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.
6 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;
5
one Lord, one faith, one
baptism,
6
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.
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