Paul's Vision for the Life of the Church Part 1 - Romans 12:3-8

Introduction

Paul, having established the bad news of guilt and the good news of grace, has now embarked upon the Christian response of gratitude. He seeks to answer the question: in light of grace, how should I then live?

Paul answers this question by defining the Christian life in two categories: worship and will.

The Christian life is one to be lived in whole-life worship of God, which takes shape in our lives as willful, intentional consent to the good, perfect, and pleasing will of God.

In verses 1 and 2, Paul dealt with the guiding principles of the Christian life. He now turns to the specific ways that those principles work themselves out in two categories: Christian conduct inside the church and Christian conduct outside the church. You might say that Paul addresses both internal and foreign affairs in chapter 12.

Our focus for today will be on verses 3-13, or the internal affairs section of this chapter.

We want to answer the question, with Paul: how should the church behave? How should Christians relate to one another?

With that being said, let’s dive in.

Authority: Paul’s Apostolic Gift - Verse 3a

Before Paul gets into these practical effects of the gospel, he feels a burden to re-establish his apostolic and pastoral authority. He does this by using this phrase “through the grace given to me.”

This is a common phrase of Paul’s, and he uses it throughout his writings as a descriptor of his apostolic calling.

We see this language clearly in Paul’s “ministry manifesto” in Ephesians 3:1-13. Can I have someone read that for me?

Ephesians 3:1–13 LSB

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— if indeed you heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. About which, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it was now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit: that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to proclaim to the Gentiles the good news of the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for all what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my afflictions on your behalf, which are your glory.

Do you hear that language laced throughout this? The grace given to Paul was for the purpose of ministering the unfathomable riches of the gospel to the the Gentiles. Paul is doing what he’s doing in accordance with the grace that God has given him.

Again in 1 Corinthians 3, Paul confirms and validates his ministry with this same phrase:

1 Corinthians 3:10 LSB

According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it.

Paul is able to minister to the Corinthians on the grounds of the apostolic grace given to him in Christ to serve in this capacity.

The same confirmation is in view in Galatians 2:7-9

Galatians 2:7–9 LSB

But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised (for He who worked in Peter unto his apostleship to the circumcised worked in me also unto the Gentiles), and recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.

Here we see that others, namely the inner circle of Jesus Himself, observe, verify, and confirm this outpouring of grace in Paul’s life.

So effectively with this phrase Paul is confirming and validating his apostolic ministry, grounding his authority to speak on these matters in the outpouring of grace that he has received.

This is summarized in 1 Corinthians 15:10

1 Corinthians 15:10 LSB

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.

The grace-fueled, grace-founded ministry of Paul is really the ministry of God Himself to the Roman church, and indeed to us.

So when Paul says that it is by the grace given to him that he speaks to us, we listen, because Paul is speaking as a minister and mouthpiece of God Himself.

Audience: Each Christian - Verse 3b

We have observed that Paul speaks through the grace given to him as a mouthpiece and minister of God Himself, and as he continues his thought, we see who he speaks to. Here, his audience is each individual Christian.

A brief survey of Paul’s writings indicates that he is fond of oscillating back and forth between addressing the corporate church body as a whole and addressing the individual Christian. We will see that as we transition into verse 4, we see that in Ephesians, we see that in 1 Thessalonians, and we see that in 1 Corinthians.

Paul is acknowledging that there are both personal aspects of the Christian life and corporate aspects of the Christian life. We are each different and unique before God, but we are also members of the covenant community.

So as we look at this text, you need to think of this as Paul speaking directly to you, the individual Christian, this morning.

Apprehension: A Humble and Accurate Self-Appraisal - Verse 3c

Paul’s exhortation here in verse 3 is primarily inward. It is a call to apprehend, appraise, and assess yourself rightly.

He makes a contrast and then gives an explanation: do not think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but think with sound thinking.

Paul is commanding you here: do not puff yourself up in your mind. Don’t starting thinking vainly about yourself, your gifts, and your abilities. Don’t elevate yourself as you consider who you are and what you’re capable of.

This theme of personal humility is woven throughout the Scriptures and certainly throughout the writings of Paul.

