When I was a boy I enjoyed playing sports!
Each season would find us school kids playing the sport of the day- baseball, basketball, football, even kickball. I was fairly good at most things but never great. I wasn’t the guy you’d pick first on the playground, nor was I usually the last.
I remember the dreaded moment when captains were chosen and we’d all line up and wait to get picked. Then there was the wonderful feeling of hearing all the names called before you got picked!
I’d always have a sense of relief when my name was called because sometimes if there were more lined up than there were positions, some wouldn’t get to play.
If you didn’t make it on the field, you might just watch from the sidelines, hoping that someone might have to leave and you could take their place.
If you got picked, then you’d run out to the position you wanted to play- but if someone ‘better’ than you wanted that spot you’d go to your next choice, and so on, eventually you might end up in Right field! Right field was the place you’d get stuck if you were the low man on the totem pole.
Where are you playing on God’s team?
Bear with me on this analogy…
When we become Christ followers, we’re already in the game! There aren’t bleachers or sidelines to watch from hoping to get asked to play, (or hoping to hide out). Jesus is the captain and you have an important position to play!
The Catch vs The Bonk!
When I was in Little League, I played Centerfield a lot. My hero was Willie Mays, so I fancied myself to be like him.
As a kid, the youngest league we had was called ‘Peanut League’ for 8-9 year olds. One day, there was a kid playing in Right field next to me in center, his name was Clark. I’m not sure why he was playing because he clearly had no interest in the game. He’d stand out in right field daydreaming and chewing on one of the leather knots on his glove. Sure enough one day, a fly ball was hit in his direction; I was sprinting towards him, yelling Clark, Clark, ‘Look out’! Yep- the ball bonked him right on the head!
We have a position to play that won’t have us, like Clark, playing in a position that we aren’t suited for and not enabled or gifted for!
We have been re-created in Christ and given a unique role and calling. Serving God out of this position is powerful and rewarding. If I were to try to serve with my ‘wonderful’ singing voice, we’d all be suffering!
The road to discovering this gifting is being ‘In Christ’:
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2Cor 5:17 NKJV
Time to shed the labels that we have had tagged on us!
Anything that may have been placed on you by others (or yourself!) that would take away from the image of Christ in you needs to be pulled off! The Bible is full of stories of the disqualified! Abraham was fearful- remember when he told King Abimelech that Sarah was his sister? Jacob was a conniver, tricking his father into giving him Esau’s birthright. Noah liked his wine a bit too much. Moses had a speech impediment. We could go on about Sampson, David, Solomon, etc… right up to Peter and Paul.
The point is that we need to strip off the ‘old man’ stuff that we think disqualifies us and put on the new man!
The Bible speaks a lot about this New Man/ Old man duality. One thing is certain- The New cannot live until the Old dies out!
Paul gives us perspective on this in Romans 7:
Romans 7:4-6 NLT
4 So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God.
This is incredibly good news! Dying to the power of the law is made possible through the actions of Jesus on the cross!
We need only to take the gift offered, trusting Him to ‘raise up’ the new man within us as we become one with Him! Paul continues:
5 When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death.
Our old, sinful nature lived in rebellion to the Father. The Law served as a reminder of just how far our ‘Natural’ selves strayed from Him. Elsewhere, Paul says that the ‘wages of sin is death’. He means that the ‘penalty’ for breaking the law is death. By faith in Jesus, our penalty is paid. Not only that, but this death is applied so that we can live the ‘New Life’ that God wants for us. Continuing this thought in verse 6:
6 But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.
We are now set free to serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter of the law.
Our service is motivated by love, not fear; it is a service of freedom, not bondage. It is no longer a question of slavishly adhering to minute details of forms and ceremonies but of the joyful outpouring of ourselves for the glory of God and the blessing of others.
For the sake of time, I won’t read the entire passage, But I wanted to touch on 1 Cor 12 and hit some keys to what the Bible calls ‘Spiritual Gifts’.
1Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this.
(other translations say he doesn’t want us to be ignorant!)
2 You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols…
As unbelievers, we are swept away by idols mostly of our own making- we put people and things in the place of God!
4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.
Jesus told the Parable of the Talents to illustrate that God is interested in our performance based upon what He has given us. It is the work of God in us that we work out!
7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other….
The Gifts we’re given are not for our own benefit! Although I can state for sure that the feelings of fulfillment that we get from blessing others is a definite perk!
11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.
The liberating thing about this is that God takes responsibility for the distribution of the gifts. Our jobs is simply to discern what it is that we’ve been given!
One Body with Many Parts
12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ…
14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?
These verses are often used to apply to the parts of a church. But I think he was literally speaking to all the people that call themselves Christ followers! Baptist, Pentecostal, Methodist, whatever!
18 But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. 19 How strange a body would be if it had only one part! 20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21 The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”
This is why Pride and Arrogance are so lethal to the Body! We are totally dependent on God working through each of our fellow members!
22 In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. 23 And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, 24 while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity.
Again- God is especially tuned in to the meek and the humble!
25 This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. 26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.
Laughing and celebrating with the glad, weeping with those that mourn are opposite sides of the coin but something we’re called to as believers.
27 All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. 28 Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church:
first are apostles,
second are prophets,
third are teachers,
then those who do miracles,
those who have the gift of healing,
those who can help others,
those who have the gift of leadership,
those who speak in unknown languages.
29 Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? 30 Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not!
31 So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts.
But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.
So then, Trying to serve God can make you feel like a ‘Clark’ or a Jose.
You’re in the game, but find that you’re getting bonked in the head. I believe Hope Living Church is a place where you can find out what your unique part of the Body of Christ is!
As we close this message, I’d like to leave you with a few questions-
ACTION PLAN
What position do I play?
Do I ‘Earnestly Desire’ the most helpful gifts?
How can I ‘get in the game’ at my home church?
