There are many things on my mind at the moment, Father. Help me to set aside the ones that would detract me from You. Amen.
1 Corinthians 12:1-6 (<<click here to read the passage)
It makes no difference where we find ourselves, in a workplace, a classroom, a church, a sports team, etc., if we are not synced together, chaos will rule, or some individuals will hold sway over the entire company of participants.
Yes, there are environments where boss and employee or coach and player setups are core to how things work – and work successfully. But even there, it’s easy to become biased towards those who hold themselves superior to the rest, resulting in dissension and disgruntled mental states. If that occurs, things begin to unravel, or at least portions of the workforce or team leave, and new, more pliable recruits are sought to fill the gaps.
So…what about the church? Often, it works the same way. Pastors or other charismatic leaders control all aspects of one particular body of believers. Some churches have found great success in following these lines of thought but read verses 4-6 from today’s passage as found in the Amplified Bible and see what it says.
Now there are [distinctive] varieties of spiritual gifts [special abilities given by the grace and extraordinary power of the Holy Spirit operating in believers], but it is the same Spirit [who grants them and empowers believers]. And there are [distinctive] varieties of ministries and service, but it is the same Lord [who is served]. And there are [distinctive] ways of working [to accomplish things], but it is the same God who produces all things in all believers [inspiring, energizing, and empowering them].
In those three verses, the word “same” is used three times – “same Spirit,” “same Lord,” and “same God.” None of those phrases speaks of the same man, woman, or child. God alone stands at the core of what should happen in His body.
This whole grouping of verses deals with spiritual gifts.
Every child of God is endowed with one or more of these gifts (which we will delve into later). There is not one of them that is a “Hey, look at me! I got the best gift of all” gift. There is not one of them that has the right – or the option, for that matter – to pronounce any other gift inferior to theirs. We are all given special abilities…by the grace and extraordinary power of the Holy Spirit, and they empower us as believers! God is the One who produces all things in all believers [inspiring, energizing, and empowering them].
A twist on the old adage goes, “There is no me in the Body of Christ!” It is all about God, and we humbly serve and are motivated to work in conjunction with each other, with no attempts to outdo each other. Lord Jesus, may it be so!
Dec 4th, 2023, Mon, 6:52 pm
