Wonderful Differences
In this message Pastor Josh opens up 1 Corinthians 12 with a simple but confronting idea: the church is meant to be full of “wonderful differences.” And the moment we stop competing, comparing, and pretending, we start to enjoy the picture God actually has for His people.
He also ties it to next year’s theme, “Full Life in Christ”, and calls the church to stop “playing religion” and step into real life with Jesus.
Wonderful differences are not an accident
Pastor Josh explains that spiritual gifts became a problem in Corinth not because gifts are bad, but because gifts were misunderstood and used for pride and division. Paul’s answer is clear: same Spirit, same Lord, same God, but a variety of gifts. It’s one source, but different expressions.
And this immediately confronts comparison.
Some people reject the whole topic because it feels “weird.” Others chase the spectacular. But Paul’s point is: don’t be uninformed, and don’t dismiss what you don’t understand.
One clear marker is this: no one can truly say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. In the early church, that confession wasn’t a casual phrase. It was costly. It was declaring, “Caesar is not my Lord.” It was risking your life. Pastor Josh points out how spiritually powerful that confession is.
Then he lands the first major challenge:
- No one in the church is unemployed
- Everyone has a gift
- Everyone has a calling
- God distributes gifts “as He wills”
So the question is not “Why didn’t I get their gift?” but “What has God entrusted to me?”
Is God fair?
Pastor Josh doesn’t avoid the real question people carry: “Is God fair?”
If “fair” means equal distribution, then no. Jesus Himself told a story where some received one talent, some two, some five. No one argued about the amounts in that parable. The assumption was: people will receive different measures.
But this is what is fair: judgment. Everyone will be judged according to what they received and what they did with it. It’s not about how big your gift looks. It’s about faithfulness.
He shares a story from a Korean pastor who was born with a disability. This pastor wrestled with, “Why was I born like this?” but he came to a different revelation: the bigger calling was not figuring out “why,” but asking, “What can I live this life for?”
He didn’t choose his condition, but he chose faithfulness. He chose to accept the life God gave him and live it for God’s purposes.
Then there’s a moment that exposes how people can speak down without realizing it. When that pastor married a “normal” (his words) woman, people congratulated him with a tone that implied, “God must love you so much,” as if it was surprising he could marry well. He hated that comment, because it carried the message: “What’s wrong with you?” The story becomes a mirror. It shows how easily we rank people, even while pretending we’re being kind.
And it brings us back to the point: you don’t stand around complaining about someone else’s life. God gave you this life. Figure out what faithfulness looks like with what you’ve been given.
Full life starts with honesty, not the perfect image
Pastor Josh ties this to next year’s theme, Full Life in Christ, and he calls out the pressure to maintain a “perceived life.”
He talks about face culture. People want the appearance of success, the appearance of happiness, the appearance of a perfect family. The photo looks great. Everyone smiles. But when the camera turns off, it’s chaos. Deep dissatisfaction. Deep sorrow. Bitterness.
He says 2026 needs to be a year where we face that “demonic perception” and pursue real life, not pretend life.
So he gives the church a practical assignment for the next two months:
“What does your full life look like?”
No condemnation. No grading. Just brutal honesty.
Write down your desires. Marriage. A good job. Whatever it is. Then ask the next question
“Where did that desire come from?”
You might discover it came from something you watched, something someone told you, or the environment you grew up in. And if you go deeper, you might realize it’s not even truly what you want. But you’ve never had permission to be honest with yourself.
Pastor Josh shares personally that even pastors have real desires. His full life answer was not “pray 24/7 and be miserable for Jesus.” He joked that his full life includes being a single handicap in golf. The point is not selfish ambition. The point is honesty. Discover desire. Discover how God made you. Listen carefully. Even listen to your spouse.
Then he says something crucial: Christianity is not about a miserable race.
Jesus died to liberate us from sin and shame, not to trap us in religious guilt. Pastor Josh makes it clear he’s not preaching prosperity gospel, but he is preaching what Jesus said:
“I came to give you life… life in full.”
Full life is not you chasing whatever you want. Full life is aligning your desires with God’s desires for your life.
“I’m done with playing church”
Pastor Josh hits a hard reset on motivation. Prayer, Bible reading, church involvement can become religious performance, like we’re trying to earn something from God.
But he flips it:
God is already pleased with you through Jesus.
So why pray? Because you’re not enough. Why read the Bible? Because you’re not wise enough. These practices are not hoops to impress God. They are gifts that lead you into life.
He also gives a practical plan for the start of 2026: a 21-day journey through the Gospel of John, meeting daily early in the morning, offering the “first half-hour” to God. He wants the whole church to try it together and see what the Holy Spirit does in real life.
Trinity: unity and diversity from the beginning
One of Pastor Josh’s strongest theological moments is simple and grounded:
Christianity is a relationship with a God who is united in diversity.
God is one, but God is Triune. A “social God.” Community is not a church idea that humans invented. It comes from who God is. That’s why a “Rambo Christian” (the believer who says “I just need Jesus, not people”) will not grow.
“If you go to a cave for 20 years, you’ll come out the same.”
Why? Because you only grow in the context of relationship. The gospel itself is relational. God doesn’t just invite you to come to Him. He invites you to come together.
Unity is not uniformity
Pastor Josh points out that the church in Corinth was made up of people who were completely different from each other: Jews and Greeks, slaves and free. The gap between them was massive, yet Paul says they were all baptized into one body by one Spirit.
