Verse: 1 Corinthians 12:12-14
12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
Devotion
With the rise of the mega church and celebrity pastors, some unbiblical thinking about the church has emerged. And I mean nothing against big churches—I believe God uses them and they have a particular role in the mission of the Kingdom of God. But there are always trade offs aren’t there? And one trade off is, the church can start to look like a concert where you have a celebrity on stage, and the masses just watching, being entertained, and then going home. Because of that, a consumeristic mindset has crept into the church. All of this is counter-productive to how Paul taught about what the church was like.
I think it’s powerful that he uses the analogy of a human body. Many parts, one whole. All the parts are important. Unity is also important. All the parts have different roles. But that doesn’t make any part more valuable.
Church is not a concert. It is not entertainment. It is not a performance. It is not about a celebrity on stage. When we start to glorify that man or woman on stage, and hold them to a different status of “Christian” than others who are “in the crowd” we start to imbibe the values and norms of culture where status is king, pleasure is paramount, and power is coveted.
The hope of the world is not a handful of celebrity pastors with their adoring “flocks.” The hope of the world is a church where every single person knows they are here on purpose and for a purpose. Where every believer knows that they aren’t coming to be entertained but to contribute their particular gifts toward God’s mission on this earth. Where every believer knows they are valued, important, have a place, and feel called.
I’m not trying to hate on celebrity pastors. I don’t know them, and I don’t know their hearts. I’m just saying that a by-product of this phenomenon is a dangerous redefinition of Christians as seat fillers rather than world changers. Our belief is that the Holy Spirit indwells each and every one of us, and therefore each and every one of us has a mission to the circles of influence we inhabit every day. As we read this passage today, let’s ask the question, “How am I bringing my gifts and talents to bear on the whole of the body of Christ and her mission to this world?”
Prayer
I pray that you would show me how and where I can use what you’ve gifted me in, to serve and bless the church and the world.
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