One wise observer or church life in the twentieth century said this, "Church membership has become a sort of religious credit card that costs nothing in life, and will be worth nothing in death." He went on to say, "This much is certain. If we do not soon make church membership mean something, it will mean nothing." What’s gone wrong with our thinking about church?
The problem is that we have adopted a non-biblical view of the church. We didn’t take the Reformation far enough. What was lost in the Dark Ages was more than doctrinal purity. Also lost was the simple structure of the church and the life supplied by the participation of the members. The church became more of an institutional hierarchy, where only those engaged in full-time ministry were considered ministers. The church will only be alive when we recover the truth of every member ministry. The church alive is us alive to our ministry in the church.
The first thing we need to see is that the Church is all about relationship. You see, the Church is not bricks and mortar, it is people. In the New Testament, the Greek term for Church means "the called out ones." The Church is not a physical facility. The Church is you, each one of you. Without you, the Church would not exist. That is precisely why the Church is about relationship. In the Church, we are related to one another in a vital union of the Spirit.
This relationship is an intelligent relationship. It is a relationship based on a fair consideration of who we are related to each other.
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 measure of faith God has given you. (v. 3)
With so much emphasis today on a positive self image, this verse is particularly insightful. Is it possible to think of yourself to highly? Yes. And how we think of ourselves is important because the Church is made up of people with whom we are intimately related. And how we relate to one another will depend on our attitude toward ourselves and toward each other.
One danger is to think of ourselves more than highly than we ought. But there is the other danger of not thinking of ourselves as highly as we ought to think. You see, there is an ought to our thinking. Our opinion of ourselves ought not to be too high or too low. It ought to be an opinion based on sober judgment, based on a realistic view of what God has done in our lives. God would have us neither be involved in self-exaltation nor self-deprecation.
In The Screwtape Letters, the book by C. S. Lewis containing a series of imaginary letters from a senior devil to a junior devil, in which the senior devil, Screwtape, instructs the junior devil, Wormwood, in the art of temptation, we find an interesting dialogue on how to develop false humility. Remember, this is written from a demon’s perspective so the enemy is God. Screwtape tells Wormwood,
I see only one thing to do at the moment. Your patient has become humble. Have you drawn his attention to the fact? All virtues are less formidable to us once the man is aware that he has them. But this is specially true of humility. You must, therefore, conceal from the patient, the true end of humility. Let him think of it, not as self-forgetfulness, but as a certain kind of opinion (namely, a low opinion) of his own talents and character. Some talents, I gather, he really has. Fix in his mind the idea that humility consists in trying to believe those talents to be less valuable than he believes them to be. No doubt, they are less valuable than he believes. But that is not the point. The great thing is to make him value an opinion for some quality other than truth. Thus, introducing an element of dishonesty and make-believe into the heart of what otherwise threatens to become a virtue. By this method, thousands of humans have been brought to think that humility means pretty women trying to believe that they are ugly, and clever men trying to believe they are fools. The Enemy wants to bring the man to a state of mind in which he could design the best cathedral in the world and know it to be the best, and rejoice in the fact without being any more (or less) or otherwise glad at having done it, than he would be if he if it had been done by another. The Enemy wants him, in the end, to be so free from any bias in his own favor that he can rejoice in his own talents as frankly and gratefully as in his neighbor’s talents.
What God desires is that we rejoice in His work in and through us, without being puffed up in pride. We must remember that we are not the only ones through whom He works. It is through every believer in the body of Christ that His work gets accomplished.
But not only do we have an intelligent relationship with the other members of the body of Christ, we have an intimate relationship.
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 who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. (vv. 4-5)
Do you want to know how the Church should function? Take a look at your own body. Every part of your body has a specific function. You have hands that can pick up objects, you have feet that can carry your body as you walk. But your hands or your feet could not do their jobs without being connected to your arms and your legs. You have a heart that pumps blood to every part of your body. You have a set of lungs which delivers oxygen into your bloodstream. Both your heart and lungs cooperate together in this effort, yet they would be useless if they weren’t connected to the rest of your body. You have eyes that see, ears that hear, a mouth that can eat and taste and speak. You have a nose that can smell, ears that can hear. There are many organs in the human body, and they must all work together, guided by the head of the body, the brain.
Now, some members are more important than other members. I suppose if we had to choose between our right hand or our heart, we would certainly keep our heart. But we do not want to have to make that choice, do we. Each member is important. And while our little finger may not be as important as our left eye, if we were to break it, all of the other parts of the body would cooperate together to get it swift medical attention. You see, it isn’t just the finger’s problem, it is our problem. We are connected. Each member of our body is important. It is all for one and one for all.
The Apostle Paul tells us that the mystical body of Christ, the Church, is like our human body. Each member has a role, a function, a ministry. Each member is necessary and important. Each member is inter-related to each other member. And when we all cooperate together under the leadership of the Head, Jesus Christ, the ministry of the local church is powerful and effective.
Verse 5 says that each member belongs to all the others. This is the intimate relationship we have with one another. Look around you in church. Look at the people in front of you, in back of you, and beside you. They are the Church. They are not all like you. They each have different gifts, different ministries. But you are not complete without them. You need them and they need you. We all need each other in the Church. None are called to go it alone.
Now, because we are all necessary and important, there is a certain responsibility we have toward one another. With the responsibility comes accountability. You see, if we need one another, then when one of us lays down on the job, the other suffers. We have a responsibility to exercise the gifts and ministries God has given us.