Proverbs 16:18–19 LSB

Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling. It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly Than to divide the spoil with the proud.

Philippians 2:1–4 LSB

Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, fulfill my joy, that you think the same way, by maintaining the same love, being united in spirit, thinking on one purpose, doing nothing from selfish ambition or vain glory, but with humility of mind regarding one another as more important than yourselves, not merely looking out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

1 Peter 5:5 LSB

You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.

Paul is following his typical pattern here. Everywhere that Paul speaks of humility, it is closely associated with church unity. Here, he prefaces unity with humility. In Philippians 1, he prefaces humility with unity. Peter agrees with this as well in 1 Peter 5.

The first step to walking in willful, whole-life worship, is to walk in humility.

Paul continues with a clarifying contrast: don’t think of yourself too highly, but rather assess yourself accurately. Think of yourself with sound thinking. The word here translated sound might also mean sensible, reasonable, or sober.

It’s easy to get caught up in what we can and can’t do, and what we are and are not capable of, and often we tend to elevate our own abilities and assume that we’re better than someone else at something.

In this case, Paul sees that the human tendency is to elevate one’s own spiritual giftings, given to them for serving the church, as more important than another. So he encourages everyone to consider themselves soberly, humbly, and accurately according to reality, not according to the rosy self-perspective that we often have.

Let me put feet to this.

It’s easy to say that the young, charismatic preacher is more valuable to the church than the elderly widow who labors in secret prayer for him every Sunday as he ascends the pulpit.

It’s easy to say that the talented musician is more valuable to the church than the quiet, introverted sound engineer who sits in the back and ensures that the congregation can hear the music.

It’s easy to say that the bright-eyed and cheerful greeter is more valuable to the church than the administrative assistant who showed up early to print the bulletins that the greeter is handing out.

But what Paul says here is that we are to assess ourselves and others with sensibility and reason.

Now why does he say that?

He explains at the end of verse 3. God has allotted to each Christian, each member of the church, a measure of faith. Whatever you have that you can do, whatever giftings you have, have been given to you by God. Apart from Him, you are nothing. You have no gifts.

So Paul’s exhortation here is for us to always remember as we serve and as we do things for the church, that the only way we are able to do them is because God has enabled us to do them. He has allotted these gifts to us, and just as the gift of salvation comes to us by faith, so also our gifts and abilities come to us by faith. We trust God and He provides just enough for each person to fulfill the role in His church that He desires for them at that time.

Unity in Diversity - Verse 4-5a

Paul now turns the corner into his full-blown imperative demonstration of how the church should operate. What does a healthy church look like? Paul paints a clear picture here.

He does this by using a vivid illustration, one that he has used elsewhere. That is the illustration of physiology, or the operation of the human body.

The human body is a vastly diverse and complex organism, and there are many parts to it. Yet there is a unity to the body. When we look at ourselves or at someone else, we simply see them as a whole person. They move, the breathe, they exist with a remarkable level of cohesion in the midst of the complexity.

Yet there is a great sense of diversity as well. A leg is not an arm. An ear is not an eye. A mouth is not a heart. The cardiovascular system fulfills different needs and functions than the musculoskeletal system. Bones are different from skin, skin is different from blood, blood is different from cartilage, and cartilage is different from muscle.

Yet this vast array of parts and pieces comes together in unity and in order as one body.

This analogy holds up extremely well as we seek to understand how the church ought to function.

For Paul, he sees the church as directly analogous to this body. It is made up of different people with different skillsets, different abilities, different personalities, different gifts. Liz is different from Jean, Jean is different from Paul, Paul is different from Richard, Richard is different from Wendy, and so on and so forth.

Yet in the midst of that diversity, Paul commands us to an equal level of unity, so that when someone looks at West Hills Church, they don’t see Liz and Jean and Paul and Richard and Wendy as much as they see West Hills Church.

This flies in the face of the prevailing concept of American individualism, and this is why I think many churches in America today are weak, anemic, and unhealthy. We have spent 250 years hanging our cultural hat on individualism, and that has resulted in churches and Christian culture that is focused on the diversity of the body but is missing the unity.

Yet Paul here acknowledges the diversity, but focuses on the unity. Look at verse 5. We are many, yet one body in Christ.

