Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to dumb idols. Therefore I want you to know that no-one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus be cursed,’ and no-one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit. There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
1 Corinthians 12:1-6 NIVUK
Many years ago, I had been in Budapest when I decided go make a slight diversion on my journey home. So I dropped my class of train, changed at Arad and passed through Timișoara to visit a friend on my way back to Brașov.
While we were strolling towards Unity Square, I could hear hard rock electric guitar ruffs snarling out of one side of the square. I was curious, so we wandered over to take a look. There were a lot of guys and girls hanging around who were dressed in denim and leather, some had long hair, some had tattoos. And the words of the songs they were singing mentioned Jesus, in a good way, not a bad one.
My friend told me, rather nonchalantly, ‘Oh, yes, they're from the heavy metal church...’
Another retired pastor was walking down one of the main shopping streets of the city where I was born when he heard rap music blaring out. He was a bit irritated – he hates rap – and he had to get past it to go where he needed to go.
However, as he walked past them, and saw them nodding their heads like chickens in baseball caps pecking corn, he caught some of the lyrics that were being rapped. They were about Jesus – and in a good way. The rapper was preaching the Gospel. His assistants were handing out tracks.
The retired pastor preached as he passed the rapper: ‘Lord, let someone be blessed by this – because I don’t feel blessed at all!’
I even met a guy who was on a missionary training course who thought puppets were unholy. Yep, this guy’s church was so conservative that he thought puppets should not be used in children’s evangelism because they were unspiritual.
However, he changed his mind completely when he saw how children were utterly transfixed by them and took in everything they heard.
I have seen all sorts of churches: from a Romanian Pentecostal church that sings country and western music in their services, to rhythmic, out of tune but incredibly enthusiastic worship from Roma churches, to a church that sung rock and roll because the electronic drumbeat on their praise and worship leader’s keyboard was stuck, to another that sung along with Celtic worship CDs.
But let me tell you one thing I can say for sure from these verses:
It’s the same Spirit in all of them.
Paul had good reasons for teaching this vital principle. You see, the church had expanded from its origins as a Jewish offshoot into the non-Jewish, Gentile world of the Greeks and other European peoples. Each of them had different culturally appropriate ways of worship.
Speaking in tongues, as we will see later on, is a good example of this. We don’t really see any mention of the use of ecstatic languages anywhere else other than Acts and 1 Corinthians. It just doesn’t seem to be an issue anywhere else. I believe this is because it had been an established way of worship for people from the pagan Gentile world to worship, but was less established in Judaism.
Elsewhere in this letter, Paul establishes standards and rules for the acceptance of speaking in tongues as part of worship in mixed Jewish-Gentile churches.
He sees worship by both Jew and Gentile as being in the same Spirit.
Paul is building his argument here. He starts by saying that no-one can name Jesus Christ as Lord here without the Holy Spirit. Now he’s saying that the same Spirit can manifest itself in different ways. He lists three of these ways:
Gifts: special and unique abilities given by God to fulfil His purpose, which we will see later on. The Greek word used here is charisma, indicating a specific type of gift – one that is a gift of grace and not deserved or earned. So this is not something that is earned or learned or obtained. It is instead a natural ability given by God and distributed by the Holy Spirit.
Service: the Greek word here is diakona, from which we get our word ‘deacon’. This indicates that God not only provides the gifting, but also the opportunities to use it in the service of others. The word had particular emphasis on those who hold a particular office of responsibility within the church.
Work: the Greek word here is energema, from which we get our word ‘energy’. There is a miraculous element to this (1 Corinthians 12:10), but Paul also uses the same word twice in Philippians 2:13, to refer to God’s work in us.
So we see that the Holy Spirit gives people different gifts and abilities, different responsibilities and opportunities, and the energy to do the work.
Paul’s point is not to seek after higher or greater roles, or to snipe and criticise those who have them, or to look down on those who don't have them. Paul’s point is that we should accept and respect those who have different roles, responsibilities and gifts within the church because the same God who gave us our roles, responsibilities and gifts gave theirs too.
We can think of this like a big company. In a big company there is often an accounting and finance department, an IT department, a law department, operational staff, a public relations department, a health and safety department, a human resources department, and, of course, senior management.
You wouldn’t ask a cleaner to fix your computer, or put a member of the IT department to face the press in a press conference, or an ask an accountant for advice on an HR matter.
In a big company, we respect that there are different people with different jobs in different departments and all are needed to make the company work.
Paul’s point is that the church is the same, and it is the Spirit working in all of us that provides us with the different manifestations of the Spirit to make the church work.
But what if we saw our different denominations in the same way?
Pentecostals tend to be more evangelistic, more enthusiastic, more emotional, more youthful. They could provide the dynamism and energy.
Baptists tend to be middle class movers: doctors, teachers, lawyers, accountants, IT workers... people with qualifications. They are great strategists and planners. They could provide the structure and the planning. Not to mention the financial resources, as they tend to be better educated and better off.
Along with Brethren/Evangelical churches, they produce fine theologians and brilliant teachers.
Believers from a Catholic or Orthodox background tend to be a bit more mystical, a bit more aligned with creativity, the use of liturgy and the whole sensory experience of worship – elements that (and I'm not talking about the idol worship of the saints and the unhealthy veneration of church history) protestant churches have largely left behind and lack.
What if we stopped criticising other denominations and approached the differences between us with humility, seeking to learn, rather than judge and condemn?
Paul wrote one of his most passionate letters to a church divided by big personalities – as often happens between denominations (after all, the differences between the theologies of all the major protestant denominations are nowhere near as wide as we think) – and he penned these words to make them see what is possible:
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Philippians 2:1-5 NIVUK
This wonderful plea is something we will likely return to during this series of meditations. But let me make one point from this that is very pertinent to this message:
A Christ-like mind is not opinionated. It is not self-seeking. It does need to win irrelevant arguments to feel good about itself.
A Christ-like mind is humble. A Christ-like mind is gentle. A Christ-like mind is patient.
A Christ-like mind is a mind that seeks the unity of all who claim His Name.
Because a Christ-like mind recognises the same truth that Peter realised when he first preached tor Gospel to the Gentiles in Joppa:
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, ‘Surely no-one can stand in the way of their being baptised with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.’ So he ordered that they be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.
Acts 10:44-48 NIVUK
If they have worship the same God as us and claim to follow Him, despite our culture’s defiance of Him, then they have the same Spirit. And if they have the same Spirit:
The voice spoke to him a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’
Acts 10:15 NIVUK
Then they are part of the Body of Christ. And so are we.
So it makes no sense to separate ourselves from them.
Questions
Have you ever come across an expression of Christianity that was different from your own? How did you react?
What do you think of the idea that such Christians could simply be a different part of the same body?
Do you believe that you are fully playing your part within the Body of Christ?
The Cypriot church is very different to our way of worship. Loads of incense, candles and figurines yet they are sincere in how they worship.