Understanding diversity. 1Corinthians 12:12-31 The Church is not an organization, nor a promotional agency. It was never designed to be a business. It was never designed to be run by paid professionals. It is a living system; an organism. The assembly at Corinth was not functioning as a body. They were chaotic, out of control, immature, immoral, selfish, proud, heretical, and divisive. They liked human philosophy, tolerated sin, sued each other, and were gluttonous, drunkards. They were sexually evil, allowed pagan worship, desecrated the Lord’s Table, perverted, and not trusted in the area of spiritual ministries. The area causing the most discord and disunity was spiritual gifts. They had counterfeited the true gifts. So instead of harmony, there was chaos. Paul is correcting this by pointing out things the way God planned. Accept the divine dignity God has placed in every member. Minister in the area in which God has gifted you. He never intended us to have all the same gifts. That is the beauty of the body. The body operates in Unity, Diversity, Sovereignty, and Harmony.
- Spiritual unity: Eph.4:3; 2:15-16; 4:4-6; Gal.3:28; Jn.17:20-23.
- Spiritual necessity: every person is important - no loners, drifters, spectators, or outsiders.
- Spiritual diversity: a body is one because it has all the necessary parts. You know your gifts when you allow the Spirit of God to use you in an area of service. When some carnality jams up the works, we often compensate rather than deal with the carnality. Diversity is no accident. If you teach – then teach. If you minister - then minister. If you speak - speak as the oracles of God.
- Spiritual sovereignty: God planned the Church. Be content with what God has given you and keep the sense of dignity God has given to every part of the body. God made you be what He wants. God organizes the entire body. Every believer should sense the dignity of having a capacity with which to minister for the benefit of others. We are not commanded to seek a gift. “Covet to prophesy” means to have that gift used when you come together. There is no place for discontent, selfishness, and conceit: God “tempered” – mixed the gifts together.
Because of the working of the Holy Spirit in the use of the diversity of gifts, there is order and blessing that comes when all the saints use their gifts willingly to serve others. Controlled diversity maintains strong unity. The Holy Spirit indwelling every believer unites us as one in the body of Christ no matter what nationality, race, or gender one is. Reality is seen when the fruit of the Spirit is seen in each person.
Maturity in spiritual things maintains that balance between diversity and unity that makes a body work properly and productively. To clarify the value of each gift the illustration the apostle Paul uses is the human body composed of many different parts, each with a unique work to do in the functioning of the whole body. To compare the work of an eye to the work of a foot or even a toe is foolish. Each one is different yet each one is important in the usefulness of the body.
God has a purpose in having diversified parts in the human body, in the body of Christ, and in the local church. No matter what we are in the body, we are mutually dependent on the distinctive function of each other. One might seem to be inferior because there is nothing spectacular about the work they do. Another might seem important because they stand out in public and are well known. Every gift is necessary for the proper function of the church of God in a locality. Generally speaking, the most important gifts in a local church are not very obvious outwardly in a way similar to our unseen important physical body parts.
If a gift is open and public like the use of a mouth or an arm, that does not make it more important than other parts of a body, nor does it indicate other unseen members of a body are of less value. The unseen heart or lungs have an essential use in the body that cannot be filled by any other part. One who has the wisdom of God and another who has unquestioning faith has a vital role to fill in the local assembly. These are as needed as a gifted speaker or one who has leadership ability. All of these gifts are from God and the diversity is for the united purpose of glorifying God.
When we recognize our need for each other and do not discount the contribution of any other person, no matter how seemingly insignificant their gift may appear to be, the unified strength of the body is experienced. There is never a need to feel dissatisfied with the work God has given us to do and the gift He has given to do it. To be "ready for every good work" is what our response should be. When a brother or sister has cause to rejoice, rejoice for them and with them. Don't be jealous of them. If one is weeping over a loss, don't ignore their suffering but comfort them and, if possible, share their grief. We should not isolate ourselves from other members of the assembly but keep involved with them even though each one is different from other people. Everyone is part of the whole and the unity and diversity of the whole lead to maturity.
Each assembly of God's people has been given by God what is needed for that group to fulfill the work God intends. A small company of saints may not be as gifted as a large group but that does not mean there is a failure. Each believer's gift enables them to fill the need where they live. No gift is superior to the others, but some are more beneficial to the whole body. Prophecy, for instance, benefits all who hear but the one who prophesies needs the benefits others’ gifts give to him. The Holy Spirit gives gifts to the local assembly as He sees the need, and we need the grace God gives to use them as God intends.
Every individual believer plays an important part in the functioning of an assembly. The apostles had seen the Lord Jesus Christ after He had risen from among the dead and had been called by Him to serve God as eyewitnesses to our Lord’s life and teaching when He was here. The prophets we able to be effective in guiding God’s people regarding what was ahead of them and how to face whatever would come by faith in God. All of the gifts are coordinated by the Head and we are all necessary for a spiritually healthy assembly.
It doesn’t serve any particular need for each person to know specifically whether spiritual gifts or natural talents are the guiding factors in one’s life. The Holy Spirit gifts us, knows us, and provides an understanding to us as to what needs to be done. Our part is to simply do what is obviously put before us with our might as unto the Lord. The goal is what is important, not the ability of a person but the availability and willingness to be used by God in whatever way He chooses.
The Lord Jesus Christ gives the needed grace, and life to fulfill what is needed in the human experience in which we live. The Spirit gives the spiritual gifts to accomplish what is needed when we submit to the will of our Lord. The objective of the use of the gifts is to strengthen the witness of the assembly before the world around and build up God’s people in their faith. Any personal benefit to an individual is a good but incidental side-effect.
It is the Holy Spirit who produces Christlikeness in the lives of the children of God. The fruit of the Spirit produces and displays the character traits of our Lord Jesus in believers. The gifts of the Spirit produce an effective ministry in the body of Christ that is able to be seen and used in the local church.