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PLAYING ON GOD’S TEAM
1. Nobody Rides the Pine
I’ve always loved the special joy in a pick up football game as the quarterback. The reason: you can take advantage of incredibly diverse abilities in football. There’s always a player the other team quickly forgets about. It could be the token girl or, it could be someone’s little brother. These people are perfect for trick plays:
- give the ball to the little guy and have him run behind student body right. Or…
- have your studs go deep and little Billy is all alone for the easy 10 yard pick up.
In these situations, I’ve watched a Billy or a Susie run back to the huddle after the big gain or the score, with a special look on their face. This is what I realize in those moments: They are beaming on the inside because they know that who they are was important for the success of the team.
In other words, they realize that if they were somehow different, bigger, stronger, faster, a different gender, the play wouldn’t have worked. THE PLAY NEEDED THEM AS THEY WERE, NOT AS THEY WEREN’T. It’s this dawning sense of value: I’m useful as me, not as someone else. Who I am is important. I don’t have to be anyone else to be needed.
As Christians, and MEMBERS OF CHRIST’S BODY, we’re each needed as we are. There is something about our unique SHAPE, that is required for success in the local church. When Christians not only realize this, but then make their unique contribution, the same thing happens, they beam with an internal glow that says, “wow, God used me.” Lives are changed, eternities are changed society changes and God gets the glory, pinch me it doesn’t get any better than this…
Friends, this incredible picture happens when we realize what it means to play on God’s Team. And that’s what Paul spends the last half of his first letter to the Corinthians talking about (series). Let’s read:
(SLIDE) I. TRUE SPIRITUALITY: I COR 12:1 - 3 READ (pg 813).
1 Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.
2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.
3 Therefore I tell you 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.
The first thing I want to draw your attention to is that the thing Paul doesn’t want them to be ignorant of is not merely spiritual gifts – those special divine enablements that all Christ followers get – it’s something much broader. The word “gift” is added in the English to make it congruent with the following verses that get more specific but it’s not in the Greek. A very literal translation of verse one would be:
Brothers I don’t want you to be ignorant about spiritual things, or spirituality.
In other words, as the New Living Translations puts it: “I want you to know how to discern what is truly from God.” Before you can be a player on God’s Team, men and women, you must have an accurate understanding of godly spirituality. Now let me give you some context:
Here’s the situation: Corinth was the San Francisco of the first century world. It was the red light district in Amsterdam, it was Greenwich Village in New York, it was South Central L.A. You get the picture? To live like a Corinthian was an nickname for anyone who lived in total moral laxity. It was a place where people have just given way to anything that feels good, sexually, spiritually, relationally – self is the total focus.
So guess what? When Paul planted a church there, there were some problems. Snobbishness, division, sexual permissiveness, were all problems in that church which spawned this letter - but there was one specific problem which is the reason for Chapter 12:
The Corinthian believers were saved out of the ancient pagan mystery cults. So they were very “spiritual” people BEFORE they became Christians. The theology they embraced was basic paganism or mysticism, which says that spirits inhabit the rocks and trees and the gods be they evil or good can come upon you and move you.
In fact, in these cults spiritual experiences were common and very strong. The Corinthians before they became Christians, would be used to being “moved” by some supernatural force into a state of trance or into ecstasy or to do something strange or weird. So spiritual experiences were expected as the proof that something truly supernatural was happening.
Now that’s why Paul reminds them of their former life. The Corinthians knew all too well there was SOMETHING behind idol worship because there was a powerful spirituality surrounding them. Paul doesn’t deny this, because he says it had the power to influence or lead astray - but when he calls them dumb he means simple they were pointless, they didn’t lead to anything.
A blind guide is not unreal, or a figment of your imagination. But his is pointless. Now, in our western world, people are getting more and more disillusioned with technology and materialism to satisfy our lives because we ARE spiritual beings. We can only deny that part of our nature so long before we rebel. So many of you before you became Christians had some spirituality in your background and Paul would say, that was real. Those forces were not leading you to meaning or to truth or to the one true God, but they were real.
