by Sarah Wootten
Have you ever been around a group of siblings on Christmas morning? There’s an excitement in the air as everyone waits for the parents to wake up so that presents can be opened. Finally, the time arrives, and the kids start ripping and throwing wrapping paper all over the living room floor. Initially, everyone is thrilled with what Santa brought them. And then at some point, the kids look around to see what their siblings received. I remember one year where my little sister was given a wooden rocking chair that was just the right size. She was thrilled; I was jealous. She clearly received the best gift. That rocking chair is still the coveted seat for all my mom’s grandkids.
Christians often treat God’s spiritual gifts in the same way. We have all been given gifts by our Father, and yet, we see what others were given and wish that their spiritual gift was ours to claim. Our sinfulness–largely driven by our pride–desires the gifts that we wrongly determine are more valuable. As Paul continues the discussion regarding spiritual gifts, he addresses the division that arose through a simple, yet powerful, analogy.
Consider the human body, Paul says. A body has many different parts: hands, legs, a brain, eyes, lungs, skin, and so many others. It’s a beautiful design by God. And yet, not every part has the same function. Even things that share similarities, like fingers and toes, have vastly different purposes. I am using my fingers to type this article right now, but my toes would never be able to type so much as a single word with any coherence. However, both are necessary for my well-being. Without one or the other, life would be much more difficult for me.
Spiritual gifts within the local body function the same way. No two gifts are exactly alike in characteristic, function, or outcome. And yet, all the gifts are necessary and valuable within a church. It would be foolish for the ear to say that he doesn’t belong to the body because he is not an eye (1 Corinthians 12:16). Both are necessary members of the body. Similarly, it’s foolish to look at someone else’s gift and say that you are a less valuable member of the church because you don’t have someone else’s gift. God gave each of us a spiritual purpose for His glory. Instead of undervaluing our giftedness, we should praise God for using us according to His grand purposes.
On the flip side of the coin, it is also foolish to look at the gifts of others in disdain because you consider your gift of greater value (12:21). It’s only by God’s grace that any of us receive spiritual gifts (12:18). He gives the ability to teach, to serve, to discern, to shepherd, and to act in faith. Lifting up your heart in pride is sin. When you do it towards members in your local church, that’s a seed for painful division. If we all had the same function, we couldn’t function well together. By God’s design, we need each other.
Why did God design local churches in this way? So that we would experience the unity that we have been given spiritually (12:25). Through our valuing and needing one another, we experience a great care for one another, and thus, we function as a body does. “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together,” (12:26, ESV). The blessings that we receive in our local churches when we function and love each other as God intended are beyond our comprehension. Let us all strive for that unity and love towards one another as we exercise our God-given spiritual gifts for the common good.
This article originally appeared in The Clarion Newspaper.
