Unified Variety

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.  And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord.  There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.  But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (1 Corinthians 12:4-7 NASB)

So the first thing I learned about spiritual gifts from Paul in this chapter is that they don't form the 'litmus test' for a relationship with Jesus.  Now I learn that the differences are by divine design.  And Paul goes to great lengths to explain this.  Again, I infer from this that the church in Ancient Corinth just didn't get this point.

It seems that the gifting of the believers by the Holy Spirit became an opportunity to point at each other and judge their value by their gift; their value to God, value to the church, and value as a person.  That had to be frustrating to the Holy Spirit.  It also illustrates how easy it is for the deceiver to twist the work of God in the hearts of His people.   What was intended to empower the church for God's Kingdom became the thing that tore them apart.

In the midst of this discussion, Paul lists gifts mixed in with 'ministries'.  In fact, to begin, he uses three words, 'gifts', 'ministries', and 'effects'.  But the last one is simply a generic term for whatever is done through work.  So, 'works' might be better.  Later on the in this chapter it is combined with 'power' and we get 'miracles' or 'works of power' from it.  But here it's just work.  I think that using all three terms is important, saying that all three come from the same Spirit, all three are for the benefit of the whole body/bride/temple of Jesus.

All three things, including 'work' are called 'manifestations' of the Spirit, at least in most translations.  Great word, but not very common in our culture.  Other options for translating could be 'revelations', 'clear announcement', 'disclosure', 'making known', 'evidencing'.  But essentially, it's the obvious indication of the Holy Spirit of His presence and work within a church.  It's the Spirit of Jesus saying, "Here I am!"  But sometimes, these clear indications of His presence are used by His people to indicate their own importance over against their fellows.  What was supposed to unify is used to divide.

Now, I get at least two things from that.  First, the Spirit of God doesn't gift perfect people who He knows will only use it for exactly what He wants and nothing else.  Second, the Holy Spirit doesn't, when the wheels come off the rails, take it back immediately.  This seems to be a instance of our Savior putting up with imperfect people once again, tolerating their failures, weaknesses, and silliness; at least for a time.  This gives me hope because I'm so in there.  But it also convicts me of my own judgmental attitude.  How quick I am to point fingers at the imperfections of others, yet such imperfections are no more disqualifying than my own.  Even 'correction' within the 'Body of Christ' is supposed to be unifying.  But too often, in my heart, I'm divisive.

This 'unified variety' within the church is illustrated by Paul using the metaphor of a body.  As he wraps it up, he points out how weaker and less 'presentable' parts are held in higher esteem and/or modesty.  His point is that we don't treat those with more obvious powerful gifts with greater honor, there's no need to.  Instead, we should be honoring those with less obvious gifts more, protecting them more.  We, or I, don't do this in church, but I need to do it.  Whether ministries, or expression of gifts, or whatever work is done, those with the 'crap jobs' should be honored more than even the pastor.  That may sound wrong to us, and it sounded wrong to them too.  Paul's point is that those who are in obvious positions, out in front, before the crowd, they get their attention just in what they do.  It's the others who are so easily lost in the background.

When I visit a new church, figuring out who the pastor is from among the people never takes long.  Eventually he stands up before everyone and announces himself.  Not so the nursery workers, the church 'cleaning crew', or those who spent hours working on the grounds making sure the plumbing and electrical work on Sunday.  They don't stand up and announce themselves, they're the ones who are hard to spot, who's names I can never remember.  They're the ones church should take great care to protect and honor.

Some minister from a gift, some simply work it.  Both do so and the Holy Spirit is revealed.  Some are considered 'ministers' and others 'workers'.  Both are used by the Holy Spirit to reveal Himself.  So my pastor makes my Master obvious.  My worship leader (minister of worship, first worshiper, or whatever you call that position) makes my Master obvious.  And the people in the nursery wiping noses and changing diapers while teaching the Bible make my Master obvious.  Those on Saturday cleaning up after the 'thundering herds' of last week make my Master obvious.  The guy who everyone calls when something breaks, the small group leaders, the people others gravitate toward to discuss their 'issues', and those who others see in worship caught up in the presence of our Savior, all reveal the Spirit of the Creator, our Savior.

