"Building up the Body"

After talking about our bodies being offered as a living sacrifice to God, and exhorting us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, Paul goes on here, in verses 3-8, to individual ethics for the betterment of the whole church. 

Paul starts with ‘do not think of yourself more highly than you ought.’ A healthy self-esteem is important in any social setting. In its absence, a person will be plagued by low self-esteem and consequently will not be able to achieve his or her full potential. 

The key to correct evaluation of one’s self-esteem would be to know that our self-worth is based on our identity in Christ. We are His children, saved by His grace. I need to realize that He considered me important enough to die on the cross to save me. That is the measure of my self-worth. 

My estimation in the eyes of Christ is important and not in the eyes of the world. I am precious in His eyes. Evaluating our worth by worldly standards of success, money, fame and achievement will not yield fruit. 

The other extreme is over-estimation of one’s worth. Such people usually suffer from inferiority complex and to make up for that, pretend to be better than everybody else and most of the time go about boasting about themselves.

This leads to ego-clashes within the church and creates problems and divisions. A major outflow of such boasting would be pride, leading to obnoxious behavior by the person concerned. 

The other danger of not properly estimating our worth is to paint a high ideal and trying to achieve such impossible heights. In the process, when such a person fails, he or she would constantly be under self-doubt, low self-esteem, many a times leading to depression. It is setting an non-achievable goal for ourselves.  

An honest estimation of our own capabilities, without pride and without false modesty, a sober judgment, is important. We need to accept ourselves as we are, and use whatever gift God has given us for His glory. 

Paul goes on to list the gifts that people are endowed with by God, in accordance with the measure of faith. 

What is this ‘measure of faith?’  

That means God will give appropriate spiritual power that is necessary to the fulfill the responsibility that He has entrusted to a person. On our own we cannot hike up our faith and expect to do wonders in the name of Christ. It is given by God and Christ through the Holy Spirit, with the only purpose of building up His kingdom. 

Paul compares the different gifts given to different members of the church to a body that has many parts, with each part fitted to suit the function that has been assigned to it. He brings forth this comparison in greater length in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31. 

In Christ, we who are many form one body, each one having a different gift and an appropriate function suitable to that gift. Christ is the Head of the church. Ephesians 4:15-16. Under His direction, we all work for the edification of our fellow Christians and to further the kingdom of God.

Church is the Body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12: 27. If so, we need to do the task of building up the kingdom of God in cooperation with the other Christians, the other members of the church. This requires humility and willing to consider others better than oneself. It is God’s work and we are just the instruments, different instruments, all working for is glory, building up the edifice. 

In verses 5 and 6, Paul brings out the various gifts that have been given to us by Christ. In two other places Paul gives such a list, some overlapping, and some covering exhaustively. 1 Corinthians 12:28-30 and Ephesians 4:11.

What is this gift? Is it just a natural talent or something supernatural? 

What Paul is talking here is both; a natural talent, a gift by the grace of God, a God-given talent to be used for His glory. A person so endowed in his or her Christian life, needs to use it for His glory, to build up and edify the others in the church and to further the kingdom of God. It is a natural inclination to be pursued for His glory. 

There is no claim for self-glory or preeminence in the church because of such a gift. It must be used, not to enhance a person’s personal prestige but for the common good of the community. 

The other is a supernatural gift or vocation, like prophesying. This is no natural talent, but God-given ability for building up His people. 

The first one that Paul mentions here is the gift of prophesying. Prophesying is forth telling, announcing a message from God for warning or for the edification of the church. This comes with the authority of Christ, for unless such a person is in close relationship with Christ, such prophesying will not be possible. 

Second is the gift of serving. A person could have a natural inclination for serving, to serve his or her fellow human beings, and this needs to be done well. It is a life poured out in the service of others, showing the love of Christ. 

Gift of teaching comes next; the message of Christ and those of the Apostles, needs to be explained, made simple and easy to understand by the church. This again comes with years of study under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Presenting the truth in an attractive and interesting manner is a gift.

Gift of encouraging is to exhort, to motivate, to lead and to inspire the people to follow the example of Christ and to walk in His ways, so as to enjoy the joy of being with Him.

The next one is giving, contributing to the needs of others. It is giving generously, without holding back or expecting anything in return, but with the sheer pleasure in giving. It is sharing, showing kindness to the needs of others, and being liberal, primarily with one’s money. Did not Jesus appreciate and highly esteem the two mites contributed by the poor widow? Luke 21:3,4. It is giving whole-heartedly for the love of Christ and not grudgingly.

Leadership in governance is also another gift, to be exercised with responsibility, zeal, honesty and integrity, especially in matters of financial responsibility. It has to be done with utmost vigilance. 

Last one mentioned by Paul in this portion is showing mercy. It is caring for people, giving them their time to meet them in their troubles and problems, being a helper, an angel of mercy, showing genuine care and love. 

In all these Paul exhorts people to do it all well, as if you are doing it to the Lord, as elsewhere he points out. Colossians 3:23,24.  

Isn’t it time for us to seek the face of the Lord to know what is His gift to us and start using it for His glory? 

Let’s do it my dears, with God’s grace emboldening us and using us for His glory. 

Amen.