spiritual gifts

God’s Design for His Church

Readings for today: 1 Corinthians 11-12, Psalms 146

God has given us everything we need to accomplish the plans He has for us. All the money we need. All the time we need. All the talent we need. All the resources we need. All the people we need. This has been a fundamental conviction of mine ever since I became a pastor over twenty years ago. It’s been true in every church I’ve served no matter the size. Attendance doesn’t matter. Budget doesn’t matter. Buildings don’t matter. Property doesn’t matter. All that matters is God’s will for that individual church because every single church has been designed specifically by God to accomplish His plan and purpose in their particular community or context.

The challenge, of course, is that each church has to commit to putting God’s mission first. They have to seek God’s Kingdom first. They have to submit to God’s will and God’s timing and God’s ways. And this has always been a challenge for the church. Even in the first century. Even among the early Christians. The temptation is always to seek our will and our way and our timing and our desires and our plans rather than God’s. Consider what we’ve been reading in 1 Corinthians. The Apostle Paul confronts the Christians in Corinth multiple times over their tendency to divide. They do not look to the needs of others. They do not consider others better than themselves. They even take the gifts God has given them and use them for self-promotion. The result is a fractured church. A broken church. A church that is weak and impotent and ineffective.

So Paul gently but firmly guides them back to some fundamental principles. “Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different activities, but the same God works all of them in each person. A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good…One and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as he wills.” (1 Corinthians‬ ‭12‬:‭4‬-‭7‬, ‭11‬ ‭CSB‬‬) Everything the Corinthians have has been given to them by God through the Holy Spirit. None of it is theirs to own. None of it has been earned. None of it is deserved. The Spirit has simply distributed the gifts as He sees fit and His desire is to see the Corinthians use those gifts in concert with each other for the common good. The Corinthians can’t get caught up playing the comparison game. “If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted. And if they were all the same part, where would the body be?” (1 Corinthians‬ ‭12‬:‭15‬-‭19‬ ‭CSB) A healthy church needs all the gifts just like a healthy body needs all the parts. And God has ordered the different parts of the body in particular ways so that there would be no division and everyone would support and uplift and encourage and care for each other. “Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable, so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other.” (1 Corinthians‬ ‭12‬:‭24‬-‭25‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

I’ve served the church for almost thirty years now in various capacities. Over twenty of those as an ordained pastor. I’ve led churches. I’ve counseled churches. I’ve consulted with churches. I’ve helped churches heal from conflict and division. I’ve walked with churches through forgiveness and reconciliation. I love the church with all my heart. She is beautiful even in her brokenness. And she is God’s chosen instrument to bring the message of the gospel to the world. When she reflects the biblical pattern God has set for her, she can accomplish incredible miracles. I’ve seen it firsthand. I’ve been blessed to experience it in several different contexts. Inside a prison in Trenton, NJ. Among the poorest of the poor in rural villages in South Sudan, Uganda, and Ethiopia. In a racially divided and economically depressed area of Mobile, AL. And in my current context…a wealthy suburb of Denver, CO. God is doing amazing things through His church in each of these places and the key to unlocking our potential as God’s people is to trust God, seek His will, and serve His mission. As a friend of mine likes to say, “If we take care of the things God cares about, He will take care of the things we care about.”

Readings for tomorrow: 1 Corinthians 13-14, Psalms 147

No Such Thing as Ordinary

Readings for today: Exodus 35-40, Psalm 29

When I graduated from college, I had one mission. To become a pastor. I wanted to go to seminary. I wanted to get ordained. I wanted to serve a church. God had other plans. My grades from college were terrible. I flunked out after my sophomore year due to excessive drinking. When I became a Christian, my life turned around and I re-applied and got back in under probation. Though I did pretty well my last two years, the hole I dug for myself was deep so I graduated by the skin of my teeth. The chances of me getting into grad school were slim at best. Two weeks after graduation, I got married to the love of my life and our mentors advised us to wait at least a year before going off to school. Looking back, it was great advice but it didn’t feel good in the moment. It felt like yet another barrier to me doing what I felt called to do. So I got a job. I went to work for Boulder Community Hospital. I hired on as an admissions clerk, making $7.75/hr. My wife and I rented an old, run-down apartment and did our best to make ends meet. Honestly, it was the best thing that could have happened to me.

When we read the Bible, it’s tempting to focus on the main characters. Guys like Moses. Women like Miriam. But what about the lesser known characters? Those entrusted with the more mundane aspects of Israel’s life together? What can we learn from guys like Bezalel and Oholiab? They didn’t see a burning bush. They didn’t hear the voice of God. They didn’t go up on the mountain with Moses. They were not warriors. They were not leaders. They were not among the seventy elders Moses called. They simply were two people with God-given talent and a passion for craftsmanship. Prior to building the Tabernacle, I imagine they spent most of their days in obscurity. Building carts. Repairing tents. Making clothes. The everyday, ordinary, mundane work required to sustain God’s people on their journey to the Promised Land. Amazingly, their work caught the eye of God. “Moses then said to the Israelites, “Look, the Lord has appointed by name Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. He has filled him with God’s Spirit, with wisdom, understanding, and ability in every kind of craft to design artistic works in gold, silver, and bronze, to cut gemstones for mounting, and to carve wood for work in every kind of artistic craft. He has also given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. He has filled them with skill to do all the work of a gem cutter; a designer; an embroiderer in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen; and a weaver. They can do every kind of craft and design artistic designs.” (Exodus‬ ‭35‬:‭30‬-‭35‬ ‭CSB‬‬) Because these men had been faithful in the small things, God entrusted them with the most sacred work imaginable…building a home for God!

When I started at Boulder Community Hospital, I was per diem. I would only be called in when people were out sick or on vacation. Within a few weeks, several people in my department quit so I was asked to go full-time. Within another few weeks, the lead in my department quit and I was asked to take her position. Within six months, my manager resigned and I was asked to step into her shoes. Within a relatively short period of time, I was managing four departments and about 50 employees and I was all of 24 years old. I have no way to explain how this happened. I had no previous healthcare experience. I had never managed people before. My resume certainly didn’t fit the responsibility I had been given. The only way I can explain it is God. God filled me with His Spirit. He gave me ability and intelligence. He instilled in me, through my parents, a strong work ethic. He gave me a knack for working with people. And as I proved faithful in the small things, like checking in patients day after day, He entrusted me with greater things like managing all of “Patient Access” services. 

Bezalel and Oholiab are great reminders that all of us have been gifted by God in some way and all of us are called to use our gifts for His glory. It’s not just pastors or missionaries who are the heroes or heroines. It is the people of God exercising the gifts God has given each of them for the upbuilding of the Body of Christ and the glory of God’s Kingdom. When we fail to exercise our gifts or diminish our gifts in any way, we lose out on at least part of what God has planned for us. And those around us lose out as well. Think about how impoverished we would be if there had never been a Bezalel or Oholiab? Think about the impact on the worshipping life of Israel if there were no craftsmen around to make all God had planned? Now think about our life together. Think about our worship together. What gifts do you bring? Is it the gift of music? The gift of prayer? The gift of friendship? The gift of production? The gift of preaching? The gift of teaching? The gift of serving? If you are a Christian, you have the same Spirit of God filling you that filled Bezalel! This same Spirit imparts all the gifts and talents we need to worship and serve God as He demands. So how are you exercising your gift? How are you seeking to use your gift to build up others in your home, your neighborhood, church, and community?

Readings for tomorrow: Leviticus 1-4, Psalm 30