Somewhere in there I'm supposed to 'reveal' my Master as well.  To the extent that I do, I'm obedient to my Master with the gift and work He's given me.  To the extent that I lose sight of the work and gift given to me, and focus on to whom it might make me 'superior', I fail, and I sin. 

This is the second lesson on gifts I discovered and hopefully learn from this chapter.  Eventually, I will discuss with you an even MORE excellent way, but that's for next week... probably.

Who Is 'In'? Who is 'Out'? How Do I Know?

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware.  You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led.  Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus is accursed"; and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:1-3 NASB)

My personal and group study of 1 Corinthians was driven by a desire to explore what Scripture says about 'spiritual gifts'.  There's a lot of controversy between groups and even within groups who call themselves Christians or 'believers' or 'Christ-followers' on this subject.

Few topics (actually none that I can think of) instill this sort of divisiveness between groups of believers.  One side fears this topic like no other, creating the most outlandish reasons for not permitting practice of spiritual gifts.  On the other side, it seems Scripture is almost optional, and personal experience preempts the inspired words of our Savior.  It's the oddest thing.  But it's not a new problem.

Paul enters into this topic toward the end of his letter to the Corinthian church.  He has beat them verbally over divisiveness and pride, ministers from outside and sin within, marriage and 'food sacrificed to idols'; and several other failures along the way, all actually quite common in our own day.  Having done all that, he turns to this topic.  What first stopped me in my tracks was how he began.

First off, this problem seems to be a Gentile problem.  I thought it would stem from either both sides or from the more Jewish among them, but it doesn't.  My error is probably in that I'm not familiar with pagan practices of the First Century Roman culture.  Clearly though, '...when you were pagans,' can't refer to Jews.  The second part though, that they were led astray to mute idols, obviously sets up what he says next, but I can't clearly make the connection.  "...no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, 'Jesus is accursed'; and no one can say 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit." How does that relate to the pagan problem of being led astray to mute idols?

And for those of you who, like me have blown by this while reading the chapter, never really paying much attention to it, consider that to really get what he's saying in the rest of this chapter, possibly the rest of this discussion, we need to get this introductory statement.  This forms the 'cornerstone' of the rest.  Without it, our understanding is skewed somewhat.

So, the problem isn't with the second part itself, that's pretty straight forward.  And really, it's not with the first part, that makes sense; sort of defines what a pagan is in the first place.  The problem is how the two connect.  So, here's what I do with it:  Paul is defining who is in and who is not in a relationship with God versus over against an accusation that some are still 'pagan' in their practice.  Sounds simple enough.  But, he's doing this only because it's not as 'obvious' to the Corinthians as it should be.  What I mean is that the church in Corinth was accusing each other of not being 'led by the Holy Spirit', and since this falls here in the letter, I'm assuming their accusation had to do with this topic.

This should sound rather familiar because it still happening today.  Groups that overly focus on spiritual gifts tend to 'grade' believers on how 'gifted' they are, and on whether or not they have certain gifts.  Paul is starting out clearly arguing against such judgements.  So, to begin my own study here, I will say the same thing Paul is saying, "STOP IT!"  Very therapeutic.  Okay, that's out of my system. 

I find it interesting that the only determining factor between those who do and those who don't have a relationship with Jesus is the declaration that He is Lord.  Why is the also the element we have the most problem living out as well?  I hesitate to stand and accuse the people to whom Paul is writing as I'm actually standing with them accused of a similar problem.  My specific behavior is different, but the problem is the same, "Is Jesus truly my Lord if I behave this way?"  I must declare Jesus is Lord, which can only be done by the Holy Spirit.  But I must live that out; behave consistent with that statement; and declare with my life that He is my Lord.  Then others will see through my life that He is Lord of all.

The point here is two-fold: 1) the determining factor of who is in and who is not is declaring Jesus is Lord, not 'gifting'.  2) My declaration that Jesus is Lord should be obvious to both the blind and the deaf (what I say and what I do - calm down, it was a metaphor).  Okay, now I'm ready to discuss gifting...or rather 'unity of the church.'