MPC, 4th August 2002.1 Corinthians 12 - "Somebody Special"
Phil Campbell MPC, 4th August 2002.
There are all sorts of ways you can measure yourself these days. And all sorts of ways you can fail to measure up.
If you're a bit of an athlete, you can watch Channel 7 and measure yourself against the Commonwealth games. Compare your swim times. Compare your track times. Compare your weightlifting records.
If you're more a thinking person, on Tuesday night there's a whole new way to compare yourself. To see how you measure up. It's on Channel 9. And it's a three hour program where you get to test your own IQ. It's called Test Australia. And they've got six groups in the studio audience that they're going to compare. Like blondes. To see if the rumours are right. And school-teachers. And a group of New Zealanders. And they want people at home to phone or email in their scores which they're going to tally up. To compare with other countries that have done it already. So far, Germans are the smartest. With an average IQ of 119. England's on 108.
So in the paper yesterday there were some test questions. To let you get in training. The price of a share has increased in market value from $25 to $30. What is the percentage increase? You know it's a trick question. Because these days share prices don't go up.
Now keep in mind if you do the test on Tuesday night, the producers want you to know if you don't do well, it's not the end of the world. And you don't need to feel bad about yourself. Because the test won't tell you, they say, how attractive you are. Or how creative. Or how artistic. Just how good you are at IQ tests.
But that's the danger, isn't it? Compare yourself. And you'll either end up with a swelled head. Or else feeling insignificant. You'll end up feeling proud. Or feeling like you're a nobody.
Time for another visit to Corinth. The church of your worst nightmares. Where what they want to do is measure your spiritual IQ.
And the way they want to do it is by how much you speak in tongues. It's a strange thing; a flow of unrelated syllables and sounds that just come pouring out. With no apparent meaning. Words. That nobody can understand. Except, according to the Corinthians, except the angels. And God himself.
And they count it as the crowning gift of the Holy Spirit. The mark of true spirituality. The measure – by which you can quantify your spirituality.
Now for you, tongues may or may not be an issue. But in Corinth it is. To the point where three chapters of the letter are more or less devoted to the question of whether speaking in tongues is the right way to measure spirituality. And the answer is no.
I've got to say at the start that I know for some people these chapters are contentious. And on a personal level, they have been for me. Because in my younger days as a Christian, as a young uni student, I shared a desk in the electronics lab with a guy called Tony. Who was a Pentecostal Christian. And Tony was absolutely convinced that a Christian like me who didn't speak in tongues wasn't a true Christian at all. Trouble is, by the end of the term he'd almost convinced me of that as well.
Which is exactly the issue in Corinth… that Paul's addressing here. So is speaking in tongues the way you measure if you're spiritual or not? Is speaking in tongues sort of like Test Australia on TV? Measure your personal SQ. Spirituality Quotient. Or isn't it?
And the answer – if you want it at the start – is… no it isn't. It's just one gift of many. Just one body part of many. None are superior.
Paul starts out with a simple test. And if you do want to use a measuring stick on your Spirituality, this is the only one he offers. Maybe you'll be disappointed. Because as a measuring stick, it doesn't quite come up high enough.
It's like you turn on Test Australia on Tuesday night to measure your IQ, and the first question is, Write down your name. Or What's the first letter of the alphabet? You're saying, this is too easy.
Verse 1. Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I don't want you to be ignorant. Except in the original Greek, the word gifts isn't actually used until verse 4. It's a bit more general than that. It's more literally now about the spirituals; by which he might equally mean, the spiritual ones among you. Or those who say they are. Turn over to chapter 14 verse 37 for a sec. Because the same term is there. And again, the word gift has been stuck in. But it's more literally, If anyone thinks he's a prophet, or a spiritual… let him acknowledge what I'm writing is the Lord's command.
This is a church of people who might think they're spiritual. But need to listen to a few home truths.
So now about the Spirituals… here's where we start. Verse 1 in chapter 12. I don't want you to be ignorant. You know you've been led astray before, verse 2. When you were pagans. So we don't want it to happen again. So here's the test. It's simple. If you want to know what it looks like to speak by the Spirit, here's the test. Therefore I tell you, verse 3, that no-one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says "Jesus be cursed," and no-one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit.
