The Body of Christ

This is the third in the series "What are the Spiritual Gifts all About?" It continues from where we left off on 1 Corinthians 12, starting with verse 12:

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

The motto of the American Baptist Churches has been Unity in Diversity. We understand this because we are the United States. We often talk as our nation as a stew pot, made up of many ingredients. Now all of these ingredients are necessary for the stew to taste right. Even though they create a nice flavor when brought together, most of the ingredients don't lose their individuality. You can identify and taste the meat or the potato. But all are necessary to make the stew.

Paul presents another metaphor to describe the church. He calls the church the body of Christ. Of course the identification of this body is Christ. He is the head of the body. It is His Church. The church is the physical presence of Christ in the world today. Paul has just finished discussing the various gifts and then he goes into this long metaphor about the church as a body. There is no need to discuss what is said, it is very plain. He uses the concept of our gross anatomy. We recognize one body with several parts. They all work together to carry out one purpose. Of course the body with parts that don't work together is a very dysfunctional body. We know much more about anatomy and physiology today than Paul did. We could go into a discussion of Physiological Systems or into Cellular Biology, but there is no need; the metaphor holds true at all levels.

This metaphor has many implications of us who make up the Body of Christ. First is the issue of Equality; no part ranks above another. One of the dysfunctions of the church at Corinth was that they felt people with certain gifts (tongues, prophecy) were of a higher nature than the other members. We are all equal and we are all necessary. We are all different, but work for a common purpose. This brings us to the second implication which is Unity of Purpose. The church is not just a random organization of people; it was created for a purpose which is determined by the head of the body, Jesus Christ. While the work of each part may be different, their individual work is coordinated by the head to work toward the overall purpose of the church. The third implication is that our diversity is to be celebrated. The church is made up of diverse ages, genders, educational levels, ethnicity, health and gifting, but these diverse people make up one church. And finally, every one of us is necessary to make the whole. God placed us here to fulfill His purpose. None of us is a part of our local church by accident. The full extent of His purpose in our area will not be the same without the presence of each of us.

I applied this to the congregation of Bay View Baptist Church. This is a small congregation composed of mostly elderly people. Yet, in the last year we have gained some middle aged people and even one young couple. I appreciate this congregation because they have a flavor of love and acceptance. Serving them is a real treat. Yet, with our new diversity, perhaps the Lord wants to bring out some new flavors like outreach into the community or service to people in prison. God calls us together in all of our diversity to use our gifts and talents for the glory of God in the church.

The Gifts

This is the second in the series "What are the Spiritual Gifts all About? It is essentially an exposition of 1 Corinthians 12:8-11:

To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

Last week we discussed some general principles about gifts, including these gifts.

• They are manifestations of the Holy Spirit. They are not gifts in the sense that they become our possession. They are not signs of who we are. They are signs of the activity of the Holy Spirit.
• They are given for the common good. They are given to up build the church.
• The are given to each one. Not everyone has the same manifestation at the same time, but they are open to everyone, not just the privileged few.
• It is the Spirit Himself who determines the distribution of His gifts.

The question is often asked whether these are the only gifts of the Spirit. Frankly, it seems that many people, particularly those of who are labeled "Charismatic", would answer,"Yes." This is incorrect, however. One of my favorite passages is Exodus 31:1-11:

Then the LORD said to Moses, "See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts- to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship. Moreover, I have appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, to help him. Also I have given skill to all the craftsmen to make everything I have commanded you: the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony with the atonement cover on it, and all the other furnishings of the tent- the table and its articles, the pure gold lampstand and all its accessories, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, the basin with its stand- and also the woven garments, both the sacred garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons when they serve as priests, and the anointing oil and fragrant incense for the Holy Place. They are to make them just as I commanded you."

This passage demonstrates the unlimited potential of the Holy Spirit working in us. He can work in art and craftsmanship. Romans 12: 3-8 discusses prophecy, but also serving, teaching, encouraging, giving and leadership. 1 Peter 4:10-11 discusses ministering God's gifts of grace in its various forms. There are also a few other "lists of gifts." I guess that the point is that the ways that the Spirit can manifest Himself is unlimited. The gifts that are enumerated here in 1 Corinthians 12 are generally related to worship in the church.

Another question that is often made addresses the differences between "gifts" and "fruit." Galatians 5:22-23 lists the Fruit of the Spirit:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Some people discuss these as if they were "gifts," but they are really character traits. The "gifts" are actions of the Holy Spirit performed through us for the service to the entire church.

