whatever God calls you to do and I'm willing to help you do it." And thirdly, "Friend, you're a part of us." Everybody needs that. How do you get that? You can't ever get that just right in a big crowd. It has to be broken down where you know folks by name and—listen—when do you really know somebody else? I don't believe you ever really know someone until you know where they hurt. And when you know where I hurt, then you begin to know me. That's just the way life is.

And God wants you and me what? Well-balanced. And watch this—this is so simple and I've said this ten thousand times and it works in every aspect of life. Listen, what did Jesus say? Give and it shall be given unto you. As you give, it shall be given unto you. And so we usually apply that to money, but listen. If you're hurting and I come to give of myself to help you, you know what's going to happen? Whenever I hurt, God's going to send the folks to help me. I'll tell you something I discovered a long time ago. God will begin to work in your life and He'll begin to sort of peel back some of the parts of you that you never intended for anybody to see. And you know what you're going to discover? The more you peel back, the more they going to love you. They're going to say, "See there, I knew you was just like me. Same old weakness as I have. We're all just alike."

And the truth is we're a whole lot more alike than most people would like to accept. We really are. All of us have our weaknesses, so what happens? God puts a whole bunch of imperfect folks together and says, "Now, with your imperfections and your weaknesses, what do you do? Criticize each other?" No. What do you do? You just start working to build up one another until you conform to the likeness of Christ.

I want you to hear God telling you today that you have something to give, and there are folks who need what you have to give. And they'll be better because you gave it, and you'll be richer and deeper and more knowledgeable and more Christlike by giving it. But there's one thing you're going to have to give before you give it—we're going to have to give up our selfishness.

Now I want you to think about this. We've got to deal with the old rattlesnake called self. We've got to get rid of it. And I mean by that, we've got to be willing for God to have His way in our life when it is not convenient for Him to do it. You see, the truth is I can't ever be a servant if convenience is a part of my decision-making process. I won't ever be a servant if it is. Let me just say this to you, and I want you to hear from God, please listen to Him not me. Until you and I are willing to step out of ourself, we won't ever be able to love folks like they need to be loved.

You see, this old world wants everything convenient. My time, my life, my family, my job, my this—that's not it. That's not what Jesus talked about. "I beseech ye therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your life a living sacrifice, not a dead one, holy, acceptable unto God." A sacrifice is something you lay on the altar and you take your hands off of it. Only God can show you how vital that is for your life, for the fellowship, for what He wants to do in this whole nation of ours. And I am fully persuaded God wants to impact this nation, but He's got to find a bunch of folks who are willing to get out of their selfishness and tell God, "Lord, whether it's convenient or not convenient, I am available to meet the needs of other people, whether it's midnight or seven o'clock in the morning, whether it's money, my time, my experience, my help, whatever it is." And then the question comes—and I can't answer this—but how willing?

All I'm asking you to do is the step out of yourself and allow God to begin to multiply your life in a way that has eternal consequences and not just temporal ones. Let's pray together.

Father, in Jesus' name, I pray that the Holy Spirit will seal this message in every heart. Would you so work in each one of our hearts that this whole body would rise up to give of themselves to each other, that we together, so dependent upon each other, so unlike and yet so alike, with different functions, different gifts, different roles, different talents—but all in each so very important. All having the need to feel competent and worthy and that we belong. So I want to ask you to speak to people's hearts, God, and would you just show them that they can get involved in somebody else's life, and once they do, life's going to be different.

Oh God, impress upon us that all of us have something to give and the only barrier to the giving is ourself. Father, it just needs to be a wholesale crucifixion today, the old self, the whole life on the cross. "Lord, not my will but Thine be done," is my prayer in Jesus' name, Amen.

Guest (Male): Thanks for listening to In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. There are always needs in the church, whether they're spiritual, emotional, or physical. God intends for us to be involved helping those around us. And as we give ourselves away in service, others are encouraged and God is glorified.

If you'd like to learn more about the role of the church or the importance of serving others, visit intouch.org. To listen to this message again, look for the link to "Today on Radio." And connect to our online store to order a copy of the complete message, "A Caring Church." You can also have this message as part of Dr. Stanley's teaching set titled "Uniquely a People of God." That's at intouch.org. You can also call or text 1-800-INTOUCH. If you prefer to write, address your letter to In Touch, Post Office Box 7900, Atlanta, Georgia 30357.

Our willingness to serve others begins with proper worship. An Old Testament example is coming up in a moment with Charles Stanley.

Guest (Female): "From the Pastor's Heart" is an in-depth teaching letter inspired by the teachings of Dr. Charles Stanley. To receive In Touch's "From the Pastor's Heart" letter, call 1-800-INTOUCH or visit intouch.org/pastorsheart.

Guest (Male): What can an Old Testament prophet teach you about serving others today? Here's "A Moment with Charles Stanley."

Dr. Charles Stanley: Do you remember what happened to Isaiah? He said, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and mighty and lifted up." And Isaiah had a spiritual experience in the temple as he went to pray and to praise the Lord and to worship God in the time of the death of their king. He said God spoke to him. God says He sent an angel and He put a hot coal on his tongue and his response was, "Here am I Lord, send me." When you and I genuinely worship the Lord God, that will be our response. Not, "How little can I give? How little can I do? How can I save my time? This isn't convenient, I don't want to do that," but, "Lord, here am I, send me. Here am I, give me. Here am I, all of me, here am I, total me." That's genuine worship.

Guest (Male): You can learn more about how to find guidance and direction from the word of God at intouch.org. Are these truths impacting your walk with Jesus? Tell us your story. Looking ahead on In Touch, we continue the series on how the church is uniquely a people of God. Be back for an understanding of worship in the church on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. This program is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia, and remains on this station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.