Paul’s vision for the church then is a unified, coherent body, moving in one direction, with one mission and one purpose.

Members of One Another - Verse 5b

Paul attaches another reality to his declaration of our unity in Christ, and also declares us to be members of one another.

There ought to be an intimate closeness between believers, particularly those that are part of one specific local body. Yet often church membership is less church membership and more country club membership.

The question for us today is this: do we take our membership in one another seriously? Are we invested in the lives of our brothers and sisters? Do we know them, really? Or do we ask “How are you doing?” without actually expecting to give or receive the bare truth when that question is asked?

Because here’s the thing: if the church is truly healthy and truly function the way it ought to function, we have a vested interest in the health of the rest of the body.

1 Corinthians 12:26 LSB

And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

That’s how the body works. When you have a problem with your eye, the rest of your body doesn’t just go on as if everything were a-okay. When you have a problem with your back, every other part of you is affected.

So also with the body of Christ. If one person in this room is suffering, all of us suffer with them. If one person rejoices, we all rejoice with them. When one person is struggling, that’s everyone’s problem. It’s easy to step back from people who are having problems. Our natural tendency is to shy away from other people’s messes.

But if we’re individually members of one another, we have no choice but to get involved in someone else’s mess because their mess is our mess if we’re part of the same body of Christ.

This requires two things from us: boldness and vulnerability. We need to be bold to ask people the hard questions. If you sense that something is off with someone, say something. And if something is off with you, be willing to open up about it. Be willing to allow someone else to bear your burden with you.

Now this is not license to be nosy, nor is it a license to constantly be complaining about your woes with everyone all the time, but rather a call to a more intimate community life.

I love what Charles Hodge says about this:

A Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans Commentary

The relation of believers to each other is far more intimate than that between the members of any external organization, whether civil or ecclesiastical. It is analogous to the mutual relation of the members of the same body, animated by one soul.

Do we pursue that intimacy? Do we pursue that closeness with others? Do we capitalize on every opportunity to build relationships?

I’m gonna get real with you all today. If you want the kind of intimate “membership in one another” community that Paul talks about here, you cannot show up to church late, and you cannot run as fast as you can out the back door as soon as Scott closes the sermon. 10am to 10:30am and 12 to 1pm around here are the most fertile periods of relationship-building that happen at this church, and if you’re not here then, you’re missing out.

Gifts

Now we come to the meat of Paul’s exhortation. Our life is to be a whole-life worship service before God, in willful consent to His will, and this whole life worship service is not done in isolation, but in the context of the local church. In that context then, what does whole-life willful worship look like? It looks like exercising your gifts with excellence for the good of the church and the glory of God.

Let me say that again: whole-life willful worship-service is exercising your gifts for the good of the church and the glory of God.

In other words, it is humbly assessing your capabilities, your strengths and weaknesses, taking that information, and putting it into action.

Paul lists 7 service categories here. Note that I am using the word category here. Paul is not here, I believe, speaking of specific individual gifts. Paul is speaking in categories. I believe almost anything a Christian does for the good of the church and the glory of God falls under one of these categories.

Further, Paul lists 3 ways in which these gifts are to be exercised: with generosity, with diligence, and with cheerfulness. In other words, your exercise of your gift for the good of the church and the glory of God ought to be done lavishly, in excess. It must be done with a strong work ethic, with your nose to the grindstone of excellence. It must be done with a gladness and joy of heart. We’ll get into that in more detail in a minute.

Let’s first look at these categories.

Prophecy

This is preaching or proclamation of the word of God, in keeping with the Old Testament office and the New Testament confirmation of it. This is not a person who speaks a new word from God, but rather a person who speaks the Old Word from God. This is not limited to the New Testament role of pastor. Anyone can speak the Word of God. We affirm the priesthood of all believers, and as such, each of has a right to declare the Word of God when necessary. Now those who are to fulfill the office of poimenos, episkopos, or presbuteros, the pastor, overseer, and elder, must be able to preach and proclaim “Thus saith the Lord,” but any time anyone declares the truth of God’s Word in any context, this is prophecy, preaching, and proclamation.