Returning to our passage, I have already stated that these gifts are primarily for use in worship. Of course they can be used at other times. It seems that they fall into three categories:

• Word gifts -- they are utterances under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (Prophecy, Speaking in Tongues and Interpretation of Tongues).
• Gifts of Knowledge and Wisdom (this would also include Discernment or Distinguishing between spirits).
• Power Gifts -- Faith, Healing, Miraculous Powers.

Following is a short look at each one of these gifts:

• A message of wisdom -- Putting the facts together so that a wise course of action may be taken.
• A message of knowledge -- Revelation of something previously unknown.
• Faith -- this is not the body of belief. This is the strong conviction that God will act in a particular situation.
• Miraculous Powers -- God acting in ways that seem beyond normal human comprehension (in Jesus' life -- raising the dead, walking on water, feeding the 5,000 etc.)
• Prophecy -- Speaking God's word. This is not necessarily foretelling the future, it may be telling it like it currently is. This is not merely preaching, although some preaching may be prophetic in nature.
• Distinguishing between spirits -- This was a real necessity in a pagan place like Corinth. There were spiritual entities connected with the idol worship that could manifest themselves. It was important to understand what was happening at the time.
  
• Speaking in Tongues -- This deserves in blog of its own, but it really is merely someone speaking words that they don't understand under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
• Interpretation of Tongues -- Interpreting what was said under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Of course the controversy comes with the question, "Are the gifts still for today?" I answer an unqualified, "Yes!" I believe strongly that God wants to be active in our worship. He wants to manifest Himself in the church. We are to work under His empowerment using the gifts that he gives us. This empowerment and gifting is not for the elite. It is for all Christians. We only need to be open to His working in our lives.

The Holy Spirit Reveals Himself

Yesterday I began a new series based upon 1 Corinthians 12-14. The Charismatic Movement (I am still a part of this) sees this scripture as the "Instruction Book for the Charismatic Movement." Of course those who are not charismatic Christians or, perhaps are "anti-charismatic," see just the opposite. Over the last year I have been preaching through the book of 1 Corinthians, so I want to present what this scripture has to say to us right now. The Series Title is "What are the Spiritual Gifts all About? This week's sermon is titled "The Holy Spirit Reveals Himself." Let's look at 1 Corinthians 12:1-7

Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I tell you 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. There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

Spiritual Gifts in verse 1 is an unfortunate translation. The Greek merely says pneumatikon which could be translated "spirituals", "spiritual things" or even "spiritual people." Because the chapter is focused mainly upon Spiritual Gifts, the translators have consistently translated this as spiritual gifts. I would like to suggest that a better translation might be "spiritual people."

There was a problem in Corinth. They really thought that they were spiritual people. Yet their behavior was anything but spiritual. They gauged their spirituality by the gifts and manifestations of the Holy Spirit. They liked to see these manifestations, particularly the gift of tongues. These people came from a city where there was a lot of idol worship. Whatever you might think of the spiritual world, it was very real to them. They knew a spiritual reality -- and they understood demonic spirits.

Thus Paul starts this section discussing spirits in general. He also knew that there were counterfeits to each of the gifts. If the gifts were in operation, he wanted the people to make sure that they were gifts of the Holy Spirit. As Paul begins the discuss the Holy Spirit, he says that the Spirit shows Himself in many ways. There are many Charismaton (from which we get charismatic)translated gifts, but there is only one Holy Spirit behind them all. There are many Diaconion (from which we get deacon) translated ministries or service, but there is only one Lord or leader over that ministry or service. There are many energamtown (from which we get energy) translated workings or miracles, but they are all brought about by one God. Therefore God the Father, God the Son (the Lord) and God the Holy Spirit are and should be behind everything that happens in the church.

Finally we must understand that the manifestations of the Spirit are for the common good. They aren't the property of the person manifesting the gift. The gift is for and to the church. Yes, we are to use these gifts to serve the Lord -- in the church.

What is the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of Bay View Baptist? Well, in general, the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth, He convicts us of sin and He is the one who gives us the power to live Holy lives. This is not all. The Holy Spirit wants to manifest or reveal Himself. He is not to be hidden. Therefore He gifts people and He wants these gifts to be used. While it is possible to serve God in our own strength, He wants to empower our service. God is also still into the miraculous. A church that is moving in the Spirit, will see the Spirit in action.

