I like to think of the church as a planting of the Lord, to display God’s glory – but it’s not thousands of acres of soybeans, all the way from your toes to the horizon. Nor is it the backyard version with a row of tomatoes here, and two neat rows of corn there, and a gardener armed with Miracle Gro in one hand and Round Up in the other. I like to think of the church as a forest – with layers and layers of life, intricately woven in the depths of the earth, a wild and wonderful web, unruly, displaying God’s glory.
Inspired by Scripture, we think of the church as a creation of the Spirit, and we associate the Spirit with the breath of God, a dove descending from above, a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and tongues, as of fire, inspiring speech and understanding. Joel speaks of the Spirit being poured out, and Paul adds to the richness of imagery by suggesting that we drink the Spirit. Drinking, pouring, blazing, burning, hovering, blowing – all the ancient cosmic elements are hinted at, water, wind, and fire, except one: earth. Earth is in view, in all instances, as that which is transformed, revived, and renewed by the heavenly Spirit’s active presence.
Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit loves variety, so the wide range of imagery seems more than appropriate. I like to think of the church as a planting of the Lord, a wild and wonderful web, unruly, and yet displaying the glory of God. Trouble is, not all kinds of unruly are glorious.
The trouble facing Paul in Corinth became manifest in divisions and quarrels between groups in the church, in rude and thoughtless behavior at the table, and in the false, pious pride of some who thought of themselves as more advanced in spiritual things than the rest of the church. One author calls it “a confused mayhem of competition” “We’re the true Christians,” it appears some assured one another, “compared to us – the few, the proud, the spiritual – the rest are mere amateurs.” They loved to talk about the flashy, spiritual experiences they themselves had or were able to inspire in others – proof, to them, that they possessed the Holy Spirit. The others? Eh, not so much.
Paul told them to cut it out. “What do you have,” he writes in chapter 4, “that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?” We’re recipients of divine grace, so what’s there to boast about? And then Paul gave the church one of the first lessons in diversity, equity, and inclusion.
There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.
And there are varieties of services, but the same Lord.
And there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.
There’s a rich variety of gifts, services, and activities in the church, all of which share a common source and purpose. Healing, prophecy, speaking in tongues, teaching, singing, visiting shut-ins, making dinner for homeless guests, tweaking numbers on a spreadsheet to balance the budget, mailing bulletins, praying at the table – all these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. Everyone who confesses that Jesus is Lord is gifted by the Holy Spirit, not just the few who like to be recognized as the spiritual major league players. The Holy Spirit is not a special gift to a select few in the church, but the Giver of all gifts to the church. All who confess Jesus as Lord, all, without exception, are recipients of the Spirit’s gifts.
There’s nothing to boast about. All there is to talk about is the proper use of the Spirit’s gifts. And what is proper according to Paul?
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
The gifts aren’t for individual self-aggrandizement but for the community. Each gift, however unique and spectacular it may appear, is meant to be used for the common good. And each gift, however common and unspectacular it may appear, is essential for the well-being and usefulness of the whole. Spiritual gifts are not religious status symbols; they are means to serve the community in a variety of ways, as part of the mission of the church in the world. Now, I don’t think that Paul wants us to spend our time gazing into the mirror or into the depths of the internet, wondering what our personal gift profile might be. I’m certain he would prefer that we simply be about the business of using our gifts in service to the community. Most of your gifts you’ll discover as you go, and a good number of them others will see in you before you yourself have a clue.
Paul tells the church that differences aren’t something we must grudgingly accept. Diversity, including diversity of gifts, is a necessary dimension of being church we must embrace and cultivate. To make his point, Paul uses the common metaphor of the body.
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. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of the one Spirit.
In Paul’s world, the world of the Roman empire, the metaphor of the body was used to maintain the status quo by admonishing the lower classes to stay in their place. Here’s a great example by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, from his History of Rome.
A commonwealth resembles in some measure a human body. For each of them … consists of many parts; and no one of their parts either has the same function or performs the same service as the others. If, now, these parts of the human body should be endowed, each for itself, with perception and a voice of its own and a sedition should then arise among them, all of them uniting against the belly alone, and the feet should say that the whole body rests on them; the hands, that they ply the crafts, secure provisions, fight with enemies, and contribute many other advantages toward the common good; the shoulders, that they bear all the burdens… [and so on]; and then all these should say to the belly, “And you, good creature, which of these things do you do? What return do you make and of what use are you to us? Indeed, you are so far from doing anything for us or assisting us in accomplishing anything useful for the common good that you are actually a hindrance and a trouble to us and … compel us to serve you and to bring things to you from everywhere for the gratification of your desires. Come now, why do we not assert our liberty and free ourselves from the many troubles we undergo for the sake of this creature?”
What would be the outcome? Starvation. “No one can deny it,” the speaker declares.
Now consider the same condition existing in a commonwealth … composed of many classes of people not at all resembling one another, every one of which contributes some particular service to the common good… For some cultivate the fields, some fight against the enemy in defense of those fields, others carry on much useful trade by sea, and still others ply the necessary crafts. If, then, all these different classes of people should rise against the senate, which is composed of the best men, and say, “As for you, senate, what good do you do us, and for what reason do you presume to rule over others? Not a thing can you name. Well then, shall we not now at last free ourselves from this tyranny of yours and live without a leader?” If … they should take this resolution and quit their usual employments, what will hinder this miserable commonwealth from perishing miserably by famine, war and every other evil? Learn, therefore, plebeians, that just as the belly … nourishes the body even while it is itself nourished, and preserves it while it is preserved itself, and is a kind of feast, as it were, provided by joint contributions, which as a result of the exchange duly distributes that which is beneficial to each and all, so in commonwealths the senate … provides what is expedient for everyone, preserves, guards, and corrects all things.
Paul has no interest in admonishing plebeians to stay in their place and to trust the wisdom and benevolence of a senate composed of the best of men. Paul uses the body metaphor to speak of this new community where men and women, rich and poor, free citizens and enslaved people, Jews and Gentiles come together, recognizing each other as indispensable members of the body of Christ in the world, and, perhaps even more challenging, as equally beloved siblings in the household of God.
The gospel is inherently cross-cultural and inevitably at odds with every cultural enclave – including our own. The gospel is neither Orthodox nor Protestant, neither traditional nor contemporary, neither liberal nor conservative. The gospel is bound to no particular culture, gender, nation, ethnic group, or class. It is a challenge to any culture that isn’t a culture of love.
I like to think of the church as a forest – with layers and layers of life, intricately woven in the depths of the earth, a wild and wonderful web, unruly, yet displaying God’s glory. No, not all kinds of unruly are glorious. The Holy Spirit is at work in the world, creating a community where love reigns, and in that work we are both recipients and agents of the Spirit’s transforming power. Thanks be to God.
See pdf (including references, which aren’t in this post)