Service

This might be the largest and most broad category Paul offers here, yet it still takes a specific shape. This word here translated service and serving is the Greek word diakonia, where we get our English word deacon. Now at West Hills Church, we draw a distinction between the office of deacon and the act of service in the context of the local church. Deacons must serve, and indeed that is their primary role in the church, but that does not mean the every other member of the local church is not called upon to serve. We can find a good definition of serving in the context of the local church in the story of the first deacons from Acts 6:1-7

Acts 6:1–7 LSB

Now in those days, while the disciples were multiplying in number, there was grumbling from the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food. So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not pleasing to God for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. “Therefore, brothers, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this need. “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the service of the word.” And this word pleased the whole congregation, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch. And these they stood before the apostles, and after praying, they laid their hands on them. And the word of God kept on spreading, and the number of the disciples continued to multiply greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.

We see here that the early church is experiencing growing pains. There are needs that the church has that need to be met, and the apostles are being called upon to meet those needs, which is taking away from their ability to lead the church through prayer and preaching. So they appoint servants or deacons to take care of these other matters. So when we think of service, what we ought to think of is this: how can I protect my pastor’s time and energy and mental and emotional capacity, so that he can effectively lead our church through preaching and prayer? Senior pastors, especially of small churches, are often called upon to wear every hat. They are the teacher and preacher, they are the administrator, they are the bulletin printer, they are the music minister, they are the sidewalk shoveler, they are the plumber, they are the church accountant. To serve your church then, in the way that the early church understood it, was to use your gifts and abilities, whatever they may be, to protect the time and energy and emotional capacity of your pastor from “the whirlwind” of the day to day practical needs of the church. Probably the most comforting question you can ask your pastor is this: Pastor, what can I take off your plate?

But service goes beyond that. Serving in the church is taking whatever you are good at, and leveraging that for the good of the church and the glory of God. God has blessed each of us with a personality, skills, and talents, all of which are gifts, and these things must be put to eternal use in the service of God and His church.

Let me give you some examples.

The same skills that make someone a great accountant will make them a great church treasurer.

The same skills that make someone a great construction foreman will make them a great church facilities director.

The same skills that make someone a great IT technician will make them a great church website administrator.

The same skills that make someone a great barista at a coffee shop will make them a great church coffee prep person.

The same skills that make someone a great high school sports coach will make them a great mentor and discipler for young people in the church.

The same skills that make someone a great musician will make them a great member of the worship music team.

I think as a church, both here at West Hills and around the world, we would do well to think long and hard about what God has given us and how that can be used to serve the church.

God has given some of us the gift of strong bodies. Does something need moved or carried? You can serve.

God has given some of us the gift of extra time. Does someone need prayer or someone to talk to? You can serve.

God has given some of us the gift of pickup trucks. Does someone need help moving something large from one place to another? You can serve.

God has given some of us the gift of extroversion. Does a quieter visitor need to feel loved and welcomed? You can serve.

God has given some of us the gift of introversion. Does someone need a listening ear? You can serve.

Service is not limited to the office of deacon, nor is it limited to paid staff, nor is it limited to church leadership. All Christians must leverage the gifts given to them by God as good stewards for the good of the church and the glory of God. This is our calling. So to paraphrase President John F. Kennedy, ask not how your church can serve you, but ask how you can serve your church.

Teaching

Teaching is also on the prerequisite gifts and abilities that is required of a pastor, overseer, and elder, but that ability is not limited to that office, as we have already seen.

Teaching carries the connotation of moral instruction. Everywhere this word occurs in the New Testament, and it occurs 221 times, it is associated with moral and ethical instruction. To teach someone is to guide them in the right path, to encourage them in obedience.

This is a critical part of the Christian call to discipleship. Jesus commanded his disciples, and by extension us, to make disciples and then teach those disciples all that Jesus commanded.

To teach then is to make and mature disciples, to help them grow.

The question for all of us this morning is this: who are we teaching? Who are we discipling? Who are we helping to grow in their walk with Christ? Who are we pointing to the Scriptures? If you don’t have someone in your life that you are pouring into in this way, you need to find them. And I would take it a step further and say that you need to find them right here in this church. Paul does not place this command in the context of some other organization outside the local church. Discipleship doesn’t happen primarily at your Christian college or at your parachurch organization or at your lunch meetings with coworkers, though it can and should happen in those contexts from time to time. But the primary teaching and discipleship ministry of the church should be just that: of the church.

