Todays Reading: I Corinthians 12 Read the Scripture here: https://biblegateway/passage/?search=I+Corinthians+12&version=CEB I have often wondered, how many disputes, how many struggles would be resolved if we in the church really took this one pericope to heart! Let me ask it a little differently… if we truly understood that our differences were by design and not accidental, what would even be left to divide us? Maybe that’s not of first import as you read today where you are at, so let’s move in a different direction. Let me start with a premise I will come back to. The whole point of the writing today can I think be summed up in these words… we need each other! Now let’s move to eyeing what Paul has to say to us in the text. We are dealing with a faith community that was continually trying to outdo one another. They had very worldly practices that spilled over into this new church, they wanted to be classified as ‘best Christian’, ‘most valuable’, ‘most spiritual’, etc. Usually these practices come from a place of deep insecurity where we want someone to recognize us. Many times, we are not self-aware enough to realize it is because we are insecure. It can be surmised that they were doing this to the exclusion of one another from the way Paul writes, their practices had to be very painful and destructive. It’s hard to catalogue some of the things I have seen in my time in the church. The one who is loud and leads by volume vs. the one who is introspective and cautiously follows the Spirit. Conversely, the one who is not quite understanding of the need at times for charismatic leadership, the need to rally people to accomplish a monumental task! The one who prays first every time and whose gift is discernment vs. the one who is self-assured and people seem to follow quickly to the gift of organization. The one who has been gifted simply to serve, to empathize, to listen, to have incredible compassion vs. the one who makes difficult decisions well, the one who is creative in possibility, the one whose thinking includes unseen possibilities, the one who manages conflicts with faithfulness and draws people together though struggle. These are not either/or gifts, all of these are needed and more in a single faith community to be complete. Yet, so rare is it that we actually see that in practice! Here is something I just believe is true. It may not be, but seems through my own practice of ministry to be pretty consistently accurate. We tend to value the gifts that we can produce, what we are gifted to accomplish ourselves vs. what we cannot! It’s an easy way to feel good about ourselves, to mask some of our own insecurities. Conquering this tendency, growing beyond this involves the discipline of asking for God’s cooperation to understand and appreciate the need of gifts that are foreign to us. Most who read this will know a few of my obvious limitations: I am not gifted to play or participate in music, I just am not. I love people and building relationships well but am an introvert by nature. I lead publicly, but my nature is to quietly think things through quite a bit first, to work through teams in my own discernment process often. I am confident and feel called to lead, yet never actually enjoy being in the spotlight. I am insecure and the ways that this is true would take until tomorrow to complete! So here is God working on me. I am not sure I ever appreciated music more than I have in recent years. This Advent season I sat spellbound to the point of almost not being able to preach following deep appreciation for the musical gifts in worship that I have enjoyed recently. I was tempted on more than one occasion to stand up and simply announce church dismissed at the end of sharing in some of these gifts! That’s to say, the longer I share in community, the more I appreciate and realize I need gifts from the faith community to keep faith. I have journeyed through Advent singing because of the gifts I have received (though if only to myself ; ^ ) It doesn’t stop there. I have come to treasure gifts in the community of Elders like the one that took time to show me another way to speak publicly 12 years ago. The leaders who lead with conviction have given me the gift of seeing the need to be decisive at times. The ones who know how to retreat well have taught me to value time spent with God, how to listen to and be led by the Spirit. I shudder to think where I would be if not for the diversity of gifts! One question for today: What gift of another who is very different than you would compliment you most if you took time to appreciate it in the practice and service of another? A follow up: Why would we not make the effort, yes take time and pray to appreciate instead of working to criticize, belittle or make our gifts out to be superior to the one possessing gifts that differ from ours? Yes, we need each other. That’s what it all comes to. The sooner we realize this is all by design, God’s design in our lives, the more readily we will cease the great struggle against those possessing differing gifts. Appreciation follows acceptance of design. Appreciation of God’s work through those who are distinct and different actually serves to make us whole! All God’s blessings on a Saturday in Christ who loves us enough to gift us differently! John
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 13:02:37 +0000
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