Many Parts, One Body: 1. Sharing Christ, yet differing in gifts.
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This is part of a series of follow-up posts from my session at the Bifrost Arts Cry of the Poor conference in April.
- Yesterday: Introduction
- Today: Sharing Christ, yet differing in gifts.
- Monday: Communing, not condescending.
- Tuesday: Ministering WITH, not ministering TO.
- Wednesday: Valuing differences, not ignoring them.
- Thursday: Exalting God's design, not insisting on our own.
In Acts 2:42-47, we see the early church sharing in all things. Specifically, in verse 44, we read, "And all who believed were together and had all things in common."
Really? All things in common?
I don't think, given the whole of Scripture, that this means that they all liked the same foods and favored the same colors and preferred the same bedtimes and waking hours.
If we read on, verse 45 explains the previous verse: "And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need." You see, they had Christ in common, and that freed them to share all other things among the community.
Likewise, in 1 Corinthians 12:4-7, we see that same commonality in community:
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.These verses lead into the passage I focused on at the Bifrost Arts conference, the one I often use to illustrate God's design for the church as being many parts but one body: 1 Corinthians 12:12-27.
Unity in diversity, according to God's plan.
When we demand all things in common in the church - all members behaving the same manner, all understanding the same concepts at the same pace, all handling life's stresses in the same ways, all liking the same routines or lack of routine or sensory inputs, and so on - we're not following God's plan for the church. We're saying the God we worship isn't big enough for us to unite us in spite of differences. We're saying, "Sure, we have Christ in common, but He isn't enough."
We handicap the church when we focused on His created diversity in a way that destroys His design for unity among His people.
Likewise, we handicap the body of God when we define gifts from a worldly perspective instead of a godly one, valuing the role of one body part over the role of others.
We can learn from 1 Corinthians 12 that the church was designed to share Christ while differing in gifts. It helps no one when we let our differences overshadow what we share in common in Christ. (On Wednesday, I'll explore the flip side of that: it also doesn't help to pretend those differences don't exist. We can't expect the unity part without respecting the diversity element.)
So what are our practical takeaways?
- Draw together around what you have in common. Isn't God a big enough commonality for you? If not, then the differences and disabilities present aren't your problem; your lack of belief is; if so, pray, "Lord, I believe. Help me in my unbelief."
- Know the essential aim/message/purpose that doesn't change. This applies to your overall vision and mission as a church, as well as to every lesson and sermon. What's the key point you want to drive home, and what are the secondary messages? Recently, I was serving as a one-on-one helper for a child who has a cognitive impairment. As he and I were working on a craft, I could continue to stress the key point to help him hone in on it during the lesson; because of that, he could engage without getting distracted by the secondary details.
- Open the Word together, and you may be surprised. Our church's Joy class is a group of adults with developmental disabilities who join together weekly to study the Bible, serve the church, and do life together. One gentleman in particular has difficulty sustaining a conversation with me if we try to talk about the weather or recent events or any other topic we've tried. However, when we talk about the Bible, something beautiful happens. This man who can't sustain a conversation on other topics is able to wax eloquently about God's words, particularly the book of Romans. He is gifted in this way. I could have disregarded his ability to talk about the Bible because of his difficulty talking about other topics, and I would have missed out on the richness of discussing Romans with him.
- Open the Word together, and you may not be surprised. On the other hand, I've taught the Word to others with disabilities (and without) from whom I've never seen that sort of response. This tests my belief in the transforming power of God's Word. Do I only think it has power in my life? No. If the Bible does have power in the lives of others - including those with disabilities - then I have to understand that I might not see the results. I'm not called to produce growth, just to plant or water.
What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. {1 Corinthians 3:6-7}
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| leading my second session at the Bifrost Arts Cry of the Poor conference |