Epiphany 7 Spiritual Gifts, Our Piece of the Action

[HKHaugan]

“You are Christ's body—that's who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your "part" mean anything. You're familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his "body": apostles, prophets, teachers, miracle workers, healers, helpers, organizers, those who pray in tongues. But it's obvious by now, isn't it, that Christ's church is a complete Body and not a gigantic, unidimensional Part? It's not all Apostle, not all
Prophet, not all Miracle Worker, not all Healer, not all Prayer in Tongues, not
all Interpreter of Tongues. And yet some of you keep competing for so-called
"important" parts (1Cor.12:27-31 The Message Bible).”

God has set the agenda, the structure and the purpose for the ‘Church’ in this passage. Scripturally the word ‘church’ means ‘the gathered people of God.’ Contrary to cultural definitions like denomination, institution and religion, church is the people who the Lord Jesus considers His earthly body. He indwells each person who has accepted Him as Savior and Lord. It is the Holy Spirit who binds them together as brothers and sisters in His Body.

The purpose of the Body is to worship God and plant His Kingdom right where we live. When we accept Jesus in the heart we accept Him as the One who governs how we think and act. He is the King of our hearts. He rules a kingdom of hearts. As Jesus said, the Kingdom of God is within. Paul tells us that our individual bodies and the gathered ‘body’ are a temple of the Spirit.

The structure of the Body, the pillars that form its foundation, is four-fold,---- worship, discipleship, ministry and mission. The substance of those pillars is the teaching of the Apostles, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, the breaking of bread and the prayers (Acts 2:42).

The agenda for the Body is to ‘make disciples of Jesus from all nations,’ teach them all He commanded, help them recover from sin and mature spiritually, then spread the message of Jesus and His plan of recovery throughout the world.

How God has chosen to implement His will is through spiritual gifts. They are the all–inclusive spiritual tools by which each person ministers within the Body. As Paul explains it the gifts are the abilities given by the Spirit to help each person in the Body to mature spiritually. Each person is given a gift or gifts to grow and to help others grow.
No one gift is more important than another. Just like the human body with its different organs that enable it
to function in balance so the spiritual body is made up of spiritual organs
that process the heart of God moving within the hearts of His people.

While this is just a brief intro we want to keep in mind the vast contrast between the world’s (devil’s) plan leading to lonely personal destruction and God’s plan of personal and interpersonal eternal life and freedom. What role does each of us play? What is the role of a pastor and leadership in all of this? How is it applied locally and what can I do to step ahead of where I am right now? Stay tuned………But remember, “You are Christ's
body—that's who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your
part of that body does your "part" mean anything (1Cor.12:27 The
Message).”