Devotion, Nov. 18, 2013: 1Cor 12 God Put You In the Church PROMISES TO POCKET When the Lord said, Upon this rock I will build my church (Mat 16:18), the immediate implication of the statement is that He will have a direct hand in its origin, its composition and its growth. There is a very personal ring to Jesus statement as written in this verse. I will and my church leave no doubt in the readers mind where ownership and responsibility lie as far as the church is concerned. While it is true that John, prepared the materials (Isa 40:3; Mat 3:3, Mar 1:2), it was Jesus who called each (Mat 4:19; 9:9) of the first members of His church. And then we are brought to this chapter of Pauls letter where we are told that God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose (v.18). In this very verse where Paul talks about the church as a body with many diverse members, he reminds us that each of these members Jesus personally put into place. This means you and me did not happen to be in the church by some freak accident. God put us here. POINTS TO PONDER When we ponder upon this truth, we should be awed not only by the marvelous nature of this divine act but also by the immense responsibility that we have for each other as members of Christs church. No wonder that Paul made such an impassioned appeal in the previous chapters about taking great care not to offend the weaker members of the church. He not only explains the underlying truth why this should be so in this chapter, he also added something here that should straighten our often very secular view about individual value of each member of the church. Because in the usual, even the secular view of things, the person who brings in more into an organization is usually the one who gets the greater slice of the ___ pie (fill in the blank with everything that people usually bestow upon the favored big shots - reward, honor, compensation, recognition, incentive, etc.). But isnt it always the principle of Gods truth that He likes surprising us with statements that would appear to many people to be foolish but when said by God becomes wisdom (1 Cor 1:27)? Here we are given a very important principle that practically turns the table upon many of the usual ways we treat each other in the body of Christ: On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor (vs. 22-23). Verses 25-26 supply the reason why we should: ...that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. PLANS TO PURSUE How often do we find lame excuses when we are confronted with unconventional truths like these (love your enemy, turn the other cheek, the weak are indispensable, etc.). We usually and desperately try to find refuge in our frail humanity to justify our inability. But is it really a case of inability or a simple case of unwillingness? This principle here does not require much from us in terms of the act required, for the act is simple enough: treat the weak ones equally as the strong ones. As far as the actual act is concerned, there is no difference because if we can readily give importance to the strong, then the act must be doable enough. The real difficulty then is not in the act itself but perhaps in the condition of our heart which is oftentimes influenced by the world where recognition, honor, reward, etc. is readily bestowed upon the great, the performer, the producer but relegates the ordinary and the weak to the category of the dispensable. For if the weak Christians is here in this epistle referred to as babies in the faith (1 Cor 3:1), are we not supposed even to give more care to these? Can we imagine thinking babies as dispensable because they dont help much in the kitchen? If we can part with our precious money to help a very fruitful member of the church, we should be able to do the same to help the weaker one who brings in less. God put each one of them in His church. Let the church principle be this: ...that the members may have the same care for one another (v. 25).
Posted on: Sun, 17 Nov 2013 23:52:19 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015