The Romance of Romans-Part 84

[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 another.
And 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 second "reformational" point that I am positing for us as
believers and our groups out of this chapter is about moving
toward...A More Healthy Community. This involves creating a different
kind of relational culture than what has been generally modeled to us
in our histories within our societies at large and...usually...within
our families and churches as well. Unhealthy relational styles and
patterns have been stamped deeply upon our souls to the point where it
is often difficult and threatening for us to even be made aware of
them. In the NT, the apostles of Jesus hold out to us some high ideals
of what it looks like to glorify God in our inter-personal
relationships...to genuinely walk in the love of God. Their basic
model revolves around gracefully navigating the tensions of
individuality and interdependence...honoring diversity while
maintaining an essential unity in the community of faith. In his
epistles Paul utilized the image of the human body to help us intuit
and picture this dynamic.

Some years ago, I was privileged to become a friend, though separated
by time and space, with Dr. Larry Crabb. Still...we significantly
touched hearts. His books had already been making a deep impact on my
life when we met and his writings have continued to help me greatly
through the years. I believe the whole Body of Christ is indebted to
him for his wonderful contributions (forged in the fires of his own
vulnerable journey and musings) toward understanding both the
sanctification process and healthy relationships. He has helped to
identify the "radical middle" between the traditional
"moralistic" (You must try harder!) and "therapy" (You are a victim!)
approaches to these two vital issues by gleaning truths from each
polar opposite and integrating them into a more biblical context for
understanding and engaging our personal human life and our
relationships with others. I will write more about some critical
points from his book "Connecting" in the next blog.