Not Dead Yet
We Have More Than Enough
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
The church is constituted by the Holy Spirit. It calls, gathers, and enlightens God’s people together to serve God’s kingdom in the world and the local congregation plays a key role in this work. Within each congregation, God has appointed an abundance of gifts, talents, and passions apportioned for the work the congregation is called to. Too often congregations and leaders adopt a mentality of scarcity and believe they no longer have adequate means to carry out God’s work. The truth is, God has provided more than enough for all. The answers and solutions we seek for the future of our congregations lies within them. We already have the resources needed to carry out God’s mission. The first step is to deeply listen to God and one another, and the second step is to equip and empower those with gifts to use them for God’s work.
A Call for All
The early church, like today, was plagued with internal division. For the church in Corinth this meant tension between the powerful Jewish Christians and the less powerful Gentile Christians. Paul addresses this conflict by encouraging everyone to see the gifts God has allocated within the church to all people and to call people together around a vision for the common good. He reminds the more powerful Jewish Christians of their new identity through baptism and to see their need for the gifts of their Gentile Christians brothers and sisters.
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many.
The Body of Christ becomes a central image for the church. The body has many parts, all essential to work of the body. Each part of the body, while different, contributes an essential function to overall health of the body. No one part of the body is sufficient on its own but requires all of the different parts of the body working together.
This image of the church is far more than a call for superficial unity based on tolerance. Rather, it affirms the inherent worth and dignity of each person as needed for the functioning of God’s church in the world. To do God’s work we need everyone working together and fully utilizing their gifts for the common good. In order to achieve this holy calling, the church must summarily reject any doctrine or practice that marginalizes or subjugates any part of the Body of Christ. This leaves no room for arrogance or boasting; no space for one gift to prioritized to the detriment of another. We all have something to offer and we need everyone working together to achieve the kingdom work that God has called us to.
Paul’s call for unity amidst diversity is essential but elusive for the church. It is a continual challenge to always seek to include all voices and make room for new leaders, particularly when one group or type of gift has been historically valued more highly. This encompasses issues of racial and LGBTQ inclusion, but also around issues of education, class, immigration status, and more. In any given congregation there will be a wonderful diversity of gifts, personalities, experience, background, and viewpoints. God brought them together by the power of the Holy Spirit. Pastors and church leaders must seek ways to utilize and include all gifts and in so doing will unlock the purpose God has called it to.
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