:1 There is authoritative teaching when it comes to spiritual gifts. This isn't just a free for all, what you think is just as good as what I think kind of deal. He doesn't want to leave them uninformed and groping to figure this out when there is clear, light giving teaching on the topic. This also, apparently, is something that they had asked him about and expressed either confusion and asking for help, or they expressed knowledge on the subject that Paul read and observed their confusion in what they thought they knew on the topic. Perhaps they made assertions that he knows are untrue and now wants to clarify or they asked in earnest and he is now taking his quill to address them.
:2 Everyone is being led somewhere by something. Pagans are being led somewhere by idols. Those who have become Christians are no longer pagans. It would be inappropriate to be led by things that no longer fit who you are. You are Christians, you should be led by the Spirit.
:3 Christians are being led further upward and inward. Up in maturity and in to Christ. And there is no up without going in and you cannot be in without going more up.
:4 And while this is an across the board, universal Christian experience, it manifests itself in a variety of ways within those in whom it manifests itself. In other words, all Christians will grow up and in, but how the Spirit overflows up and out of them will look differently.
:4-6 varieties of gifts, services and activities, but one Spirit, one Lord, one God. God is Himself a unity of diversity. Three persons and one God is a living illustration of the university (unity of diversity).
:7 every Christian has been equipped to do what they have been called to do. Everyone is not called to do everything, but everyone who is a Christian has been called to do something and they can't blame God that they have been given a task without the tools. In other words, God has not set His children up for failure.
:8-11 Paul lists of some for examples and ends by saying that just as the gifts may vary per person, the apportioned amount of any gift may vary per person. So you can have one person with knowledge and another with tongues, and you can have one with healing and another with MORE healing.
:12-13 God did not send a Jew born of Jews to save only Jews. He didn't send a Greek born Messiah to save Greeks, a slave born Messiah to save slaves, etc… He sent one Messiah to live, die and resurrect for all kinds of peoples. Every Christian belongs to and submits to the one Christ. He is the one Head of the one body. There are many things to do underneath the headship of Christ, but only one Head and there are no job openings or possibility of promotion. But there are all kinds of jobs to do south of the neck line in the Christian body = church
:14-26 God arranged the body. If you do not like the body, your problem is not with the rest of the body, but with God who arranged it. hands and eyes have no reason to boast or to belittle their positions. God put them there and it is in that confidence that they can serve, enjoy their place and endure the difficulties that come with wherever they have been stationed. Every body part has its problems. Eyes get blinded, fingers get smashed, knees get scraped, stomach growl, lips chap and the small of your itches where you can't reach it.
When you have a headache, your whole body suffers. You aren't free to just go about your business while your brain aches. A hangnail can ruin your entire day, a stubbed toe, etc… It's all connected.
:27-31 that isn't too say that all gifts are equal. They are equal in one sense and not in another. They are all valuable, but some are higher than others. Hierarchy is not a product of sin. This comes full circle to the Trinity discussion with which he began. There is a hierarchy in the Godhead but no sin. Because we are sinners, we abuse hierarchy on either end of it, but Paul doesn't try to solve the problem by yanking God's design out from under the dining table like a white linen sheet. He insists that order is really there and some gifts really are higher up and that people should desire the higher gifts (if they're wanting to be desirous of something, but not in a lustful way (James 4).
Everyone doesn't have to be everything…. And that's Good News! God is everything and He can divide all that He is into human size portions and divvy it out as He pleases. We don't have to be all to everybody because we can't and God isn't even asking us to. He is asking us to join hands and be part of something that is more representative of what the church should be. Whatever you think the church is failing at, join it and help not fail at it. who is the church? You are!
Who is Todd? His head? Sure. His feet? Yep. His kidney? Yep. All of it. Corn on the cob is really just Corn. Corn off the cob is the equivalent of body parts scattered about. What many think the church should be would resemble more of a crime scene than a body. A body is an integrated system of parts which are able to be defined distinctly, but cannot function properly without each other.
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