In 1933 a radio station in Detroit began broadcasting a
fictional story of a masked man who fought outlaws in the American Old West
with his Native American friend, Tonto. The Lone Ranger has been called an
enduring icon of American culture. Indeed, to be called a “lone ranger” has a
specific meaning with American society that is often less than flattering.
The Lone Ranger was an expert marksman, an above-average
athlete, a skilled horseman, a master of disguise, and a force to be reckoned
with. He was the portrait of rugged individualism and machoism.
The radio series proved to be a hit. It spawned a series of
books, a popular television show from 1949 to 1957, comic books, and several
movies. There was something seductively appealing about this solitary hero that
appealed to a wide audience of Americans.
The Lone Ranger got his name from the fact that he was the
sole survivor of a group of six Texas Rangers, but that detail was lost on most
who were simply fixated on romanticized individualism. It seems that a posse of
six Texas Rangers were pursuing a band of outlaws when they were betrayed by a
civilian guide and ambushed in a canyon. Later, a Native American named Tonto
stumbles onto the scene and discovers that one Ranger is still alive; and he
nurses him back to health. The truth is that without Tonto’s empathy and
devotion, this Lone Ranger would have died of the same wounds inflicted on the
other Rangers.
You say, “Okay, but what’s all of this have to do with
Sunday’s passage, ‘Living Together’, based on I Corinthians 12:12-31?” Just
about everything!
In I Corinthians 12 Paul is writing to a church that is embroiled
in factionalism. Unlike the church at Philippi, founded on the same missionary
journey, the Corinthian Church is filled with lone rangers. It is filled with
Christians who live by the adage, “What’s in it for me?” In chapters 1 through
11 we see this attitude playing out in power struggles, illicit behaviors, even
in the use of spiritual gifts. Rather than humbling themselves, these
Christians are all about control. They’re all about being in charge.
It’s into the midst of this isolationism that Paul speaks
the truth of the Gospel which is the opposite of what he hears about the
Corinthian Church. Under the inspiration and authority of the Holy Spirit, Paul
seizes upon a metaphor that captures the essence of what the church is. It is
the Body of Christ. It is one body with only essential parts. In other words,
there can be no lone rangers in a church that seeks to walk in step with the
Spirit of God. That’s the heart of what Paul is saying in I Corinthians 12, and
that’s the heart of our study this Father’s Day Sunday.
In preparation for Sunday’s message, you may wish to
consider the following:
- Where is Paul when he gets the report that the church at Corinth is a mess?
- How does I Corinthians 1:10 inform our understanding of I Corinthians 12?
- Why does Paul seize upon the metaphor of the body to describe the church?
- How are his words in Romans 12:1-3 relevant to what he says in I Corinthians 12:12-31?
- What other texts from Paul apply to the Corinthian conundrum? Philippians 2:1-11 maybe?
- What is Paul’s point in I Corinthians 12:12-13?
- How does the metaphor capture the essence of Jesus’ words in John 15?
- In these verses Paul underscores three needs that every believer has as a function of being a part of the Body of Christ. What are they?
- How is living with a “body” mentality more freeing than a lone ranger mentality?
- How is love the most excellent means of achieving healthy “body life”?
