Be Yourself

Be Yourself
I Corinthians 12:4-31


The last ten days or so have been very eventful here in West Virginia. Having experienced a day of torrential rain, over nine inches in some places, there has been flooding such as hasn’t been seen in this area for at least 100 years.

The people of West Virginia have pulled together. Neighbors helping neighbors, folks traveling to nearby villages to help get mud and debris out of homes and businesses. Some who couldn’t clean, helped distribute needed supplies. Others who couldn’t help physically, donated goods or money.

Everyone, it seemed, knew someone who was affected. Everyone, it seemed, was helping others.

Sometimes, no matter what we do, we feel like we aren’t doing enough, or maybe we aren’t doing the right thing. Sometimes it seems like we could be more effective if we did something else. We might wonder if we are missing God’s will for us.

It isn’t only weather events or emergencies that can raise such questions in our minds. There was a period of time when I thought that if I was going to be a good Christian I should be in full time Christian service in some way—preferably as a missionary to some lost tribe in the heart of Africa.

I couldn’t see the truth about who I was in Christ, and what He had done for me. Let’s drill into that a little.

1 Corinthians 12:4-31 (NASB)
4  Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5  And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord.
There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.

There are varieties of gifts, ministries, and effects (results from those gifts and ministries).

There is one Spirit, Lord, and God. Notice that the Trinity is implicit here.

There are no insignificant details in Scripture. Sometimes we don’t see the significance, the it’s there whether waiting for us. This detail is really important. We’ll see why in a moment.

There are various outcomes, but one God who works all things in all persons. I like the simple clarity with which the New Living Translation expresses this: “4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

The same God does the work in all of us. The Bible is consistent throughout on this point: it’s not about us or what we do, it’s all about Jesus and what He has done.

So there are various gifts and ministries. I’m off the hook! I don’t have to go to deepest darkest Africa as a missionary. I don’t even have to be in full-time Christian service—whatever that is.

There are various gifts and ministries…

7  But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

These gifts and ministries are given to each one.
James 1:16-17 (NASB)
16  Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
17  Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

These gifts and ministries are manifestations of the Spirit.
Philippians 2:13 (NIV)
13  for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

These gifts and ministries are for the common good.
Ephesians 4:11-13 (NASB)
11  And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
12  for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
13  until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

Paul selected some examples of the sort of gifts and ministries Father might give:

8  For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit;
9  to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,
10  and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.

Please don’t look at this list, or the other lists of gifts in the New Testament and assume that this is the only sort of ministry or gift Father gives. These are representative of the kinds of things God gives, but by no means the only ones.

11  But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

You aren’t left out of this. The Spirit gives to each one individually. He gives just as He wills.

Ephesians 4:4-7 (NASB)
4  There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
7  But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.

Here’s the Trinity again.

The United Methodist Confession of Faith reads in part, “We believe the one God reveals himself as the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, distinct but inseparable, eternally one in essence and power.”

When Jesus died and rose again, we died and rose with Him and were incorporated into Him. We are “in Christ”, and Christ is in us. We are each a part of His body, yet we are one Church. We are a picture of the unity of God.

We’ve each been given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Christ’s gift is immeasurable, it is spiritual, it is eternal. That’s the measure in which He has given us grace.

Now let’s get to the meat of what I want us to see.

12  For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.
13  For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Galatians 3:27 (NASB)
27  For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
John 7:37-39 (NASB)
37  Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
38  "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'"
39  But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

14  For the body is not one member, but many.

Just as our human bodies are made up of many and various parts, so the Church, the body of Christ, is made up of many and various parts.

15  If the foot says, "Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
16  And if the ear says, "Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
17  If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?
18  But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.
19  If they were all one member, where would the body be?
20  But now there are many members, but one body.
21  And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; or again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you."

Each part has its job. Each has its role. If some emergency happens your toes do not take over the job of your tongue; your elbow does not take over the job of your stomach. Instead, they do what they were created to do.

22  On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary;
23  and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable,
24  whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked,
25  so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.

Every part is not the same. Some parts are very visible and some parts are not. Some jobs seem big and important others we take for granted. We don’t spend a great deal of time thinking about our brain stem, which is really the simplest part of the brain. Every living creature has something akin to a brain stem. However, all basic life functions originate in the brain stem, including heartbeat, blood pressure and breathing.

Not visible, taken for granted, and absolutely crucial to life.

26  And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

Romans 12:15 (NIV)
15  Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

There’s been a lot of this going on around here over the last week or so. It’s important to recognize that our hearts are breaking for our friends and neighbors. We’re grieving with those who have lost so much. This sort of compassion and empathy is exactly what we would expect from children of the God who is Love.

We’re doing what we were created to do.

OK, let’s wrap this up and get really clear about the point I hope you’ll take from all this.

27  Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it.
28  And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.
29  All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they?
30  All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they?
31  But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way.

Paul reiterates the point that not everyone has the same gift or ministry. In the next chapter he goes on to explain that no matter what role we play, what part we have in God’s plan, what our gift or ministry is, it’s all just noise unless we have love.

Please don’t feel like you should have been doing something else just because a lot of people you know or read about on Facebook were doing it. If it doesn’t fit you, if it’s uncomfortable for you, that is very likely because it’s not what you were created to do.

God is BIG. He’s so big, and so perfect, and knows so much, and has so much power, that He makes no mistakes. He wanted this exact you at this exact time in this exact place. He gave you your personality, your innate skills and aptitudes, your desires. None of these things is a mistake. YOU are exactly what God wants you to be. Believe that; rest in it; act on it, and you’ll begin to notice how God is using you. Don’t try to be something you’re not. Do what you were created to do. Be yourself.

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