Now here's the point. Speaking in tongues, it's not unique to Christianity. And it never was. Speaking in tongues, it doesn't prove anything about your spirituality. And it never did. Because back then you could go into an idol temple, there were people who'd happily curse Jesus… and then go into some sort of trance and babble in front of their idol.
Paul says you've been misled before. So here's the measuring stick. Not the speaking in tongues itself. But the big thing. The thing the Spirit makes you say is Jesus is Lord.
And if that's the only thing the Spirit's made you say, let me tell you you're on safe ground. Because that's the test. Simple as A-B-C. If you've come to the point of saying, Jesus is my master and my King, there's only one reason why. And that's the work of the Holy Spirit.
And to say you've got to have one gift or you've got to have another, is missing the point. My friend Tony back at uni, he'd say to me, if you don't speak in tongues then you haven't got the Spirit.
Now hear me clearly. Because there are people who'll say I'm criticising Charismatic Christians. I'm sure there are Charismatic Christians who'd never say what Tony said. But others do.
So take a look at verses 4 and 5. Gifts are different. There are all kinds of gifts that God gives through the Spirit. Some look spectacular. And some don't. But whatever you do, don't go judging one another that way. Or judging yourself.
There are different kinds of gift, but the same Spirit. Different. Same. Different. Same. He'll say it over and over again to make the point. Different kinds of service. That's what a spiritual gift is. A way of serving. But the same Lord. Different kinds of working. Same God working all of them in all of us.
And to each of them, Paul says, the manifestation of the Spirit, the gift the Spirit give you, the part you're given in the script… it's given, in verse 7, not for your own personal status. Not as a means of elevation. Not as the way you'll stand out in the crowd as Miss Super Christian; Mr Hero-of-the-Faith. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
And so there's a list. Verse 8 to 10. Ending with speaking in tongues. A list of things that one person might have. And another might not. All for the common good. Some of them spectacular, others not.
Some of them glamorised in the last few years in certain books you'll find at Koorong. That goes way beyond what Paul actually says. To one there is given through the Spirit literally, words of wisdom. To another, knowledgeable words. Know anyone who contributes real wisdom for the common good of the church family? Take notice of that. Because it's a gift from God. To another, faith, by that same Spirit. Another, gifts of healing. Another, miraculous powers. Like Paul had. In remarkable ways, that marked him out as an Apostle of Jesus. one has one thing… another has another. And so you might have the gift of prophecy or of speaking in different kinds of tongues, or the interpreting what's said… the point is, whatever gift you've got, it's all for the common good, it's all from the same Spirit… and in verse 11, it's the Spirit's choice… who gets what. And not a mark of how hard you've prayed or how faithful you've been or how full of the Spirit you happen to be… in contrast to somebody else.
Now the problem is, if you're into comparisons like that, one of two things is going to happen. Either you'll think you're useless. Or you'll think you're indispensible. And everyone else is worthless. You'll be looking at everyone else and their spectacular gifts and you'll say, I'm nothing. No part to play. Or you'll get that sort of self satisfied smugness that looks down on anyone not quite as spiritually spectacular as yourself. You mightn't actually say it that way. But you'll show it in countless little ways. That hurt.
And Paul tackles both those issues in his classic little picture of a body with different bits that talk to each other. It might sound a bit like multiple-personality disorder if you stop and analyse it too much. But the point is, it's meant to be almost comical. Like that guy on the ad in the lift with his talking tummy.
It starts with verse 12. The body is a unit, though it's made up of many parts; and though all it's parts are many, they form one body. And so it is with Christ, he says. That because we're all baptised by the one Spirit, we're welded together as a body. Whether we were Jews or Greeks or slaves or free. United. And the body, he says, isn't made up of just one part. But of many.
So listen in. Especially if you think you don't measure up. Because he says, nobody is a nobody. What if the foot was to say, verse 15, because I'm not a hand I don't belong to the body. I mean, hands are clever. They've got opposable thumbs. And all I've got is big toes. I don't belong. Paul says it's ridiculous. It wouldn't stop being part of the body just because it's not a hand.
Or if the ear says, I'm not an eye. So I'm a nobody. I don't belong. It wouldn't for that reason stop being part of the body. I mean, who wants a body that's just an eye, but can't hear? That's just an ear, but can't smell? The strength lies in the difference. And the point is, in verse 18, God's arranged it. In the church. Just like in a body. God's arranged it. Just the way he wants it. Many parts. All different. One body.
