Tempered Together

1 Corinthians 12:24

For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked:

One of the monikers of the church of Corinth in this first book of Corinthians is the division they had with each other. Throughout this whole book, the apostle Paul dealt with this division to bring them together. Many things had caused this church to be divided. Sin had divided them. Position had divided them. Status had divided them. Which one was closer to the leadership had divided them. Many things had been thrown at this church by Satan to divide this church because Satan knows that if a church works together, it accomplishes the most for Christ.

Paul makes an amazing statement in this verse that shows the importance of a church working together. He says, but God hath tempered the body together. The word tempered means strengthened. In other words, God strengthens the church together. Together is critical for the church to be for God what it needs to be, and together is critical for the church to do for God what He wants it to do. When one member suffers, we should all suffer together. When one has a defeat, we should all have a defeat together. When one has a victory, we should all have a victory together. The sooner we get a together mindset in our local churches, the sooner God can work mightily through our church. Let me share some thoughts about the importance of a together mindset.

First, Satan is out to divide the local church. Satan has many tools to divide the church, and we must be aware of his tactics that would cause division between us and fellow believers. We must not let our feelings and preferences divide our church. We must also not allow our sin to cause division in our church. Satan will use whatever method he can to divide our church because he knows our church working together will defeat his cause.

Second, you can't be together with a “me” mindset. There can be no superheroes in our church if it is to accomplish much for Christ. The mindset of the church that accomplishes the most for Christ is a “together” mindset and not a “me” mindset. If you will realize that together we can do more for Christ, then we all can have great victories together.

Third, do everything you can to build each other. The most important thing we do in our church is that we build each other. Everything we do ought to be to build people. Think about this: the more we build people, the stronger our church becomes. The preacher should preach his sermon to build people. The teacher should teach their lesson to build people. Every ministry should be about building people. If we realize that everything we do is to build people, then together we can be stronger for Christ’s sake.

Fourth, together we can do mighty things for God. God tempered the body together because he knows it's stronger together. Together, we can accomplish great feats of faith with God's help. Together, we can see great prayers answered. Together, we can better reach our city for Christ. There is strength when we work together. Think about this, a church of 100 working together will always be stronger than one strong individual working by themselves. The together mindset starts with you being willing to work together with others. Let’s get a together mindset, and together we will see God strengthen our church to do mightier things for Him.