Bible Talks - Sunday Night Church
Somebody Special
Sunday, 30 January 2005
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Listen Now (32:19)
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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 Australian Open Tennis players. Or perhaps you did that when the Olympics were on last year... Compare your swim times. Compare your track times. Compare your weightlifting records.
If you're more a thinking person, perhaps you engaged in last year’s ‘Test Australia’ – that three hour program where you get to test your own IQ. They had 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.
If you missed out taking part last time, don’t worry, Channel Nine will do it all again this year... But it’s important to keep in mind if you do the test this year, 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 , they say, the test won't tell you 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. I wonder how many here have actually heard or experienced ‘tongues’?
For those that haven’t, it's a strange thing; a flow of unrelated syllables and sounds that just come pouring out, with no apparent meaning. Words, that virtually 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.
I've got to say at the start that I know for some people these chapters are contentious. And on a personal level, in the past, they have been for me. When I was a very young Christian, there was a guy on my Beach Mission team who was a Pentecostal Christian. And he was absolutely convinced that a Christian like me who didn't speak in tongues wasn't a true Christian at all. We argued over the matter frequently, although he had the advantage, because I was so young in the faith, I could barely find 1 Corinthians in my Bible!
But this is 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.
A simple test (v1-4)
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.
But don’t get your hope up too high, because maybe you'll be disappointed. See, as a measuring stick, it doesn't quite come up high enough.
It's a bit like those fabled test papers where you actually get marks for correctly writing your name at the top of each sheet... You're saying, this is too easy. But let’s check it out...
Verse 1. “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.” Except in the original Greek, the word ‘gifts’ isn't actually used until v4. It's actually 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 the page to 14:37 for a moment, because in the NIV Bibles. 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… he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord.” – As the ESV renders it.
This is a church of people who might think they're spiritual. But need to listen to a few home truths.
So, v1-2: “Now concerning the spirituals, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led.” You know you've been led astray before, 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. V3 “Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.”
Now here's the point. Speaking in tongues, is not unique to Christianity, and it never was. Speaking in tongues doesn't prove anything about your spirituality, and it never did. Because back then you could go into an idol temple, where there were people who'd happily curse Jesus, and go into some sort of trance and babble in front of their idol.
And so Paul says you've been misled before, so listen up while I tell you what the measuring stick is. 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.
One Spirit, Many Gifts (4-11)
And the logic of his proposition flows on... He says: ‘to say you've got to have one gift or you've got to have another, is missing the point.’ My mate from Beach Mission, 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. But I'm sure there are Charismatic Christians who'd never say what my Beach Mission mate said. But some others do.
But take a look yourself:
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 gifts, but the same Spirit. Different. Same. Different. Same. He'll say it over and over again to make the point. Varieties of service – because that's what a spiritual gift is. A way of serving. But the same Lord. Different kinds of activities. But the 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 gives you, the part you're given in the script… it's given, (v7), 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. Read it: “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” Spiritual gifts are always for the good of God’s work
And so there's a list. Verse 8-10. Ending with speaking in tongues. This is simply a list of things that one person might have, and another might not. But they are all for the common good. Some of them spectacular, others not. But they are all for the common good.
Some of them have been glamorised in the last few years in certain books you'll find at Koorong.
But that goes way beyond what Paul actually says. “To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,”. 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. V9-10“to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy,” 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 v11, it's the Spirit's choice… who gets what. And it’s 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.
One Body, Many Parts – Hand-Eye Coordination
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 indispensable, 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.
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.
It starts with v12. 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. We are united. And the body, he says, isn't made up of just one part, but of many. And that is the correction to the two common errors in thinking:
Nobody is a Nobody (v15-26) - You can't say "I don't belong" (v15-16)
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, v 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 doesn’t stop the foot 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 v18, God's arranged it so.
In the church, just like in a body, God's arranged it just the way he wants it. Many parts. All different. But one body.
You can't look down on another (v21-26)
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. But 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 than 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 if one part is honoured, all of us rejoice.
Which is hard, isn't it?
Probably easier to feel for someone in hard times, than rejoice at someone else being honoured or rather than gritting your teeth and going green with envy.
But that's the point. We're a body. When you have a toothache, it's not just the tooth that suffers. It's the whole body.
When you sip a fine cup of Yeman Matari, fresh roasted coffee, it's not just the tastebuds that rejoice; you feel good all over.
You are the Body of Christ
And so you, says Paul, you collectively, “you're the body of Christ. V27. and individually members of it.”
We're not an audience. We're not a club. We'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.
But in Corinth, they're thinking there are the haves and the have nots. The Spiritual Superstars… and the rest. And 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.
And then having said all that, we come to V28, and 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 of 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 that he’s planned.
And in that body, 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. Then those with gifts of healing.
Now maybe you're saying: none of those are me. But what about the next category - those able to help others?
Funny, isn't it? Anyone clamouring for that gift?
Or what about those with gifts of administration?
I mean, there are countless ways of serving. It's not like he's listing all of them. But right in amongst the things the Corinthians want to value, the things that measure a ‘Super-Christian’, 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. V29. Are all apostles? No they're not. Are all prophets? Nope. Are all teachers? No they're not. Do all work miracles? No we don't. Do all have gifts of healing? Nope. Do all speak in tongues? Or interpret?
And no matter what my Beach Mission friend wanted to tell me back then, the answer is no, not everybody speaks in tongues. Some do, some don't. And it's no way to measure anything anyway.
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. More likely, it won’t be. 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. 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. Like the way supper just appears every Sunday night. And how the music happens each week, with different people playing in different teams. And how our church website constantly draws people to this church. And how this building is cleaned each week. And how kids in schools around this area hear the good news of Jesus week by week, and so on, and so on. Nothing to boast about. All part of the way God has built us together, just the way he wants.