So I urge you this morning with Paul, look around and find the person that God is laying on your heart to reach out to, to teach them, to disciple them, to help them grow, and likewise be receptive to who that teacher and discipler may be for you.

Exhortation

Exhortation goes right along with teaching, and kind of dovetails right into the end of teaching. This is the summons, the call to obedience. This is getting in someone’s face and getting them fired up for the things of God. This is the mindset of the motivational speaker, who gets you up out of your chair and gets you doing something for God.

So who are you exhorting? Who are you getting fired up to get out there and live your life in whole-life willful worship service for the good of the church and the glory of God?

Giving

This word occurs in the New Testament hundreds of times, and many of those times it is associated with offerings and tithes, and that is meaning is what Paul seems to have in mind here.

A critical part of whole-life willful worship service to God is supporting the church financially. The simple fact of the matter is that fruitful gospel ministry requires financial support in order to grow and perpetuate. We trust that God will always provide for the needs of His church, but we also recognize that each of have a part to play in that provision. Again, as God has given us an allotment, so also we give of that bounty back to Him and to His church.

This was the pattern of the Old Testament, in which families were called upon to support the ministry of the temple and the priests and the Levites by giving out of their abundance back to the Lord and back to His appointed servants.

Certainly there is no shortage of various financial needs for any church in the 21st century. Whether it is simple needs like facility maintenance and repairs, electrical and water bills, or more ministry-oriented things like a Christian education fund or a mercy budget, God calls us to provide support financially to the church.

The question for us becomes this: what am I doing to support the ministry of my church financially?

This starts with a discipline that every Christian ought to master: the discipline of budgeting. We are called to be good stewards of all that God has given to us, and our finances certainly sit toward the top of that list. When we budget our finances for the year or the month, are we following the pattern of Old Testament worship and giving of our first and best to the Lord? Is your giving the first line on your budget? Or do you wait until all the other bills are paid and then give whatever might be left over to the Lord? The Lord is honored when we give of our first and best back to him, and will return that honor upon His servants who honor him well in that way.

Another important reality to consider here: Paul is giving us this instruction in the context of the local church.

Certainly we do not deny the value of parachurch ministries. In fact, we remain closely aligned with such parachurch ministries as Child Evangelism Fellowship and the Master’s University. But such ministries, though important and valuable, must be secondary to your support of the local church. This is the organization that God has promised in His Word to build and bless. Not the school. Not the camp. Not the club. The church is what God has instituted and promised to build and bless, and so it must be our financial priority as well.

I urge you then, this week, perhaps even this afternoon: sit down, take a look at your monthly expenses, and see where you might be able to cut back in order that you might give of your first and best to the Lord, by giving of your first and best to the local church.

Leadership

We turn now to leadership, and this is another requisite ability and gift of those who are called to be pastors, elders, and overseers, but is not exclusive to that office.

In fact, Paul tells Titus that the church in general is to be equipped and able to lead.

Now if you trace the morphology of this word through the New Testament, you find that it often carries the connotation of standing firm or being bold.

So what it means for each individual Christian among us to lead, simply means that we are bold and eager in taking initiative. Seeing what needs to be done and doing it. Taking care to observe the needs and wants of others and then stepping in to fulfill those needs. The leader in the church is not to be someone who is bossy or demanding, but someone who sets the example, takes the initiative, and demonstrates a pattern of being the first person to step up and walk in obedience to the commands of the Scripture.

In that way, all of us ought to be contributing as leaders. All of us ought to be looking for ways to serve by taking initiative and setting the example.

Showing Mercy

Showing mercy is compassion. This is walking with hurting people. As a church, Paul calls us not to shun or cast out the hurting, but to show compassion to them and walk with them in love as they suffer.

This was an essential part of Christ’s earthly ministry, and must mark his church as well.

Are we compassionate? Are we merciful? Do we seek out the hurting among our number and apply gospel salve to their wounds?

The church must not be cold toward those who are hurting, but must come alongside them and show them the mercy of Christ. They must extend a gentle hand and welcome the sufferer into the warm embrace of Christ and the church.