Which brings us to the second issue. Not looking down on your own contribution so much as looking down on someone else. I mean, what a crazy idea, that an eye would say to a hand, I don't need you? Or the head, from its lofty position saying to the feet down at ground level, no, I'll be right thanks. Don't need you. Here's a church where the rich have been leaving the poor out in the cold… while they got stuck into the Lord's Supper. Where there's a pecking order of spiritual gifts. Where they've missed the point… that God's put them together to be a body. Where everyone plays a part.
Some parts seem weaker. They're vital.
Some parts are less presentable. Treat them with honour.
God's put you all together says Paul, in way that means you should honour the ones you think are less honourable that you are. Instead of looking down on them. Where you should have equal concern for each other. No matter who you are. Where if one part suffers, we all suffer. And one part is honoured, all of us rejoice.
Which is hard, isn't it? Probably easier to feel for someone in a hard time… than rejoice at someone else being honoured. Rather than grit your teeth and go green with envy.
But that's the point. We're a body. Toothache, it's not just the tooth that suffers. It's the whole body. Swiss chocolate… it's not just the tastebuds that rejoice; you feel good all over.
And so you, says Paul, you collectively, you're the body of Christ. Verse 27. And each one of you… is a part of it.
You're not an audience. You're not a club. You're not a loose bunch of people who just happened to turn up.
Funny, there are some people who think church is just something you go to on a Sunday. And you can sit there and daydream for a while and then head for home as fast as you can after the last song without even talking to anyone. Church is the body of Christ. Where everyone has a part to play.
In Corinth, they're thinking there are the haves and the have nots. The Spiritual Superstars… and the rest. But Paul says each of you… is a part of the body. With a part to play. Mightn't be up front. Mightn't look impressive. Might be spectacular. Might not be.
Don't you love that ad with the accountant sitting there doing tax returns for H&R Block? And there are fans clamouring outside the window. This… is like that. Verse 28, there's another list of gifts. The sort of gifts God gives his church; the sort of parts that make up the body. And some of them, we'll see more in chapter 14, some of them, the Corinthians think are top rate. Some of them, you'll probably think you wouldn't mind having either. But keep in mind, God appoints… just the way he wants to. To put together the body.
And in the church, says Paul, God has appointed first of all apostles. Which the Corinthians are in danger of forgetting. Second, prophets. Who we'll come to again in chapter 14. Third, teachers. And then workers of miracles. Those with gifts of healing. Maybe you're saying none of those are me. What about those able to help others? Funny, isn't it? Anyone clamouring for that gift? Or the celebrity accountant… those with gifts of administration? Right up there in the list. I mean, there are countless ways of serving. It's not like he's listing all of them. But that right in amongst the things the Corinthians want to value, the things that measure a Superchristian, you've got the gift of being organised. Administration. Followed by those speaking in different kinds of tongues.
The point being, that we're all different. Verse 29. Are all prophets? No they're not. Are all teachers? No they're not. Do all work miracles? No we don't. Do all have gifts of healing? No they don't. Do all speak in tongues? Or interpret? And no matter what my friend Tony wanted to tell me back at uni, the answer is no, not everybody speaks in tongues. Some do, some don't. And it's no way to measure anything.
So rejoice in the differences. And look for ways you can do your bit… as part of the body. Whatever it is. Because this passage give a one hundred percent guarantee that there's a valuable role for you… as part of the body of Christ. Something that God by his Spirit has given you… for the good of the rest of us.
More than likely, it's not on the list. It might be spectacular. Or maybe not. Might be the gift of helping others that most people don't really want. But the point is, the reason you've got it isn't to see how you measure up. Or fail to. It's to see how you can build up… the rest of the body.
More than that, how about rejoicing in the gifts God has given us as a church? Give thanks for one another as you see so many people playing their part in the body. Start to notice the countless small ways that the things that just seem to happen actually happen. Like Geoff and Charyl organising morning tea rosters; and Megan and Wayne spend hours on administration. And Bruce schedules our music teams. And Bob updates our website. And Ron drives Pat home from visiting David in hospital. All part of the way God has built us together. Just the way he wants.