Romans 12:3-8: Living in the Community of Christ

Introduction: God’s grace expressed in calling us into a community in which we participate

Tension:

-Individual vs. community

-Our culture is very much about the individual - identity and ambition revolve around individual people

-Other cultures throughout the world are rather communal - for example, South Korea

-The gospel is both individual AND communal

Let’s remind ourselves of the gospel:

The announcement that in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the triune God has acted decisively to reconcile the world to himself.

He has done this through Jesus offering his sinless perfect life as a substitute for ours on the cross, so that:

God can in his justice pour out his righteous wrath on sin in Jesus, who carried our sin for us

God can justify sinful humans by their faith in Jesus

This has two dimensions of implications for us

We are therefore saved FROM sin, death, and the just judgment of God

We are also saved INTO a kingdom, a family, a community, a body

We are given purpose and roles in this community

We are given gifts of jobs, roles, and purposes within the body of Christ

So when Paul says something like “by the grace given to me I say...” he is talking about how God in his grace has given Paul the role of apostle in the church, a leader, and so on that basis of God’s gracious gift to Paul, he speaks with authority.

Which is why Paul will often use the word “grace” as referring to jobs and roles that God gives his people

By his grace, God has saved us from sin

By his grace, God has given us a family and a purpose within that family

This is why the Christian life CANNOT BE LIVED ALONE - we are saved not just individually but corporately; we are saved INTO a body

Fundamental implication of this that we will explore today: every Christian is gifted by God to participate in the life of the community with purpose, for the building up of God’s people

So when we are talking about living out the faith that we profess, we are always talking about living it out in the context of relationships with other human beings, both those outside of the community and inside of it.

SO when Paul says something like, “by

What does life in the body of Christ look like? Here’s where we pick up in Romans 12:3.

I. Life in the body of Christ requires humility

Romans 12:3 ESV

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Romans 12:3

Do not think of yourself higher than you ought

A natural tendency of human beings is to think of ourselves centrally and first

In general this is true in all spheres of life

In particular with this context in , we often are proud and self-absorbed with regard to how we

But such self absorption has no place in the body of Christ

There is an insidious reality that the idea that everything orbits around us is a view that is rarely stated by often held - in other words, most people DON’T think that they think too highly of themselves - you esteem yourself however you esteem yourself and you assume how you do so is normal and natural

When we compare the gifts that we have been given to the gifts others have been given

Both jealousy and arrogance regarding gifting boil down to an essential over-estimation of my importance

Illustration: I do not have the gift of attention to detail - which means I get teased for leaving things everywhere, I WISH I HAD THE GIFT FOR DETAIL

What makes this idea difficult is that we often struggle to have the self awareness necessary to know if we think too highly of ourselves

Think of yourself with sober judgment

Take a long and careful look at yourself, and do this regularly

Practice self awareness

Ask others for honest input and the receive it

Let me ask some questions that might shed some light on how you esteem yourself

When you hear me say, “don’t think too highly of yourself,” does another person who does think too highly of themselves enter your mind?

Do you quickly assume without careful self reflection that you do not think too highly of yourself?

Do you compare your strengths and gifts to others?

When we compare the gifts that we have been given to the gifts others have been given

Do you think your gifts and strengths are more important than those of others? Less important?

Both jealousy and arrogance regarding gifting boil down to an essential over-estimation of my importance

Pride can be expressed as either arrogance or insecurity, two sides of the same coin

Arrogance says, “It’s all about me and how awesome I am”

Insecurity says, “It’s all about me and how terrible I am”

Humility says, “I have some gifts and strengths as well as some flaws and weaknesses, so I will leverage my strengths and by the grace of God work on my flaws, and I can do so openly and transparently because at rock bottom, this church does not rise or fall on my strengths and weaknesses”

Illustration: I do not have the gift of attention to detail - which means I get teased for leaving things everywhere, I WISH I HAD THE GIFT FOR DETAIL

Do you think your gifts and strengths are more important than those of others? Less important?

Do you regularly and transparently confess sin with your community?

If you don’t, it’s because either a) you just are really that awesome and don’t sin very much, or b) you refuse to practice transparency and vulnerability with brothers and sisters in Christ because you are proud

To what degree do you speak openly and transparently about your flaws and growth areas?

