Every follower of Jesus Christ has her or his own way of serving.
Rocker Steve Taylor once wrote a song from the perspective of a new Christian. It was called I Want to Be a Clone. With tongue in cheek, Taylor sang in the last verse:
So now I see the whole design:
My church is an assembly line.
The parts are there, I'm feeling fine.
I Want To Be A Clone...
Does growing to be more like Jesus mean that we must all be the same? Not according to the Bible. In discussing what’s called “spiritual gifts” (more on that later), Paul says in the New Testament: “Now 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. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (First Corinthians 12:4-7).
Think of what Paul is saying in this way: A prism takes a single beam of light, filters it, and then refracts it in differing colors and directions. Jesus Christ is, according to the Bible, the light of the world (John 1:9). When that one true light floods our lives, it’s God’s desire that it be refracted through us in millions of different ways. We receive Christ into our lives and offer service to fellow believers and to others through the ministries of the Church.
Jesus Christ frees people who surrender to Him to become what I’ve called their true God-selves, the people God had in mind for us to be when He put us together in our mother’s wombs (Psalm 139:13).
We’re made to be part of a community called the Church, a community that exists in this world and in eternity. While God wants the Church to live in unity, He doesn’t expect uniformity. Some believers will feel comfortable in jeans; others will enjoy three-piece suits. For their ministries, some will sing; others will prepare dinners. Christ sets us free to refract and reflect His light in our own unique ways.
Every follower of Jesus Christ has his or her own way of serving.
Bible Passage to Ponder: “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).
3 comments:
Some similar comments on this blog post by Tim Challies:
http://www.challies.com/archives/christian-living/a-further-word-on-freedom.php
As I think about how to approach some unbelievers, the idea of how they perceive Christians and the Christian way of life is puzzling to me.
P.S. What are your top three Lutheran blogs?
Jeff:
No doubt Christians are increasingly aliens and strangers to the culture. Now, more than ever, Peter's admonition to always be prepared to give an account for the hope that is in us, but to do it with gentleness and reverence, is important.
Frankly, Jeff, I'd be hard pressed to name three Lutheran blogs. I like 'Claimed, Gathered, and Sent' (http://claimedgatheredandsent.blogspot.com/). My reading of other Lutheran blogs is sporadic.
Mark
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