So here’s the question they asked and we might ask too. So now that we agree that Jesus is TRUTH, how do we know what spirituality comes from God and what doesn’t? What is spirituality that leads to truth and really comes from God? The test Paul gives seems almost too simplistic:
When someone says Jesus be cursed, that’s not from the Spirit of God and when someone says Jesus is Lord, that is from God.
Now, hear this Allen Creek: Whatever other spirits, or demons or divinities or experiences that you may have experienced before Christ, or even AFTER you accepted Christ, Paul wants you to know this one thing: The Spirit of God, the third person of the Trinity is committed to this one thing:
Proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord.
The burning desire of the Holy Spirit is to lift up Jesus. Whatever the Holy Spirit inspires us to be or do, that’s the end result. Jesus himself predicted this in John 16:14:
He (the Spirit) will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.
Now obviously someone can say “Jesus is Lord” and not be doing it by the Spirit of God. But here’s the deal: he’s saying that any authentic expression of spiritual power in your life, any experience, any spiritual expression of giftedness, any spirituality that comes from the Holy Spirit is going to do this: point to Jesus Christ as Lord.
So this is the grid you run spirituality through:
- you know those ghosts you think you saw as a kid in the basement? If they didn’t point to Jesus Christ as Lord, then they may have been real, but they were not inspired by the Spirit of God.
- you know that séance that gave you answers? That religious feeling you got at the rock concert, that spiritual surge you felt, that sense of self actualization in the seminar you went to, that intuition you call a spiritual gift. If it didn’t expand the mastership of the Lord Jesus Christ in your life, it may have been real, but it wasn’t from the Spirit of God.
Friends, this sets the fundamentals for playing on God’s team. It answers some basic questions:
- Is playing on God’s team about my personal spiritual experiences? NO.
- Is playing on God’s team about my personal spiritual self fulfillment? NO.
- Is playing on God’s team about some ecstatic feeling or ability that sets me apart as special? NO.
- Is playing on God’s team about my stats, my records, my image? NO.
Now, don’t get me wrong, growth into maturity is going to mean that in the Body, it’s God’s design that each member’s inbuilt potential is going to be fulfilled… BUT, notice the Bible emphasizes the truly important thing is the maturing of the BODY of CHRIST(the visual expression on earth of his Lordship). The individuals growth only serves the larger goal of building the Body.
(SLIDE) Eph 4:16:
From Christ the WHOLE BODY grows and builds itself up AS each part does it’s work.
Bible scholar David Prior says,
To be truly “spiritual’ drives a person neither to ecstasy nor to individualism nor to other worldliness, but into the life of the local church as an expression of his personal commitment to Jesus as Lord and to his Body here on earth. It is there that the implications of what it means to be SPIRITUAL are truly worked out.
Imagine the coach sits the football team down for the first game of the season as Mike Holmgren is going to do this afternoon for our beloved Seattle Seahawks. And he’s just outlined the strategy for the game and he ends with a rousing call to think about the Superbowl. Then he takes questions:
- a receiver, Darren Jackson says, “hey, am I going to get more than 5 passes today?” A little flustered coach says, “maybe, Darren, we’re going to work you in, no question.”
- Jackson keeps pressing, “no I really want to know if it’s going to be 5 passes because last game I didn’t get 5 passes and that ain’t enough. I need more than that.”
- Coach says, “maybe you do, but are you keeping in mind what this is all about?”
- Sure, sure coach, but I need my reps man, when I was in college I got to get 100 yards a game or I look bad on Monday, see what I’m saying? And then I might not get paid as much come contract time. And let me say this, if I don’t get mine, man there’s other places I can play football.”