The Authority of Scripture -- Part One

This will be a multi-part posting. The subject is large. On Facebook, a posting of the article shown above brought about a difficult discussion regarding scripture. The article itself isn't particularly controversial, but in the article, Ken Pagaard mentioned his Friday morning Bible study. This brought to my mind the following story:

Reading about Ken's Friday Bible study brought to mind an incident that happened a couple of years later. Ken seemed to relish putting people like me in awkward situations. I was not very Biblically literate and about 5 minutes after that Bible study should have started, Ken stepped out of the office and said that he couldn't go -- why didn't I go and teach the class. He gave me the scriptures -- the section in Timothy telling the women to keep quiet. I went forth to meet a group of around 30 women and began to teach. In ones and twos women began to leave. I think that there were only two who remained until the bitter end. This was not one of my best moments.

After several responses about teaching the Bible, the following response was posted:

Dick, do you really think the tribal god of the desert Hebrews was telling them to righteously kill everybody (except the hot babes) and to take their land? Damned convenient if so. Of course we have to take the word of the land-n-babe-grabbers for it, the ones who wrote those obscene books.

Either we reject much of the bible as obscene cultural nonsense or we accept it as true--and are thus compelled to reject the demon they worshipped. Ain't no two ways about it.

In this posting and a few which will follow, I want to put forward my understanding of the truth of scripture and why I chose to follow scriptural precepts. But first let me say that I do trust the Bible. I believe that the Bible teaches me the ways of God and, of course, teaches me about Jesus. Certainly there are some things that are hard to understand. Many of these aren't hard to understand factually, the hard part is to put the facts into a line with any kind of God that we want to worship. I think that the effort expended to understand these sections of scripture are worth while. My future posts may not convince anyone who disagrees with scripture, but they are my attempts at understanding difficult truth. I welcome contrary comments.

A Look Ahead

Yesterday I gave a sermon titled "A Look Ahead." The Scripture Text was 1 Peter 2:4-10:

As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says:
"See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame." Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
"The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone," and,
"A stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (NIV)

At the close of last week's sermon, I asked the people what the Promised Land would look like? To the Israelites looking over the Jordan River just prior to the conquest, they just new that it was a fruitful land. It was described as a land flowing with mild and honey. They knew that it was a land that would give them good crops and good pasture lands for their flocks. But what does God have for us in the coming year? What does our promised land look like this year?

This passage of scripture may not describe the promised land, but it tells us something of who and what we as Christians are. It says that we are living stones being built up into a spiritual house. A house where the Holy Spirit can dwell. That is as Paul says, we are a temple. We are each a part of the temple. The foundation of this temple is Jesus Christ. Many said and many still say, Jesus Christ is nothing much. Jesus is described as a stone that has been discarded, but God made this discarded stone the very cornerstone of His church. The church is built on nothing but the foundation of Jesus Christ.

Peter also tells us that we are a royal priesthood. We are royalty! We are family with God. Wow! But we are not only royalty, but we are priests. In the Old Testament, no one could really approach God except the high priest. We can approach God. We can come close. We are called to offer spiritual sacrifices. I personally am very happy that this is not the literal sacrifice of the Old Testament. This was a very messy business. What are spiritual sacrifices? These are things like worship (We Bring the Sacrifice of Praise) and service. So we are temples -- a place -- and we are royal priests -- what we do.

Peter hasn't finished though. He goes on to tell us something more about who we are. We are God's people chosen by Him. Again, in the Old Testament, only the people of Israel were the people of God. But, now we who were not a people are a people. We once were in darkness, but no our spirits have the light of Christ. So we a temple, and the Priests to offer sacrifices and we are also the people chosen by God to enter the promised land. Now, I am talking primarily to the Bay View family, what is this promised land that we are to enter in 2010?

Since we are so small, whatever God has for us, Growth is the key word. Well, how are we to grow?

• We want to grow in our worship -- as royal priests we want to get better at our worship. This is perhaps our primary task as the people of God.
• We want to grow in numbers -- not for the sake of numbers, but there must be a "critical mass" in order to perform the tasks that God sets before us. Yet, we don't ever want to lose our smallness -- the ability to really see and know one another. The primary venue of our growth will come from our individual Oikoi (those 8-15 people that God has placed around us as our "household"). This growth will also be in diversity as well as numbers.
• We want to grow in our understanding -- we want to know God and His Scripture better.
• We want to grow in our service to one another and to our community.
• We want to grow in our empowerment by the presence of the Holy Spirit.

For us at Bay View, this really is a look at the Promised Land. God has richly blessed us this year. Now he is giving us a sneak preview of what he has for us in the coming year.