It takes humility and vulnerability to go beyond the vague statement “I’m not perfect” to specific areas of personal growth that the Lord is working on in you

Arrogance says, “It’s all about me and how awesome I am”

Pride acts as though I h ave no flaws

Insecurity says, “It’s all about me and how terrible I am”

Do you think, act like, or speak as if this community is fundamentally about you having a certain kind of experience?

What is the purpose of the church? Does the body of Christ orbit around me and my experience and preference?

The church exists to glorify God by participating with him in his mission of redeeming the world to himself by growing together as a body of Christ and living out a gospel witness in the world around us.

In a certain sense, the church exists for its non members as much as it exists for its members - that is to say, the church exists participate in the mission of God, which is to reconcile the world to himself. We do this by gathering together to be equipped and encouraged to scatter into the community every week to live out a gospel witness to our friends, coworkers, classmates, neighbors, families, and communities.

Do you act as though you have everything to teach and nothing to learn?

When you speak with people, do you truly listen to understand them or are you simply waiting until its your turn to speak?

I have to work really hard to listen well, because I have a tendency to believe that I am the smartest person in the room

Do you assume that you are the smartest person in the room at all times with nothing to learn from others?

Do you think that your gifts, insights and opinions are alone what the church needs to succeed and thrive?

If they would just do church MY WAY, everything would be great!

Think of yourself with sober judgment

Take a long and careful look at yourself, and do this regularly

Practice self awareness

Ask others for honest input and the receive it

Ultimately, we esteem ourselves according to faith

Not a quantity of faith, but a content of faith - we are supposed to esteem ourselves simply in light of our faith in Christ

God has reconciled us all back to him through faith in Christ

We were reconciled to God not by our work and merit but by God’s free gift of grace received through faith

Romans 11:17–22 ESV

17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. 19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22 Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.

We were reconciled to God not by our work and merit but by God’s free gift of grace received through faith

We were brought into the body of Christ through faith, and we stand fast only through faith

This is important: IT IS NOT OUR GIFTS that gives us value in the family of God, but our faith in Jesus that God esteemed us highly enough to offer as payment for our sin the ultimate price

Transition: Life in the body of Christ is characterized not by self-absorption by by humility.

But we do not possess these gifts as a result of our greatness but instead of his free mercy

We have absolutely nothing that was not given to us as a gift, therefore we cannot boast

II. Life in the body of Christ requires unity

Romans 12:4–5 ESV

4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

Romans 12:4–5 ESV

4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

As in one body

We have many members

And the members do not all have the same function

So we

Are many

We are diverse

We have different functions

Gifts, roles, personalities

Are one body

We are unified

Because we are one body IN CHRIST

We are united to Jesus by faith, and are therefore united to each other by our common faith

The basis of our unity is being in Christ

Old saying: “The ground at the foot of the cross is level”

And are individually members of each other

We all exist for the benefit of the body of Christ

Therefore, we belong to each other, and our gifts belong to each other

Again, none of us in this body exists to satisfy our own preferences or desire for a particular experience; we exist to edify and build up the body of Christ

And even this has a purpose; the building up of our body is not just for the sake of building up our body, but for the purpose of our church engaging with God in his mission to reconcile the world back to him - we exist individually in this community to build up this community so that this community would have a strong gospel witness in the city of Redmond, in Deschutes County, and further.

We exist as a community with one unified purpose; to glorify God by participating in his mission to reconcile the world to himself. How do we do this?

III. Life in the body of Christ requires the wise use of our gifts

Romans 12:6–8 ESV

6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Romans 12:6–8 ESV

6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Romans 12:

We all have different gifts

This is self apparent, so much so that Paul simply states it without defending or explaining it

More importantly, WE MUST USE THEM

If you have gifts for building up the church and are not using them, you are actually living in disobedience to God

Three important implications of this

No one person has every gift required for a healthy, thriving church

I DO NOT have every gift required for the health and robust gospel witness of this church

Every Christian is gifted by God to build up and edify the church to strengthen its gospel witness

Therefore, if any member of the church is not using his or her gifts to build up the church, the church will be lacking

Our church will be whole, complete, and healthy with a strong witness for the gospel to the degree to which we are able to mobilize every member of this community use their gifts for the building up of the church and the strengthening of its gospel witness

