Think with Sober Judgment

“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. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 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 12:3-8 ESV)

Not one of us should be egotistical and boastful and prideful, thinking that we are better than we really are. But we are also not to be those who are continually putting ourselves down, convinced that we can never accomplish anything good in this life, and that we can never be who God intended for us to be, or that we are doomed to remain where we are in a stalemate, not really going forward or backward. But we are to think of ourselves with realistic judgment in the eyes of the Lord, giving God the glory for all that is good within us and for all the good that is accomplished through us.

And with regard to the body of Christ and the gifts of the Spirit, all gifts of God are given to us by God and are not of our own doing, so we should never have cause to take credit ever for anything good that God is accomplishing through us for his glory and purposes. Credit should be given where credit is due. So if one of us has more gifts than another we should not boast as though we somehow did this ourselves. We did not! We can certainly share our testimonies of God’s callings on our lives and how God is using us, but as an encouragement to others, not to puff ourselves up.

Now the body of Christ, the true church, is made up of all who are of genuine faith in Jesus Christ across the globe. We are the universal body of Christ, one church which meets in many different locations. We are those who have, by faith in Jesus Christ, been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. So sin is no longer our master but Jesus Christ is our Lord and Master, and our will is to do the will of God for our lives, under his guidance and in his power.

And as members of the universal body of Christ we have all been given gifts of the Holy Spirit which are spiritual gifts and ministries. And we have all been assigned our specific body parts by God. But we have to be paying attention to listen to the Spirit within us showing us what our body parts are and where our areas of giftedness of the Spirit are, as well. But we must be those who are walking according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh, in order to be in tune with God so that we can hear his voice and know what his calling is upon our individual lives. And then we need to obey him.

Now we are not all going to have the same body parts or the same giftedness. And even if more than one of us has the gift of teaching, for example, we are not all going to teach in exactly the same way. But we should all be diligent in doing our best to make certain that we are correctly handling the word of truth, to the best of our understanding, so that we are not guilty of passing along lies which we were taught. So we should be students of the Scriptures who study and teach them in their appropriate context so that we remain true to the Scriptures and are not led astray.

Now if we have less and others have more, we should not be jealous of them. But we should praise the Lord for what he has given to us and trust that if he wants us to have more that he will be the one to initiate it, and that we will know that this is coming from him and not from within ourselves. We should always be content with whatever we are given by God and do our best, in the power of God, to do what God has called us to do in ministry to the body of Christ and to the people of this world. And not one of us should be neglectful to fulfill the roles to which God has called us.

So many of our present day “churches,” though, are not functioning as the biblical body of Christ. Largely what we have are large gatherings of people (Christian and non-Christian) who attend weekly services in a building called “church.” A typical gathering will usually begin with a praise band (mostly keyboard, guitars, drums, and singers) leading in some worship songs which may or may not be biblically sound in doctrine. And this is generally followed by announcements and an offering and then with one man (the preacher) giving the only sermon for the day. Then the people go home.

This “body” is, therefore, lopsided, and the gatherings are not fulfilling the purpose for which we are supposed to gather together as the body of Christ, which is for our mutual encouragement in the Spirit of God via the use of our individual spiritual gifts and body parts. For if this is the essence of our gatherings, then where do the gifts of the Spirit happen? How do the individual members use their gifts of prophecy, service, teaching, exhorting, contributing, leading, and showing mercy, if only a few select people do all the ministering while the rest of the body sits as spectators?

So, we all need to go back to what the New Testament teaches with regard to all of us functioning in the body parts assigned to us by God and all of us utilizing the Spiritual gifts given to us by God within the gatherings of the church, the body of Christ, for our mutual encouragement. For we are to be encouraging and exhorting one another and urging one another in our walks of faith toward obedience to Christ and the forsaking of our sins. And we are to be speaking the truth in love to one another so that we are not led astray by false teachings and so that we do not get trapped by sin’s deceitfulness.

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Gal 6:1; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:11-27; Eph 6:10-20; Php 2:1-8; Col 1:9; Col 3:12-16; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; Jas 5:19-20; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6; Jude 1:22-23]  

In Harmony  

An Original Work / September 2, 2012

Based off Ro. 12:9-21; 1 Pet. 3:8-17

Love each other truly. 

Cling to what is good.

Hate all that is evil. 

Never lack in zeal.

Serve the Lord with fervor. 

Joyful in hope be;

Patient in affliction; 

Praying faithfully.

Honor one another. 

Live in harmony.

Share with all God’s people

Who are found in need.

Do not be conceited.

Sympathetic be.

Love, and show compassion

In humility.

Keep your tongue from evil.

Peaceful you must be.

Honor one another.

Live in harmony.

God sees who are righteous;

Listens to their prayers.

But He’s against evil – 

Is His to avenge.

Do not fear what they fear.

Suffer patiently.

In your hearts, make Christ Lord.

Serve Him faithfully.

Honor one another.

Live in harmony.

https://vimeo.com/112832903