The Romance of Romans-Part 87

[Michael]

Romans Chapter 12 cont'd

By the spiritual authority that God has vested in me, I challenge
every person among you, not to think more highly of yourself than you
should. We all need to receive "reality checks." God has given to all
of us a sphere of life and ministry in which to function for which we
also have been given the corresponding necessary amount of faith. Our
physical body is one and yet it has many members, each having a
different function. So the body of Christ is one and we, each of us,
are one of its many members. But even though we have various roles to
play, we are organically joined both to him and to one...Since we have
different gifts, let us excel in using what we specifically have been
given: if prophecy, then prophesy within the boundaries of genuine
faith; if service, then serve in a way that you can do it graciously;
if teaching, then teach in the areas in which you have true authority;
if exhortation, then exhort according to your spiritual passion; if
giving, then give from your heart without second guessing; if
leadership, then lead with excellence; if showing mercy, then do it
with the joy of the Lord.

Comments:

The third "reformational point" that I see standing out in this
chapter is what I would call "A More Humble Ministry". An interesting
way of studying the epistles of Paul is to dig into the background of
the cultures of the cities and regions to whom he wrote and notice
that the errors he sought to correct in the churches were a result of
the cultures "baptizing" the church communities with their embedded
evils. He labored to empower the followers of Jesus to stand against
the sinful elements of these cultural tides.

Our culture at large has become deeply affected and oriented around
"celebrity". We are bombarded with both head on and subliminal
messages from every quarter that if we are to possess and achieve real
meaning, significance and value, then we must strive to become noticed
by many. And...there are all kinds of powerful tools available to us
to assist us in "puffing" and "projecting" and "managing" our image.
Still, most of us fail to garner this kind of attention and therefore
kowtow to live under a satanic lie that we are living insignificant
lives. This then makes us vulnerable to finding some possible way to
"hook up" with someone or some group that is "significant"...or...we
simply resign ourselves to the fate that we must embrace our "boring
existence". That's when we become vulnerable to the plethora of the
cultural "medications" that are available to dull our aching hearts.

The apostle would challenge us to embrace a radically different view
of our lives and how we are to "be" and "do" in this world. We can
live truly "significant" lives without seeking or achieving
"celebrity". It begins by firmly rejecting the demonic lose-lose
paradigm of life described above. On one hand, we must come to a point
where we don't give a rip about how many people notice us or hear our
voice. We must become oriented around living for the "audience of
One"...and leave the degree of our impact on others in his capable
hands. Simultaneously, we must not submit to a "false modesty" about
what God has called and gifted us to offer to others. Neither should
we absolutely avoid utilizing the tools available to us to offer our
gifts to the people and world about us.

Humility is not about looking down on ourselves or pretending that we
are less gifted, capable, experienced, intelligent or discerning than
we are. Humility is realism...not posing. C. S. Lewis said that
humility is grounded simply in standing next to something infinitely
larger and higher than we are and noticing the difference.