Today’s reading: 1 Samuel 10; Romans 12
When Paul tells the Romans not to think more highly of themselves than they ought to think, his basis for that statement is our need for one another in the Body of Christ. There are certainly some Christians who are more gifted than others, and there are some that are gifted in more public-facing areas like teaching or evangelism. Such a person might be tempted to see their contribution to the church as more important than others, and it can be a stumbling block of pride for them. The antidote to that pride that Paul offers is the recognition that God has designed the church to operate like a body, meaning none of us can operate properly, spiritually speaking, without the others God has placed around us.
What always strikes me most about this though is the diversity of giftings and roles that God gives people in the Body of Christ. Just as the body has many members, each with its own function, so too does the church. And Paul tells us that we should each be using what God has given us in filling our role in the Body of Christ.
There are a couple implications of this that I want to point out. First and foremost, and what should be most obvious from Paul’s point, none of us can do everything, and we shouldn’t try to. God made the church to function as a community, with each member dependent on the other members to fulfill various aspects of the life of the community. Christian maturity is not reaching the point of being a self-contained church all on your own, able to perform every role and function without any need for others. In fact, I would call this a very immature Christianity given that it is directly opposed to how God says He has made us to operate.
Instead, while there are some aspects of growth and maturity as a Christian that will look similar from person to person, we should also expect broad diversity in the Body of Christ. God has given people different personalities, different interests, different abilities, different experiences, etc. for a reason. So what it looks like to grow into the person and work that God has for you may look very different from Christian to Christian, and we should celebrate that alongside one another.
And the last point I want to make out of this is that I think there are times we need to stop looking for someone to fill a specific role and instead look at the people God has placed in the church with us and ask how He desires to use them. There may be opportunities or areas of ministry that we would never consider, but when we step back and ask why the Lord has brought together the individuals and giftings that He has, they start to become obvious. Or there may be a role that we need filled but God, rather than giving us one super gifted person to take on the entire role, has given us three or four people, none of whom could do it alone, but who, together, blow even the most gifted individual out of the water.
God has given us an incredible gift in the way He has made the church to function, but when I look around at the broader Christian community today, I get the sense we are often missing out on the best parts of this reality. Many churches put all the work into the hands of only a few individuals while the rest of the people just show up on Sundays, meaning they are missing out on why God has gifted and placed all those people as He has. Other churches try hard to get people engaged, recognizing this truth, but maybe only have a few specific ways that people get involved meaning they are likely missing out on some of the really important contributions God wants people to be making outside of those pre-defined paths. If God has gifted and sent someone to your church to be a finger and you try to use that finger as an entire arm, they are going to be ineffective, strained, and burnt out. Worse, if you try to use that finger as an eye, heart, or neck, things are going to go very poorly…
I think we need to spend more time prayerfully considering why the Lord has brought together to people He has with the giftings He has, and what it is He desires to accomplish through this particular collection of people in the Body of Christ.
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