Individuals united in Christ

Romans 12:4-5

For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

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As Christians, we are called to be individuals, and we are called to be united. We aren't called to either all conform and become the same, or to go our separate ways - we need to hold these things (unity and diversity) in tension.

Paul uses the example of a body: The body is one body, but it has different parts, and all of these are necessary for it to work effectively (We need eyes to see danger and feet to move away from it). The church is the same - God has given us all different gifts. While some roles might seem more important than others, they are all necessary and they are all needed for God's people to work together in glorifying him.

Individuality
In Romans 12:1 Paul calls us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices to serve God. We also know elsewhere that we are all given different gifts and talents with which we need to serve God (check out 1 Corinthians 12).

This doesn't give us room for Pride. In verse 3 e are told not to think of ourselves more highly then we should - God has given us gifts, but we need what he has given everyone else to serve God effectively. There's no rom for thinking that we're better than others, and there's no room for thinking that we're not good enough - God has given everyone exactly what they have, we owe it all to him and he does not waste space.

What are our talents and gifts? Anything we can use to serve God - be it being able to read and write, being able to speak, having money that you can use for him, having musical skills or anything else. To serve God effectively we need to be individuals, utilising the gifts he has given us.

F.F. Bruce puts it like this

"Diversity, not uniformity, is the mark of God’s handiwork. It is so in nature; it is so in grace, too, and nowhere more so than in the Christian community."

Unity
But in tension with that, we can't just go off on our own and use our gifts however we want. We need to work together to help each other as God's people. We need to get rid of quarrels and fights with each other, we need to get over our own little problems - focussing on God instead and working together to encourage, grow, challenge, rebuke and help one another love and serve God more. That means we have to be honest with each other. Deeply, personally honest. And for that to happen we need to be trustworthy. Are you trustworthy?

Another element of this is the question of who is the body? Is it just our church or denomination? No. It's anyone who genuinely puts their faith in Jesus as God who came to earth as a man, took our sin, suffered on the cross, died, was buried and rose again. There are some core doctrines to the christian faith that are non-negotiable, and people that we won't be able to accept as fellow Christians because of their beliefs. But there are other doctrines that we shouldn't break fellowship over.

Since the whole community of Christians world-wide is the church, what are we doing to help each other here, and what are we doing to encourage believers overseas? Are we praying for those we are being persecuted? Are we using the technology we have to make connections and encourage christians across the world (e.g. prayer groups on Facebook)? These things certainly should not come at the expense of loving fellow Christians where we are living, but perhaps thats a good use of the gift we have in technology.

But what about when others aren't doing it back?
What about when we give it all to our church, but no one else does? What about when we look after others, but when we're sick no one cares for us?

It's easy to get bitter about it when that happens (and it will happen), but the question is, who are we serving? God or ourselves? If we're doing these things for God then we should praise him at the opportunity to serve, regardless of how much those around us are doing. If we're doing it for ourselves, so others will look after us or make us feel good, then we're not really doing it for God.

Put in your bit of the effort, encourage others to do the same and glorify God whatever the outcome, for he is good!

Soli Deo Gloria!
Nat.

Humility and using our gifts.

Romans 12:3

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

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For the next few verses, Paul is going to explore how we should use our gifts within the church, but to begin on that theme he first commands us to be humble. To not think of ourselves as better than we are.

"For by the grace given me, I say to every one of you" 

Paul begins by being an example of this himself. He is about to tell his reader, and by extension us, to be humble. As a result he starts by saying that it is only by grace that he can say this. Before he was saved, Paul was a pharisee and he made it his business to hunt down Christians and to put them in prison. It is only by God's grace that he was saved from that lifestyle - he was changed from a persecutor of Christians to a missionary and teacher of Christians. It is also God's grace that made him an apostle - he didn't deserve it, but God gave him the necessary spiritual gifts so that he could work in that way. That's why Paul has the right to write this to the churches - God gave him that position of authority. But Paul acknowledges that it was entirely God who put him in that position. It's not based on his own merit.

Paul's words are not only meant for the Christians in Rome. If they applied to "every one of [them]" then and God doesn't change, then they apply to us now as God's people. Do we read the word and apply it to our lives? Do we take it seriously? I find it's so easy not to, but we need to do it.

"Do not think of yourselves more highly then you ought"

We live in a society that bases most of its marketing schemes on making us feel good about ourselves. We live in a society largely based on pride. Therefore, as part of not conforming to the pattern of this world, we need to submit to God and be humble. Instead of being chuffed with ourselves and our talents, we need to give the glory to God for what we do and the gifts he has given to us.

Pride is one of the things I struggle with most in my walk with God. It just kind of creeps in, and I don't realise for a very long time that I'm being proud. I slowly start to look down on others, I slowly start to trust in my own abilities, I slowly start to edge away from God and start looking at myself, enjoying myself instead of enjoying God and contemplating his character. Instead I need to realise how sinful and wretched I am and how much I deserve God's wrath. I need to reflect on myself as God sees me, a sinner who does not deserve grace, but who has received it freely because of God's goodness. Is this a problem you face as well?

"in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you."

I don't entirely understand what Paul means by this, but I've read a few different interpretations. John MacArthur seems to think that faith refers to the amount of gifting we have with which we can serve God. We all have gifts from God to varying degrees, and we need to look at them honestly and humbly to know how we can best serve God with them. That doesn't mean that we ignore or belittle our gifts, it means we use them honestly and we give God the glory, since he gave us the gifts.

"A believer should appraise the gifts God has given him fairly, glorifying God for their bestowal, and then exercise them through dependence upon the Holy Spirit and not in mock humility make light of them. A renewed mind thinks soberly about oneself." (Preceptaustin.org)

 Barnes offers a different idea about this: He says that since faith is key to being a Christian, what Paul means is that we need to measure ourselves by our walk with God. He says:

"we are not to judge of our own characters by wealth, or talent, or learning, but by our attachment to God, and by the influence of faith on our minds."

Application 

• Be humble! We need to realise how wretched and undeserving we are of God's grace to be able to truly understand what he has done for us.  I'm not sure that we will grasp this fully until we go to be with God, but we need to work hard at hating our sin and realising how gracious God is in saving us.
• Have humility when evaluating and using your gifts. God has given us all gifts and we aren't called to hide them or belittle them. We are called to use them as best we can for God, and to give him the praise for them.
• We need to measure ourselves by our walk with God. Regardless of how well or poorly our lives are going, it is our relationship to God and our love for him that matter. Work hard to be walking in obedience and love of God instead of focussing on other things.

I'll probably do another (more topical) post on humility at a later date - it's definitely a topic I need to dwell on more, but I hope those thoughts were helpful.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Nat.