Just like that, some Christ followers carry a worldly doctrine of personal spirituality into the church with them. It’s about me and my experiences and my personal fulfillment and my consumerism. As important as your needs are, Paul says, lesson # 1 of true spirituality: EVERYTHING about playing on God’s team comes back – not to you – but to Jesus Christ as Lord. That’s our Superbowl.
Lesson # 2 then outlines just is HOW the Spirit plans on getting us to the Superbowl.
Let’s read further:
(SLIDE) II. THE SPIRIT’S GAME PLAN: 1 Cor 12:4-6
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.
6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.
This is how the Spirit’s going to do the work of setting up Jesus as Lord through his body: different gifts, different service and different workings.
1. DIFFERENT GIFTS
The word gift comes from the word grace. Your life as a Christ follower has been graced with a special ability, a divine enablement. In other words, what God has assigned for you to do to help build up his team is not a position you earned. You didn’t get it because you’re his special favorite. It was a gift of grace, like salvation, unearned.
That should put us in a humble position when we exercise our special gift. It’s a privilege and an honor and an assignment really. The word “different kinds” is one word in the Greek, it can mean variety or it can mean assigning. So the Spirit hasn’t just GIVEN the gifts, he’s assigned them! You didn’t earn it, work for it, maybe you didn’t even ask for it.
But there it is… your calling is wrapped up in your gift! Inside are your marching orders, your assignment.
And maybe that’s why you’ve put off opening your gifts. When you think of a gift, maybe you think you’ll open it on your own time – it’s a gift after all, you can do with it what you please. We think the Spirit has graced our lives with abilities somehow for OUR sake only, as if all he had in mind was your personal self fulfillment.
Friend, as much as the expression of your gift will fulfill you, it’s not for your sake that he gave it… it’s for the sake of Jesus Christ and his Body which proclaims his lordship to the world. That’s our Superbowl, and that’s WHY you’re good at helping, extending mercy, encouraging, teaching, praying, exerting leadership or faith.
2. DIFFERENT KINDS OF SERVICE
The emphasis here roots our participation in lifting up Christ in servanthood. We’ll see in later weeks that the Corinthians looked at spiritual gifts in a very selfish way. It was about a demonstration their own talents and prowess and looking down on others. The church was their stage!
Friend, the evidence that the Holy Spirit moving in your giftedness, is in this special quality of your giftedness: you are becoming a servant of others.
A highly trained professional ballerina became a Christ follower recently. And though she could glide like an angel and obviously had a gift to creatively communicate the gospel, she didn’t feel free to use that gift in church for a long time. She served, but for many years, not with that gift.
Why not? Because she knew about her driving ambition for recognition. She wanted to be a star. And so she knew that she couldn’t use that gift in a selfless way. This verse just drives me to my knees Allen Creek. Until I find – even if it be temporarily – a personal release from my need to be center stage.
I can imagine someone’s saying, Rick, I’ve seen some Christians who will take what you’re saying about service to an unhealthy extreme. And they’ll serve till their finger tips are worn to the bone and they’ll get bitter about church and they’ll feel all sorts of guilt for not doing enough. This person needs to hear the next balancing comment Paul makes:
3. DIFFERENT KINDS OF WORKING
Or in Greek, “energenata” which is where we get our word for energy. When we serve we serve with God’s energy and power. In (SLIDE) Col 1:29 Paul says, when he engages in the building up of the Body in the unique way God called him to do it he says,
…to this end I labor, struggling with all of Christ’s energy, which so powerfully works in me.
You can know very easily when you’re not serving in Christ’s energy: Fatigue, burnout, resentment settles in, and fruit is lacking. When you start seeing these things in your life, friends, it’s time for a time out. Even at severe cost to your church ego. Because if you’ve stopped working in his power, you’ve become ineffective toward the only thing Spirit cares about: Proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord.
Now friends, this is delicate because God calls us to partnership. So where does our energy end and his begin? We plant and water but God makes it grow, Paul says. Jesus calls us to be shrewd managers, we’re called to exercise our brains and energies in the service of Christ.
