pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: functions


by Leave a comment

Growing in Love

Reading: Romans 12:3-8

Romans 12:5-6 – “We are one body in Christ, and individually we belong to each other. We have different gifts.”

Photo credit: James A. Molnar

Finishing this week’s Romans 12 passage today, we unpack what Paul wrote about in verses 1 and 2. Today’s verses are “how” we offer ourselves as “living sacrifice,” how we live into God’s “good and pleasing and mature” will for our lives. Both of these are rooted in humility. In verse 3 today, Paul writes, “Don’t think of yourself more highly than you ought to think.” He adds to this, reminding us that we are all given “a portion of faith.”

Paul next compares the body of Christ to our human bodies. In our physical bodies there are many parts with many functions, yet they are all one body. Applying this idea to our communities of faith, Paul writes, “We are one body in Christ, and individually we belong to each other. We have different gifts.” I love the way Paul describes our connection: “we belong to each other.” Therefore we are to live in ways that show this. A willingness to serve one another, to be generous to one another, to sacrifice for one another – that is belonging. This is the first “how.”

While we are one in Christ, we each have varied gifts. Paul lists a few in verses 6-8: “prophecy… teaching… serving… encouraging.” There are many more gifts. This is the second “how” – using our gifts. We are to give our gifts to the body of Christ, humbly serving one another and God “with no strings attached.” To attach strings would be to conform to the ways of the world. No, we should offer ourselves joyfully and completely, growing in our love of God and one another day by day. May it be so.

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for gifting each of us abundantly. Reveal all of our gifts to us, O God, and put us to use in the building up of the body of Christ. Strong within, send us out into the world to bring the kingdom of heaven here to earth. Amen.


by Leave a comment

Special Together

God is pretty smart and very creative.  Consider for a moment the design and intricacy of our bodies.  Our bodies hum along, performing activity after activity without us having to think about it.  And in general our bodies last a long time.  If I drove the same truck every day for 50 years it would be absolutely amazing.  Yet here I sit, still running relatively well, hoping for another thirty or forty years out of this body.

The vast array of parts and functions that make up our bodies is another example of God’s genius.  Each part is pretty indispensable.  Imagine for a moment if all of our legs ended at our ankles – balance would be tough.  Imagine if we had one eye.  We could still see but would have no depth perception.  How close is that car?

Apparently there was some squabbling and division going on in Corinth.  Paul had to remind them that the gifts of the Spirit are like our body parts – all equally important and all necessary for the body of Christ to function properly.  They wanted to elevate certain gifts over others but Paul reminded them that all parts are for the common good.  Imagine where the church would be if all had the gift of prophecy but none had the gifts of teaching and administrating and healing.

A modern example of the need for diversity and the necessity of working together would be our praise team.  If we all played bass and did nothing else, we would not be much of a band.  We need singers and pianists and guitarists as well.  Each gift adds to the whole.

Each and everyone of us has gifts.  Are you using yours to the fullest?  Are you building up the body of Christ with your gifts?  Each of us is equally important and specifically designed to play our roles.  May the Lord bless you in the use of your gifts!

Scripture reference: 1 Corinthians 12: 12-31