Rev Writes - October 19

We all like to belong. At school, we all liked to be chosen for the team, whether it was playground hand-ball or school athletics. Being chosen gives a sense of belonging.

We’ve been exploring what it means to belong to NAC. So far, on the basis of 1 Corinthians 12 alone, we can see that serving others with the gifts God has given us is one aspect of belonging. We’ve started to think about how each one of us is serving others within the body of Christ, our church.

We’ve noticed that this thinking mustn’t be done in isolation for God has made each one of us members if his church here at NAC or WHAC. So we must think about how we serve in fellowship with others and the leaders God has given us.

So ministering to others is clearly one aspect of belonging to NAC. But there seems to be a problem with this idea. Over the years many courses have been developed to help us identify the gifts that God has given us. We’ve run some here at NAC. And people have been encouraged to serve others by using the gift/s they’ve identified.

But can you see a problem with this approach? I think the problem has arisen because we live in such a self-centred society. The courses have been designed to identify my gift/s. I am encouraged to use my gift/s in ministry to others.

But are they my gift/s? 1 Corinthians 12 reminds us that they are the Spirit’s gifts. He gives them. They belong to him. He enables us to minister effectively to others. He uses our ministry to edify others.

Also, in 1 Corinthians Paul’s focus is not on gifts but on love. It seemed the Corinthians focussed on giftedness, especially the more spectacular, self-promoting gifts. They were keen to be seen as spiritual. But Paul is keen on love. He is keen on serving, in a very practical sense. True spirituality is very practical (earthy) service of others and meeting their needs.

I think I saw this attitude in action when I was a new Christian. The Charismatic Movement had only just begun and our church was only slightly influenced by it. But the leaders, mostly lay people, encouraged me to do various ministries. I was invited to be an usher alongside other ushers. I was trained in Sunday School teaching and a year later given a class. I was given opportunities to speak about various things. I was invited to lead a youth group and to join the Parish Council.

No one ever asked if I had any gifts for these things! They simply looked for opportunities for me to serve others, to show practical, spiritual love. I was often out of my depth. But they stood with me and kept my head above the water so I didn’t drown. And I learnt to serve. I learnt to look for opportunities to help, to love others.

So, does membership at NAC mean I look at myself, my giftedness, or “how God has wired Me”? Perhaps a better way would be to look at 1 Corinthians 13, which isn’t for weddings but for church, and seek out opportunities to love – real earthy spirituality – even if I’m not sure if I have the gifts needed to help? Perhaps if we actually trusted the Spirit to enable us to serve we might discover we really are very spiritual indeed.

Neil Macken