He explains that the body does not work if everyone is the same. If the whole body were an eye, there would be no hearing. If the whole body were an ear, there would be no sense of smell. God arranged the body the way He chose, with many parts, not one.
The problem in the church was not difference, but the refusal to accept difference. Some people said, “I don’t belong,” while others said, “I don’t need you.” Paul confronts both by saying that every part is necessary.
Pastor Josh emphasizes that unity never comes from sameness. It comes when different people are joined together as one body under the same Lord.
The Danger of Detachment
Pastor Josh leans into Paul’s picture: the church is a body with many parts.
And he shows how division usually happens in two voices:
- Denial: “I don’t belong.”
- Rejection: “You don’t belong.”
Paul answers both by saying: look at your own body. The foot can’t decide it isn’t part of the body. The eye can’t dismiss the hand.
Then Pastor Josh drops one of the most vivid analogies of the sermon.
He talks about the high school biology room with body parts in jars. A hand in a jar. Feet. Parts separated from the body. It’s scary and disgusting.
But why? A hand isn’t scary when it’s attached to a person.
It becomes disturbing when it’s detached.
“Detachment smells like death.”
And he connects it directly to church life. If you live your Christian life detached from the body, rolling around like an eyeball that only criticises, never serving, never belonging, always judging, you become like that jar. You may attend physically but be spiritually disconnected.
He says it plainly: some people come to church but never join. Never serve. Always deny or reject. And over time they become proud, accusatory, and cold.
It’s a warning, but it’s also an invitation: come back. Connect. Belong.
Wonderful differences in real life: marriage and church
Pastor Josh makes it painfully practical by talking about marriage. Wonderful differences can become “terrible differences” when couples don’t know how to accept each other.
He shares his own example: he couldn’t understand why his wife loves plants.
“Plants don’t talk back. They don’t come when you call. They just sit there.”
But over time he learned: that difference is part of who she is. She sees beauty he doesn’t see. He calls it like the body again: she might be an “eye” while he’s more like a “nose.” Different function, same life together.
Then he ties it to marriage promises. He quotes John Piper’s idea:
Marriage isn’t about falling in love. It’s about keeping promises.
And part of keeping the promise is this: “I will sit with you for decades, discover who you are, and help you become the best version you can be.” Not forcing someone into your mould. Not saying, “Why can’t you just be like everyone else?”
He also says this with blunt clarity:
If someone needs you to be someone else to be your friend, they cannot be your friend.
“From You, I Want Joshua”
Pastor Josh shares a personal testimony from an insecure season. He was in English ministry, struggling because English isn’t his first language. He felt disrespected. He complained to God. He wanted to be like John Piper or Rick Warren.
And then he shares what he felt God speak into his heart:
“If I wanted John Piper from you, I would have created John Piper. If I wanted Rick Warren, I would have made Rick Warren. But from you, I want Joshua Choi.”
That’s a defining moment in the sermon. It’s not about confidence in yourself. It’s confidence in God’s choice.
He even says something bold: if English was the main issue, then everyone who speaks English would become Christian. Clearly that’s not how God works. God uses people, weaknesses, accents, backgrounds, all of it.
The problem wasn’t lack of ability. It was lack of faith in God’s decision.
“Learn to love yourself” (the gospel version)
Pastor Josh pushes into self-hate and shame.
He says 2026 should be a year where people learn how to love themselves, because “love others as you love yourself” assumes something: you cannot love people well if you start by hating yourself.
He clarifies what he doesn’t mean. Not self-centred “me, me, me” love.
He means agreeing with God’s decision. Trusting the way God made you. Your personality. Your introversion or extroversion. Your appearance. Your “weirdness.” Your wiring.
He says it strongly: the very face you hate, God loves, because He made it.
And when the Holy Spirit enters a person’s life, even what they saw as a curse can become a blessing, not just for them, but for the whole church.
The church dream: shared suffering, shared honour
Pastor Josh says the final picture of church health is not a building, not size, not hype. It’s this:
“If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honoured, all rejoice together.
That’s the church Jesus builds.
He challenges how churches often do the opposite:
- Someone suffers, and we distance ourselves because we don’t want negativity
- Someone falls, and we detach so we don’t feel the pain
- Someone succeeds, and we secretly compete instead of rejoicing
Then he gives a piercing warning: if you come to church, stay detached, and never grow tenderness for others, something is spiritually wrong. And he gives a path back:
Serve. Love others. Join in.
He even uses a funny but effective picture: if the body has a runny nose, the hand doesn’t say, “Not my problem.” The hand serves the body. That’s what a church family does.
Nobody is an audience
He ends with a very grounded challenge: serving is one of the clearest signs you are connected to the body. Not a title. Not a platform. Not being “seen.”
Pick up rubbish. Clean a toilet. Look for needs. Ask, “How can I serve this family?”
Because there are no consumers in the church. There are no spectators. There are members of a body.
The excellent way
Pastor Josh finishes by pointing to what’s coming next: 1 Corinthians 13.
After gifts, differences, serving, and unity, Paul says:
“I will show you a still more excellent way.”
That way is love.
Pastor Josh encourages everyone to read 1 Corinthians 13 before next week, because this is where the whole argument is heading.
He closes by inviting the church to speak to God honestly:
- “God, what does my full life look like?”
- “God, who am I?”
- “God, why did You create me this way?”
