Life comes at us fast. How do our calendars get so full? Birthdays and conferences and vacations stack up. We miss church one week, and that turns into two, which turns to a month. Ever so sneakily, new rhythms have crept in and getting to church feels like a challenge.
“How much is it really hurting my spiritual life, anyway?” you wonder. “I still read the Bible. I listen to sermons online sometimes.”
I’m so glad that you are pursuing God on your own. But your spiritual life isn’t intended to be lived out alone. It’s not even designed to be lived out with just you and your family. Part of God’s purposes for you are only found in the context of the gathered family of God.
What if the church is missing you, not just for you to fill a chair, but for the gifts that you bring? What if the church isn’t whole without you?
That’s the perspective Paul has when he writes the church at Corinth. He wants to let them know that every one of them has gifts. Those gifts are given by the Spirit of God who, if they are followers of Jesus, indwells them. He explains, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Cor 12:7). That final phrase is crucial. Our gifts are given to us by God “for the common good.” They’re given to us for the good of God’s church, God’s family. Paul continues, “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” (1 Cor 12:12)
Paul explains what some of those gifts are. He then goes on to explain that it’s for God’s good purposes that we aren’t all the same type. We likewise can’t look at a part of the body and say “I have no need of you,” (1 Cor 12:21b). God gives us all different gifts and gives us purpose in the body, “that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together” (1 Cor 12:25-26).
In fact, Paul says this all points to our ability to love, which is lived out in community. Paul points to the body of Christ. He says that the body, as it is composed by means of reciprocal gifting, grows together in deep love. In the community of faith, we see these profound words lived out,
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Cor 13:4-7)
In other words, our participation in the family of God with the Spirit-given gifts he has given us has nothing less at stake than love. We are given gifts by God for unity and for love. We can’t sit on the sidelines with our gifts tucked away and think that unity and love won’t be impacted. They are.
I’ve missed you, friend. I hope to see you soon. I’ve missed your smile. I’ve missed your kind questions. I’ve missed your gifts. You make us so much better. Hope to see you Sunday.
Photo by Andrew Seaman on Unsplash