So what Paul does for us here is give us 7 categories through which we can understand our roles and responsibilities as Christians in the church. As we have seen, Paul puts practical feet to these ideas, giving us real life, real world counsel on how are to live as Christians in the context of the church.

We now turn to examine the three ways in which Paul says these gifts are to be exercised.

Generosity

We now turn our attention to the three ways in which Paul urges his readers to exercise these gifts. First is with generosity.

As we commit ourselves to whole-life willful worship service through the exercise of our gifts for the good of the church and the glory of God, we must do so in abundance.

Paul does not command reservation or hesitation in our commitment to our local church. We are to be generous in all these things. Paul pairs the command to generosity with giving, but it goes for all these gift categories as well.

As Christians, do we do the bare minimum for our church? Or do we do the most for our church? Do we go the extra mile to ensure that needs are met? Do we put in the extra effort to ensure that the practical operational things that need done are getting done?

Growing up in church, I have been perennially frustrated by the way some people approach their service to the church, specifically when dealing with things like drives and donations.

I can’t tell you how many times a box of what could only be described as second-hand junk was left on the doorstep of our church growing up with a note or something about giving this stuff to the church or to people in the church. Now I don’t say second hand junk as a snob. I genuinely mean stuff that should have just been thrown out. I ask in seriousness: why would you give your second-hand leftovers to the church and by extension to God?

True generosity says this: let me find the best that I can find, the best that I have, and give that to the church. Whichever of these categories you might find yourself serving in, generosity says that you are to give the first and best of whatever you have to the Lord and to His church. Not your second-hand throwaways, not the stuff you don’t want anymore, but the stuff that in your selfishness you might actually want for yourself! As Christians we ought to be willing and indeed eager to “give up the good stuff” for the sake of our church. And this isn’t just actual stuff. This is our time, our talents, and our treasures.

Diligence

This is the concept of work ethic. Are you diligent in your service to your church, to God, and to one another?

As Christians we often settle for the path of least resistance when it comes to serving our church and one another. “Whatever is easiest, simplest, and takes the least amount of time,” we say.

Paul’s command here, however, is to diligence. To hard work. To putting a little bit of sweat into what we’re doing for one another and for our church and for our Master. Paul urges us to the discipline of doing hard things, to borrow the title of a popular Christian youth book.

So friends, are we diligent? Are we earnest? Are we eager to serve one another, our church, and our Master? Paul’s vision for the Christian life requires it.

Cheerfulness

Finally, Paul exhorts us to cheerfulness or joy in what we are doing for each other, for the church, and for the Lord.

There ought to be no such thing as a glum or dour Christian, and this goes even when you are doing hard things in service of another person.

Showing up early for music rehearsal is hard.

Counting and logging the offering is hard.

Moving chairs is hard.

Talking with a challenging person is hard.

Cutting back so you can give more to the church is hard.

Much about the pursuit of whole-life willful worship service is hard. But we are called to seek joy, gladness, and cheerfulness in the midst of the challenge. In the midst of the sweat of diligence, in spending and being spent for the sake of others, there is a deep, sound, solid joy that comes in this.

Our commitment must be Paul’s commitment in 2 Corinthians 12:15

2 Corinthians 12:15 LSB

So I will most gladly spend and be fully spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?

Are you committed to that? To most gladly spending and being spent for the sake of others?

Conclusion

Paul’s vision for whole-life willful worship-service is one that is focused on the use of our time, talents, and treasures for the good of the church and the glory of God. It is to be a life of sober and accurate self-assessment, humility, and acknowledgment of God Himself as the giver of our time, talents, and treasures. It is to be a life of proclamation, of serving, of teaching, of exhorting, of giving, of leading, and of showing mercy, and of doing all of this with generosity, diligence, and cheerfulness.

May we be a church committed to these things. May this time be an opportunity for us to, in the power of the Holy Spirit, increase our own self-expenditure for the sake of our brothers and sisters, for the sake of the church, and for the glory of God Himself.

Paul is clear: we have our work cut out for us. So, with Christ as our head, the Spirit as our guide, and the pleasure of God as our goal, let’s get busy.