In this chapter Paul appeals for an active,
wholistic faith. “I urge you … to offer your bodies as living sacrifices …
which is your spiritual worship. (Verse
1) Being a follower of Jesus is not just about religion. It is about all of
life, the physical, intellectual, economic, social, emotional, artistic and
spiritual dimensions.
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of
this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,” Paul declares.
Bend your life to “God’s purpose, His good, pleasing and perfect goals. … Do
not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but with careful reason in
line with the measure of faith God has given to you.” (Verses
2-3) The high and mighty in New Testament times sat back and allowed others
to serve them; the lowly did the serving. When the text says, “do not think of
yourself more highly than you ought,” God is saying that He has expectations of
you that go beyond self-centered considerations such as not having enough time
for church ministries because of your demanding job. Or, wanting to invest time
in a hobby or sport while giving God only a couple of hours at church on
Sabbath. Or, closing your heart with prejudice against the poor, the alien, the
sick, the prisoner, the widow, the children, the teenagers, etc. “They need to
learn to take care of themselves” is not an acceptable attitude for genuine followers
of Jesus. God expects you to serve!
“Each member [has] different gifts, according to
the grace given us.” And then Paul lists a number of examples of these gifts,
but his consistent theme with each example is “use it” (Verse
6), “serve” (Verse
7), “do it” (Verse
8). Whether your gift is prophesy, service, teaching, counseling, giving,
leadership, showing compassion or anything else, the fundamental command of
Scripture in this passage is that God expects you to be active in that area of giftedness
in service to others. “Each member belongs to all the others.” (Verse
5) When you become part of the “body” (Verse
4), you take on certain obligations.
A passive faith in which one comes to church to
be inspired or entertained or taken care of and has no time to volunteer during
the week or take on ministry responsibilities is not a genuinely Christian
faith. It is a religion “of this world.” Unfortunately a large number of
Christians today are involved in this counterfeit kind of religion. Sociologists
call it “consumer religion” in which people come to church to have their
expectations met, not to meet the needs of others. That kind of religion is not
encouraged in the Adventist Church. For Adventists faith is not about “me,” it
is about “them”—the lost, the suffering, and the needy.
No comments:
Post a Comment