Humble Service in the Body of Christ - Romans 12

³ For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. ⁴ For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. ⁶ We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; ⁷ if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; ⁸ if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Paul had performed some extraordinary things while following God.  He had gone to on mission trips to spread the Good News and started many churches in Asia.  He had been significant in his preaching and teaching at those churches and at Antioch.  He had confronted the Jewish leaders and Sanhedrin and witnessed to all of them.  He had been protected by the Romans as a Roman citizen. People had been healed from his garments and he had brought someone back from the dead.  Because of all of this, he could believe that he was more important as a child of God than others.  He intentionally says this as he opens this thought, “for by the grace given me I say to every one of you”.  It is by God’s grace - it is a gift of God that I don’t deserve – that I am teaching you this thing.  He is saying that he is a humble sinner just like you, not the great Paul, and this is important for you to understand when you read this.

And so, his first sentence following that is, “do not think of yourself more highly than you ought”.  Paul says it is by God’s grace that he is writing this, so like him, you aren’t all that you think you are and you should not think of yourself too important.  Instead, have a realistic view upon yourself as a sinner believing in faith upon Jesus just as everyone else.  All of us who believe, including Paul, has to have faith in Jesus as the Son of God.  We are all dependent upon His death and resurrection for life.  So, don’t think you are any more or less than everyone else.  Be realistic in your place.

Once we understand that, then we must realize that while all of us have that commonality, we are very different in our function and gifts.  Further, we belong to each other.  We are all a part of the body of Christ and we all have different abilities and actions to do. 

Several gifts are defined here: prophesying, serving, teaching, encouragement, giving, leading, and showing mercy.  I do not believe Paul wrote this as an all-encompassing list of gifts, but to say that there are many different gifts as there are many different parts of the body and whatever your gift is, use it.  Your gift is a member of the body of Christ and it belongs to the body.  Do not handicap the body by not functioning.  Use the gift given to you by the grace of God.

Now, I do find that the word description behind each of the gifts he defines is important.  Prophesy in accordance with your faith.  Your ability to prophesy is measured by the assurance and conviction of truth in your heart.  If you have doubt it will be difficult to prophesy.  Serving, teaching, encouraging, and giving are very straight forward.  If your gift is leading, you must do it diligently.  They must be intentional, steadfast, and hard-working.  If your gift is leadership, do not be slack in that work.  If your gift is showing mercy, do it cheerfully.  It isn’t enough to just show mercy, you must do it with a cheerful spirit.  God did not begrudgingly withhold His power and save man.  He did it out of His great love for all mankind.  He extended His hand down to us and when we take His hand, I do not believe God has a frustrated “about time” attitude, but rather we are told that a heavenly choir sings and praises God for every salvation.  Someone with an intense love for others extending mercy should do so with a sincere effort and out of a cheerful heart.