City Life Starter

Written by Scott Fiddler

The Word

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

11 All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

I Corinthians 12:1-7, 11 (NRSV)

7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

11 The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.

Ephesians 4:7, 11-13 (NRSV)

Reflection

My wife, Cindy and I, went to the Eagles concert Friday night at the Toyota Center. It was packed with more than 20,000 people there to see the group that sold more records than any American band in history. I was never a big Eagles fan—they were a little before my time and too much C&W influence for me—but I certainly appreciated their music.

During the concert, I checked out Wikipedia on Don Henley and Joe Walsh, the two oldest remaining members from the Eagles’ glory days in the 70s. After enjoying their success with the Eagles, both pursued solo careers for a time. Henley had a number of hits in the eighties—which was not before my time and was more my sound—and Joe Walsh had success on his own in the eighties. 

During the concert, both performed a couple songs from their solo careers, which I immediately recognized. What struck me though was how profoundly different their sounds and styles were from each other and from the  Eagles. Yet in all their solo success, Walsh’s “Maserati [that] goes one-eighty five,” and Henley’s “Dirty Laundry,” they were better as part of the Eagles.

In the Eagles, Henley’s unique voice and Walsh’s glitzy guitar riffs, when subordinated to the goal of the group, found appreciation in a broader audience. Regardless of one’s personal preference, the objective fact of records sales proves the point. As incredibly good as the individual members of the Eagles were, the whole was greater than any individual part or the sum of the parts.

Application

This is true in the church as well.  The Holy Spirit gives each member a gift—an innate ability for a type of ministry—and He graces that gift with His power, spiritually supercharging it for use. Ephesians 4:7. But He does so for a specific purpose: the equipping of the saints for service (Ephesians 4:11-13).  He gifts us, not for us, but for the good of the group, i.e., the church (I Corinthians 12:7).  As a result, what we can do in the group is ultimately more effective than what we can do on our own.

The corporateness of the church is not by accident, nor is God’s gifting of Christians for the good of the church rather than the glorification of self. The church is designed to function as a body because a body is more effective than any one limb. Recognizing that and embracing it should not be seen as a sacrifice on our part, just good judgment.

Prayer

Lord, please show me how to use the gifting You gave me for the greater purpose of building up Your church. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.