Words that have often been used to describe this generation are rampant individualism, self-determination, and self-entitlement. There is an ever increasing rhetoric around individual rights. A whole new category of celebrity, the “Social Media Influencer” has emerged. Anyone can be a leader or an influencer, all you need is a phone and you can be famous. Gone are the days of needing others to help take our picture. We can take selfies with our “Selfie Stick.” And all these things can be seen by the world in a matter of seconds. Our lives and opinions out in the open for people to react and comment and like. Our world seeks glory, rights, and fame for the individual. In this sort of environment, we ought not be surprised to see this type of mindset and thinking creep into the church.
Too often as Christians the value of worship and Bible study is thought of in selfish terms. We only attend Bible study if it is a subject that addresses our personal concerns or interests. Worship itself becomes more about what I get out of it than what I am there to contribute. Please note that worship isn’t first about what I get from the sermon or whether I like the songs but about serving God. Worshipping Him, listening to Him, and fellowshipping with my brothers and sisters is the higher end, rather than seeking selfish gain. Even if we got nothing at all from the service, we gather to glorify God.
We neglect service because we are so busy with extra-curricular activities that we just don’t have time or are too tired to attend a Bible study, or serve in Cadets and GEMS. We are just so strapped for time and energy that we are too tired to put one more thing on the agenda. Our priorities take precedence over acts of service in the church. Serving in other ways, such as doing dishes at a fellowship meal, or vacuuming the floors, setting up chairs and cleaning the toilets can seem like a waste of our precious time. We tend to prioritize things that are recognised by people or those that provide financial compensation. Then we feel our time has been valued.
I am not saying that we should not be fed or learn or grow, or even receive compensation for certain work in the church, but how often does this become our first priority. When considering serving in the Church is our first thought about how it affects me and the benefits I get out of it? Or is our focus on whether it would be honouring and serving God out of love, and serving our fellow believers? Are our lives oriented toward Christ and His body or toward our sports, and our “me time”? If we fall into the habit of only looking out for number one, have we not lost sight of God’s means of grace, His gospel, and of Jesus?
Was he not a servant of all? And is a disciple above his teacher? Has he not joined us together as a body of Christ to serve, love, and care for one another? Do we not confess as part of our regular confession, I believe in “the communion of saints”?
Transforming our minds
We must not be conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing of our mind.1 We should not think and act the way the world does. Our minds must be shaped by Jesus’ Spirit and Word. The Word of God is transformative and does more than what we often give it credit for.
If we see the gospel merely as the forgiveness of sins and restoration between the individual and God, then we have truncated the truth of the Gospel. Because there in Romans, not only does Paul tell them that they are to be living sacrifices to God (to love God),2 but he also leads them to humble service toward one another (love for our neighbour, particularly the Church).3 The Gospel unifies believers together in faith and service.
Paul uses many images to talk about the unity of the Church. Some are inorganic and passive like Ephesians 2. Paul says there you are being built or joined together into a holy temple of God. This image emphasises the work of God bringing people together and uniting them on the foundation of the apostles, prophets, and Christ being the cornerstone.
There Paul emphasises the work of God and the unity we have in faith. In First Corinthians 12, Paul uses the dynamic and organic image of the Church as the Body of Christ. Each person is a member of that body. One might be an ear, another a foot, and another an eye, yet they all play a part within the body. Each person then is a part of the body of Christ with a function to serve in the Church. The function they perform relates to their ability, and the gifting which Christ has given. Everyone is a distinct member of the one body. Not all the gifts given are the same gifts. They aren’t all one member because then it couldn’t be called a body. It would simply be an ear, or a foot.4 This would be a monstrosity not a body. Christ’s body has many members, each part functioning collectively, and working together for the glory of God and for the good of one another.5
Paul also shows that we must be joined by serving the other members of the body. Each member is alive because they are connected to the body. A severed ear has no purpose unless it is part of the body. In fact, he goes so far as to say there is a need for the other members of the body.6 An eye needs the foot, the hand, and the ear. It cannot function apart from it. A severed hand, foot or ear is useless and can serve no purpose at all.