So here’s what I’ve found helpful to ensure that we’re operating out of Christ’s power and not our own:
Pray… not just your regular prayer times, but when you serve, before you talk, before you roll up your sleeves, before you help or extend mercy or sing. You say: Lord Jesus, this is my service to you, it’s my sacrifice, the best I have to offer you and I’m glad to give it. But it’s nothing without you. It came from you, now you fill it and consume it and make it something that exalts Jesus Christ as Lord. If this is going to exalt me, show me and I’ll stop it. Fill me, such that everything I do now has your stamp and seal. If you want to redirect me, I’m open. And bring fruit out of this that lasts for Jesus sake because that’s my Superbowl and that’s all the matters.
Seek Accountability… ask a friend, small group do you see burnout in me? Am I doing this for the wrong reasons, do you see me working out of guilt or fear or need for recognition? Do I think I’m too important to this operation?
Measure Fruit. Jesus said if you’re abiding in him, you’ll be connected to the Spirit’s power and there will be fruit. Is there fruit coming from your ministry? Are you willing to take a look at this? At every level of this organization you’re hopefully going to find some kind of evaluation process. The elders sit down and evaluate me. Why? So we can talk about fruit. Is your serve getting Allen Creek Allen in motion? Or are people more exasperated by you, worried about you, compensating for you? Friend those are the trouble signs that it’s more your working than the Spirit’s working. Take corrective measures.
This is how the Spirit will draw all people to Christ: different gifts, different service, different workings. He has no other plan. The Spirit gives the gifts, he calls for service, and he provides the energy. Yet this grand plan he works uniquely and differently in each believer.
In the next few verses, you’ll note a list of some of the kinds of gifts the Spirit gives. I won’t get into those, but it would make a fascinating study for your small group to unpack what each gift entails. And of course, our Quest elective, NETWORK coming this month, Sept 28, will help you recognize how you are wired to serve the Spirit’s burning desire.
But the summary statement for this section is verse 7 which reads….
(SLIDE) III. SUMMARY - 1 Cor 12:7
…to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
Three parts to the construction of this sentence and all 3 are packed with meaning to send the point home:
- EACH ONE. Everyone has a gift! Even if you’ve been a follower for ONE DAY. Yes, we learn to use your gifts better and better with maturity and some church offices require maturity on top of certain gifts. But most don’t! So Allen Creek let’s not be so intimidated. This is not rocket science. Each one has a part to play, not just a special super class. And trust that the Spirit who gave it will help you use it.
- MANIFESTATION – your participation in the Body of Christ in a fruitful way is the evidence that the Spirit is alive in you. He manifests himself through your giftedness.
- COMMON GOOD – again and again, why does he manifest himself? Not for personal whims of any member. Friend, your ultimate goal is not in finding your place of self fulfillment, (though that will happen!) It is in you serving the common good. Jesus said, whoever would find his life will lose it, but the one who loses his life, for my sake will find it.
CONCLUSION:
I was overwhelmed when I first found out the Spirit had given me gifts*.
- Star in youth group,
- obscure in college.
God’s taught me that it’s no longer about personal fulfillment. I feel very fulfilled in my ministry but it’s deeper than that for me now. If God was to take my current ministry away, and he may some day, you will still find me serving… ‘cause I’m under orders.
I challenge you – is being on God’s Team still all about your personal fulfillment? If so, we’ll hang on the fence, say, ‘that’s not my gift,’ wait for the perfect church work that never intrudes or disrupts our life or inconveniences in any way.
This is church work, men and women, this is not the rotary club – it’s messy and it’s grueling and it’s awesome and it’s rewarding like nothing else because the church, that unique institution which alone lifts up Jesus Christ as Lord – is the hope of the world. Together we work toward that common good through gifting, serving and the Holy Spirit’s working.
That’s the Spirit’s desire, join him there!