Let’s look at two categories of spiritual gifts mentioned in our text here in Romans. They could be called speaking and serving gifts, or gifts given to expound the Word of God, and gifts given to extend the work of God.
We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage … (vv. 6-8a)
These are the gifts given to expound the Word of God. You might call them the speaking gifts. The first deals with the inspiration of truth. It is the gift of prophesying. Prophecy is not merely foretelling future events, it is a forth-telling of the mind of God. The prophetic gift illuminates the Word of God to our minds and gives us a living word for the here and now. Many times, the prophetic word will come as you are listening to the Word of God being expounded or taught. The Holy Spirit will quicken that Word, and through the preacher speak directly to your heart. Other times, as you pray, God will place an impression on your heart. You should always evaluate these by the Bible, but you should always be open to hear. Through prophecy, God speaks a living, fresh word to us.
The next gift is serving or ministry as the KJV translates it. Ministry is service — the incarnation of truth. This is the same word from which we get our word deacon. A deacon is the servant in the Church. But everybody can "deaconize." It is to serve as an usher, to cut the grass, to direct traffic, to help park cars, to set up tables, or to take a meal to someone’s house.
The next gift is the gift of teaching — the interpretation of truth. Teaching is the imparting of knowledge about the Scriptures to the human mind. It is different from preaching somewhat, in that preaching speaks to the heart while teaching speaks to the mind. Teaching is designed to inform while preaching is designed to move the will. I believe this gift is given to a great many more Christians than realize it. As you are instructed in the Word of God and make the Word of God a part of your daily living, then you can teach someone else who does not know as much as you know. Now, a good teacher will give himself or herself to a diligent study of the Bible, comparing Scripture with Scripture, using sound methods of exegesis, hermeneutics, homiletics, analysis and synthesis. And we need excellence in teaching. But not every teacher needs to be in front of a class. Effective teaching can take place one-to-one.
The final gift in this section emphasizes the intention of truth. It is the gift of encouraging. There is an illustration of this gift in the Scriptures in the life of Barnabas. He was called "the son of encouragement." That’s what the name Barnabas means. Although his real name was Joseph, I’ll bet no one called him Joe. I bet they called him Barney. He was the kind of guy that you would probably find with his arm over someone’s shoulder, encouraging, comforting, urging him on. What a gift! And what a need we have for this gift in the Church. Wouldn’t you like to be a son or daughter of encouragement? Some people are so discouraging. Some are so down at the mouth, you ask them how they are doing and they will give you and organ recital, the physical kind. It just does not seem like they are happy unless they are miserable. And they make everybody else miserable, too. We need encouragers — people who lift up weary hands, people who not only tell you that you can do it, but will help you get the job done. This is the intention of truth, to motivate us to be all we can be for Jesus Christ.
The second set of gifts here are gifts which extend the work of God. You might call them serving gifts.
…if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. (v. 8b)
The first is the gift of giving, or the gift of contributing. God has blessed some people with the singleness of heart to give greatly to the work of God. The true motive of giving is love for God. You see, love is ever measured by its gift. The Bible says, "For God so loved . . . that He gave."
The next gift is the gift of guiding. It is the gift of leadership. How we need leadership in the Church of God today! We need leadership like that spoken of in 1 Chronicles 12:32, about the "men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do." We are told to exercise leadership with diligently. If we would be people who know what to do in these times, we must be diligent.
The next gift could be characterized as a gift of going. It is called the gift of showing mercy. In order to show mercy, many times you must go to that one who needs mercy. The people who need this gift often are sick, afflicted, or bereaved. Sometimes, they are depressed, and we have to make the first move. It says that we ought not to do that with long faces, but cheerfully. You see, Proverbs 17:22 says, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine."
This is only a small list of gifts. There are many other gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12, 1 Peter 4, and Ephesians 4. These are not merely natural abilities or talents, they are called gifts of grace — gifts God gives each of us to be used ministering to one another, and the world. And while everyone has at least one gift, no one has all the gifts. That is why we need one another. What would happen if all those with the gift of teaching refused to do so? What would happen if all those with the gift of serving refused to do so? What would happen if all those with the gift of mercy or hospitality or music decided just to quit? What a bleak place the church would be!
You need to see that when you joined the local church, you were placed in a vital, living relationship with the brothers and sisters who are here. You have a gift. You have a ministry. You have a role. You have a function to perform in the body of Christ. And that function is not just for your own good, but for the good of all. Not all are pastors, or teachers, or deacons. Not all are gifted in music, or can work with children. But all have a ministry.
Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don’t need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don’t need you!" (1 Cor. 12:14-21)
We need one another. Eyes are wonderful, but what good would they be without a head to put them in? Ears are wonderful. Ugly, but wonderful. But what good would they be without a head to hang them on? You see, God is the designer of the body. He gave you precisely the gift that He knew we need. You just need to begin to function.
You see, the Church is not merely an organization. The Church is an organism. It is a living, dynamic body of believers in Jesus Christ who have entered into a covenant relationship with God and with one another, and who are responsible to God and to one another. God help us to be the kind of Church that is consecrated to God, committed to one another, and calling to the world to look to Jesus and be saved.
God help us to be alive in Jesus. So many churches are not. They are like the prophecy of the dry bones in Ezekiel 37:1-14. There the real question was "can these bones live?" And the answer was that they could only as the breath of God inhabited them. Then they stood on their feet as a mighty army. This is the only way the churches of Jesus Christ will go forth as a mighty army today. We need the same breath of God to fill us. That is what makes the church alive.
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