There is a stunning statement that Paul makes in verse 18. He says,
“But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.” (1 Corinthians 12:18 ESV)
Now that is a counter-cultural way of thinking isn’t it? God, in his divine wisdom, has placed me just where he wants me, giving me gifts that are meant to serve the body of Christ. William Hendrickson says:
“Within the Church no one ought to be idle – each one must use the talent God has given him or her for the edification of the body of Christ.”7
Transforming our lives
The interesting thing is that the Corinthian culture, though far removed by time, is very near our own. The problem Paul was addressing was one of individualism and seeking self-glory. They were exalting certain gifts, such as speaking in tongues, as higher gifts deserving of exaltation over others. They seemed to have an attitude of rampant individualism. Treating other people’s gifts as lesser to their own as if there is one member that can do without the other. A celebrity sort of culture where everyone sought to be the most recognised, the most liked, and had the most “subscribers”.
So how should our lives be transformed by this teaching? When our minds are shaped by what Paul presents here it drives us to live differently from the way our world lives. We are saved then, not just from condemnation because of our sins, but from a constant need to look out for number one. We move from a concern of individual rights to a concern for the body of believers. A sacrificing of our rights for the good of others. One gives up the “right” to use their gift for personal gain and glory, to serve the body of Christ.
Paul’s teaching transforms us to live lives not of independence but interdependence. In fact, Paul makes the point that we need each other. No one can say, “I have no need of you.” Paul says in Ephesians 4:
“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” (Ephesians 4:15–16)
Notice this carefully, because it is too easy to again turn this into selfish gain. I don’t want you to exercise your gifts so that you can grow, but I want you to serve the Lord, out of love for what he has done for you. He has joined you to this body of believers, your local church. You serve that Church because you love God and want to be a living sacrifice to him, and because you love them, warts and all. The natural outcome of that service will be, that in your contributing, in your loving truth telling, and in being told the truth in love, you will grow! You will mature!
When we cut ourselves off from the community of faith either by attitude or physically, we will be cut off from the very thing that Christ has brought us into. We will languish and shrivel spiritually. We were made to serve God and one another for His glory.
Serving and using our gifts doesn’t have to be in big and extravagant ways. It doesn’t require leading a Bible study or becoming an elder. The simple and sometimes considered shameful acts of service that you are gifted to do will still be something that benefits the body of Christ and gives God the glory. Small acts of service like helping with dishes after fellowship group, cleaning the toilets or vacuuming the floors are using your gifts for the body of Christ. Those things which the world might consider shameful, we recognise and celebrate as glorious acts of love.
It reminds me of Jesus putting on the servant’s clothing and washing the feet of his disciples.8 They felt it was shameful for Jesus to do the work of a servant. This account has more going on here than just washing the feet of the disciples, but it also wasn’t the lowest and most shameful act Jesus’ would do. He would serve all his disciples by going to the cross. And just like that death on the cross that was despised and shameful to the world, we ought to give thanks and praise for even the lowest acts of service in our churches.
I remember once in a church where, following a fellowship meal, a minister started cleaning up and vacuuming the floors. One member of the congregation felt that this was inappropriate for a pastor. However, what ran through my mind was if Jesus could wash the feet of his disciples then it seems that vacuuming the floor and doing the dishes is not something outside what a teaching elder should do. I think this is what Paul means when he speaks of the parts of the body that need to be clothed, they are given greater glory because they are considered shameful.9
Conclusion:
If we are honest it seems that the 20-80 rule, (that 20% of the people do 80% of the work) is all too common in our churches. Paul in 1 Corinthians reminds us that this should never be the case. Being part of Christ’s body means that we are not mere spectators but necessary assets. As members of Christ’s body we are joined together, equipped and needed. The spiritual gifts and acts of service we perform, regardless of how small or insignificant they may seem, are crucial to our well-being and the health of the church. When the entire body works together, it is not just one member that is honoured; that is like congratulating someone’s legs for finishing a race. Instead, it is the person of Christ that is honoured, and as part of that body, we share in his honour. May our churches be a place where every member participates and serves out of a love for Christ, showing the transformative power of Christ before a watching world.
1 Romans 12:2
2 Romans 12:1
3 Romans12:3-8
4 1 Corinthians 12:17
5 1 Corinthians 12:7
6 1 Corinthians 12:21
7 William Hendriksen and Simon Kistemaker, 1 Corinthians, 5th Printing, vol. 7, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2002), 433–34.
8 John 13:5-20
9 1 Cor. 12:22-25
Mr Aaron Warner is a minister of the North Shore Reformed Church serving in Maungakaramea.
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