In other words, every member of this community that is NOT engaged in using their gifts to serve the church means that our church is incomplete and lacking

Summary: We need EVERY PERSON mobilized and engaged in serving this community in the ways that God has gifted them

Examples of gifts given for the building up of the church

This is not a complete or exhaustive list

There are several “lists” of spiritual gifts in the new testament, and none of them perfectly match

Therefore, none of these lists can be taken as exhaustive, but rather should be viewed as descriptive examples

Spiritual gifts are not personality traits - often people want to turn this into a “spiritual gifts inventory” that essentially looks like a pseudo-spiritual personality test

I think people gravitate toward this because we are desperate to know who are

But that’s not what Paul is doing here; he’s talking about roles in the church that God has uniquely gifted people for, and it’s not based upon personality but upon the grace of God to call and equip us for service

Comments on Paul’s list here

Prophecy - some people are gifted at speaking the word of God to his people

In the OT, the prophets were people who reminded the people of Israel what they had committed to in covenant relationship with God according to the Torah, and rebuked them for not living according to the covenant

The basic idea is that God has given certain people the ability to speak the truth of God’s word in such a way that it intersects with life in a convicting and challenging sort of way

Prophets can only speak “according to the faith” - there is a definite article

In other words, prophets speak according to the teachings of scriptures, the faith that we all adhere to.

Prophets simply make the word of God

We need prophets in our community who teach the scriptures in such a way to call people to lives of faithful obedience to Jesus

Service - the ability to delight in and commit to ordinary tasks that must be done in the life of the church

Teaching - helping people understand difficult to understand ideas, doctrines, teachings, scriptures, theology

Exhorting - encouraging people to practically live out the teachings of scripture in everyday life, to come alongside people in real life to give practical encouragement toward faith and obedience

Contributing - this has in mind financial support of the church

Everyone should participate in contributing to the needs of the church

Some are uniquely blessed and gifted for this, to do so with more available resources

The greek word translated to “generosity” is more accurately rendered as “single-mindedness”

Not giving to receive a favor in return or to exert influence over, but for the sole purpose of cheerfully and generously giving to the needs of the body

Leadership - the gift of energetic, passionate, visionary leadership in the community

Acts of mercy - the gift of coming alongside with those in difficult and painful circumstances with cheerful joy

“The word clearly points to something far from a grim determination to get through an unpleasant task. The person who has this gift is to be ‘radiant with joy.’ Mercy is not a grim duty but a joy and a delight.

The overarching point is that God in his grace has not only saved us FROM sin and death but has saved us INTO a community, a family, a body in which we are given a role and expected to participate.

Therefore, if you are in Christ, part of his body, YOU ARE GIFTED by God in different ways for the purpose of building up the body of Christ, that we might be a mature community with a robust and effective gospel witness in our city and beyond.

The gifts that our church possesses might not be all in this list - this is not a comprehensive list, and you might be gifted in ways that you don’t see on this list. THAT’S OK, Paul’s main point here is to USE the gifts God has given rather than to try to list an exhaustive group of gifts

So how do I know what my gifts are and what I should be doing to serve God’s people?

Ask some good questions

What am I good at?

What do I delight and have joy in with regard to serving the people of God?

What do I have that God could leverage for his mission and kingdom?

What do I have a sense that I should get involved in and participate in?

What needs does the church have? Where could I help?

We believe that God has given us everything necessary for a faithful and effective gospel witness here

Which means that we believe God is always at work bringing together the needs of his people with people who can meet those needs

Having asked some questions and reflected deeply, get involved

DO SOMETHING

Something is better than nothing, even if you need to try a couple of somethings before you get the right one

Receive feedback

If you try something and you thrive and get good feedback, chances are you are onto something and should develop and refine this gift

If you try something and it doesn’t work, it’s ok; listen to wise and gentle feedback that says, “hey maybe not this area”

Try something else

Conclusion

By the grace of God in the gospel, we are not only saved from sin and death, but we are saved into a community, a family, a body that we have purpose in, that we are expected and empowered by the Holy Spirit to participate in.

Let us take communion to celebrate and recognize that we have been adopted into the body of Christ by the blood of Christ.

Let us resolve in this to participate in the life of the community for the building up of the church so that we would have a mature community with a strong gospel witness in our city.