I've been reading through Romans for a long time now, going at a pace of a few verses a day. I've wanted to soak up some information, and really dive into the book. Today, I'd like to share what I read this morning, and give a little bit of application for it.
"3 For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one. 4 Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, 5 in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. 6 According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts..." -Romans 12:3-6a, HCSB
Paul says, toward the end of verse three, "not to think of himself more highly than he should think." In ordinary talk: "I tell everybody not to get all cocky and arrogant." He follows this with a better plan: "think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one." This is speaking directly to Christians: don't get all high and mighty. Instead, keep cool and remember Who runs your life. Remember Who gave you your faith. Remember Who gets all glory.
Then Paul seems to abruptly jump to talking about how the people in the Church (parts of the body of Christ) all have different jobs within the Church, all based on our spiritual gifts. What's up with that?
I think this section is a warning to all the people who get cocky in their spiritual gifts. Some Christians, particularly those who are leaders and teachers in the Church, get all holy and arrogant about being so "spiritual" and being "the only people that work around the church." If you are a leader in your church, you must remain humble in your gifts. Your fellow church members need to see humility in your leadership, and will be more likely to follow after you in your vision and mission to spread the Gospel. This is an area that I personally have had struggles in, and totally understand the difficulty in staying humble and not judgmental of "slackers." But we all get our spiritual gifts from God.
The word for "gift" in this passage is the Greek word "kharisma," which means a "gift of grace." Any spiritual gift that you may have is a complete gift of God's grace, and that leaves us ZERO room to be arrogant. It has nothing to with our superior holiness and everything with His supremely amazing grace.
If you aren't a leader, this passage has something for you, too. Notice that is says that gifts are given "according to the grace given to us." Have you received grace? Are you saved and a follower of Christ? If you answered "yes" to those questions... then you have spiritual gifts! Use them! You are part of the body of Christ, too. Maybe you think you're just an elbow, and no where near as useful as a hand. Maybe you are an elbow. Guess what: a hand can't do a thing without an elbow moving the forearm to where the hand needs to be. Without the elbows and eyebrows and taste buds, the hands, eyes and tongue couldn't their job. You may not be the person that's out in the open, preaching on stage or leading the bible study. But without your work in the church, the leaders cannot lead. Don't waste your gifts; use them to advance the Kingdom!
So, leaders, will you humble yourself, and lead like Christ led: by a humble, hands-on example? Other church members, will you step up and quit wasting your gifts? I pray that both occur.
No comments:
Post a Comment