Celebrating Diversity

April 14, 2015

“If the whole body were an eye where would the sense of hearing be?”  (1Corinthians 12:17)

There’s a story about a doctor who came out of the delivery room to tell an expectant father: “I have some grave news for you.  Your wife has given birth to a 7-pound eyeball.”  After pausing a moment he added: “And that’s not all. It’s blind!”

If you came home one night in the dark to find a 185 pound eyeball in the corner of your front porch, would that give you a rush of anxiety?

In this verse from First Corinthians the Apostle Paul uses an illustration just as grotesque as the illustrations I just used.  He does this in his inspired letter to the Corinthians because he wants to make a point: the beauty of diversity.

One of the fingerprints of the Church of Jesus Christ is that in the Church we celebrate diversity.  Diversity in the body of Christ is to be celebrated rather than resolved.  If two of us are exactly alike one of us is unnecessary.  Some of the members of the First Church of Corinth were telling others they were not authentically spiritual unless they had the exact same spiritual gifts.

Paul remedied that kind of thinking with the hideous metaphor of a body being just one member and not a body with the beauty of many diverse parts.  Other members of the body of Christ have what you do not have and you have what they do not have.  That means you need them and they need you.

The body of Christ is a team sport.  Are you willing to be a team player?

Step up and play your part.

Dick Woodward, 05 February 2013

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Gifts, Gifts, Gifts….

April 7, 2015

“What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?” (I Corinthians 4:7 NLT)

We would all do well to take a few minutes to think about and answer this intriguing question presented by the Apostle Paul.  Can you think of anything you have that you did not receive from God?  Can you think of all the wonderful things you have received from God?  According to the Bible our salvation is a gift from God.  The faith it takes to receive salvation is also a gift from God.  As Paul has implied, as we do a gift inventory we will find that God has given us many kinds of gifts.

Our DNA proves that God has given us a physical identity that is unique and different from every other person living on the planet.  Physically, there is not now, there never has been, and there never will be any one exactly like you.  God has also given us intellectual gifts that equip us to live smarter, not harder.

When we receive the gift of faith that saves us, God also gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit.  When we receive the Holy Spirit God adds a cluster of spiritual gifts that enable us to minister in many ways.  For example, He gives gifts of mercy which enable us to love those who are hurting with great compassion.  He gives the gifts of knowledge, wisdom, and teaching that make it possible for us to teach the Word of God.  He gives many gifts that equip us to lead others to Christ.

Today, make a gift inventory and thank God for all the gifts He has given you!

Dick Woodward, 07 February 2012

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Love First

August 19, 2014

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love… I am nothing.”  (I Corinthians 13:1-3)

In the middle of the first century, the Apostle Paul composed an inspired poem of love in which he declared that the agape love of God should be the number one priority of spiritual people. He wrote that love is greater than knowledge and more important than faith. His inspired words about love have been, and should be read in every generation of church history.  That includes you and me.

His teaching about spiritual gifts in the previous chapter concludes with: “Earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I will show you a more excellent way.”  (I Cor 12:31)  Paul begins the next chapter with his prescription for that most excellent way: “Let love be your greatest aim,” or “Put love first.” (LB, NEB)

A SUMMARY PARAPHRASE APPLICATION:

If we speak with great eloquence or in tongues without love, we’re just a lot of noise.  If we have all knowledge to understand all the Greek mysteries, the gift to speak as a prophet and enough faith to move mountains, unless we love as we do all those things, we are nothing.  If we give all our money to feed the poor and our body to be burned at the stake as a martyr, if we give and die without love, it profits us nothing.

Nothing we are, nothing we ever become, nothing we have and nothing we ever will have in the way of natural and spiritual gifts should ever move ahead of love as our first priority. Nothing we do, or ever will do as an expression of our faith, our gifts, our knowledge, or our generous, charitable, unconditionally-surrendered heart is worthy of comparison, or can replace love as we live out our personal priorities in this world.”

Dick Woodward, from A Prescription for Love

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A Gift Inventory

June 3, 2013

“I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord.” (John 1:23)

THE SEVENTH STEP: Evaluate and surrender your natural and spiritual gifts.

Once you get a good evaluation of your gift inventory, a principle application to the will of God for your life is to accept the limits of your limitations and the responsibility for your abilities.  John the Baptist is a good example of a man who implemented this application.  John knew who he was and he knew who he was not.  He said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness… ” That was who, what, and where John was to be.  He knew it was foolish to try to be more than he was called to be.  He also knew that life was too precious to be anything less than that voice crying in the wilderness.

I have known parishioners who experienced needless pain because they would not accept the limits of their limitations.  However, when we are evaluated at the judgment seat of Christ, most of us will suffer agonizing shortfall because we did not accept the responsibility for our abilities.  Like the unprofitable servant in The Parable of the Talents, some of us believe we are not gifted and we bury our talents (Matthew 25:14-30).

Your natural gifts are the result of your genetic heritage.  Your spiritual gifts come with the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12).  How are you utilizing them for God’s Kingdom?

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Gifts from God

February 7, 2012

 “What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?”         (1Corinthians 4:7 NLT)

We would all do well to think about and then answer this intriguing question presented by the Apostle Paul.  Can you think of anything you have that you did not receive from God?  Can you think of all the wonderful things you have received from God?  According to the Bible our salvation is a gift from God.  The faith it takes to receive salvation is also a gift from God.  As Paul has implied, if we will do a gift inventory we will find that God has given us many kinds of gifts.

Our DNA proves that God has given us a physical body that is unique and makes us different from every other person living on the planet.  Physically, there is not now, there never has been, and there never will be any one exactly like you.  God has given us intellectual gifts that equip us to live smarter, not harder.

When we receive the gift of faith that saves us God also gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit.  When we receive the Holy Spirit He adds a cluster of spiritual gifts that enable us to minister in many ways.  He can bring gifts of mercy which enable us to love those who are hurting with great compassion.  He can give us the gift of knowledge, wisdom and teaching that make it possible for us to teach the Word of God.  He can equip us to lead others to Christ.

Make a gift inventory and thank God for all the gifts He has given you!

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