"But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it." I Cor. 12:24(b)-26
"[N]o one speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus is accursed"; and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit." - I Cor 12:3
"A man will not be established by wickedness, But the root of the righteous will not be moved." - Prov 12:3
This morning's reading in Corinthians dealt with spiritual gifts. Remember last night we talked about how spiritual gifts are one of those possible substitutes for the Lord; if elevated from being a useful tool to something to be coveted, they can get in the way of the most important thing in life: our relationship with Jesus. That was Paul's point in I Corinthians 12. We are part of the body of Christ, and our gifts are for the benefit of the body. It is unnatural for us to work against each other, for anything to come between the body and its head.
On the contrary, it is admirable and good for us to work together, to learn our function and value and rest in it. Paul launches into a metaphorical description of the parts of the body, talking about how none is more important than the others, but they all serve valuable functions. Again, obedience is consistent with rest. I like the idea of understanding my function and being satisfied enough to rest in it.
I think one theme we've developed since we started reading together - and I'd appreciate a reaction to this - is that having understanding of our function in the body breeds confidence and rest, and also frees us up to encourage each other and get behind each other's endeavors, like Jonathan's armor-bearer. It allows us to have rest because of our excellent foundation (Prov 10:25), precludes jealousy and malcontent among church members (I Cor 12), and allows us to deepen our roots in our relationship with the Lord (12:3 above).
I'm not sure that's a point that hasn't been made many times already, but I thought it was pertinent to today's reading and it was nice to put down a stone for something we've learned so far.
Oh, and I thought that verse in Corinthians was interesting, about calling on the Lord, because we talked about that last night too.
Run in such a way as to win that imperishable crown today!
Powell
I agree man, learning how to better be a part of the body is an ongoing discussion and key part of MG. That sense of community that we love to talk about is what MG is about and being an effective group for the body.
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