More Than Just OK--November 10, 2022

More Than Just OK--November 10, 2022

"Are all apostles? Are all prophets?  Are all teachers?  Do all work miracles?  Do all possess gifts of healing?  Do all speak in tongues?  Do all interpret?" [1 Corinthians 12:29-30]

Well, presumably the answer--to ALL of these rhetorical questions--is "No."

And in fact, that's OK.  More to the point for Paul, it's not merely "OK," as in permissible, but it's actually good that everybody doesn't do the same job, have the same gifts, or embody the same roles in the Christian community.  If we've been following Paul's train of thought over this whole section about bodies and members, this isn't a design flaw on God's part, or a limitation God had to settle for.  It is God's choice to make us into the kind of community we are, where all have different gifts, and all have different needs for the gifts of others.

Just taking that seriously is huge.  God didn't intend us to all do the same thing or have the same aptitudes, but rather, God's purpose is making a community in which all the members are interdependent because nobody does everything perfectly well by themselves.  We need each other, and that need is not an error in God's blueprints or a glitch in the universe's code; it is God's purpose that we be different and rely on one another.

Sometimes I think we act as though this were a mistake--either on God's part, or somehow attributable to human sin--that we need one another's gifts and talents.  Sometimes we act [or think quietly to ourselves without having to say it out loud] like the real mark of success in life will be when you really can "do it all" by yourself and won't need anybody else's gifts, time, or ability. But to hear Paul tell it, our interdependence is not a weakness to be overcome but a glimpse of grace for all of us.  God doesn't begrudgingly make human beings with a diverse assortment of gifts as though it is a back-up plan or less than ideal.  Rather, God has meant for us to give and to receive from one another's gifts an abilities as a way of showing us the way grace works in our lives.  We are always receiving the good of other people's talents and gifts, and we are always in a position to offer others good from our abilities, without turning it into a contest or a transaction.

Today, maybe all we need is to let Paul's questions hit us, and with them the presumed answer:  No, we don't all have the same gift. No, we don't all fit in the same mold.  No, we do not have to labor under the illusion that success means being able to do it all, and all by yourself.  But rather, because God didn't make a mistake in creating us as a community of different and diverse gifts, we can each simply be glad and grateful for the gifts we have, and offer them back for the good of everyone.

That seems more than just "ok" to me. That seems to me like a beautiful way to live our lives.

Lord God, help us to see the gifts we each bring, and to share them.