Diversity in the Body

1 Cor 12 is a great encouragement to me, because I often trouble myself about not doing the work of the ministry the way or to the same degree as others I admire in the Lord’s work.  Particularly, I get concerned about leading more souls to Jesus Christ and being a bolder witness.  But notice:

There is diversity in the body of Christ, 1 Cor 12:4-6.  This diversity is not the result of us being different people with distinct personalities and various strengths and weaknesses.  It is the work of the Spirit who gives us diverse gifts, administrations, and operations.  A person who is outstanding in administration will likely be very unimpressive when you examine him for spiritual gifts.  Likewise, someone with a spiritual gift like prophecy will likely be very weak in operations and administrations.  People are are given different gifts and jobs by the Holy Spirit.  This is how he works among different people.

The Spirit divides to every man severally as he will, 1 Cor 12:11.  Thus, it is foolish for a person to think that he should be strong in all aspects of the ministry.  He won’t be because the Holy Spirit has only given him as much as he wants him to have.  He has given to others in the congregation the gifts they need to work with him in the ministry, 1 Cor 12:18. This is diversity.

A pastor’s weaknesses can be annoying to people who think he should be perfect in every area of the ministry.  And this is an unreasonable expectation.  But it is often the cause of frustration and contention between church members and pastors.  And it is also a cause of frustration for pastors who think they should be able to cover all the needs of the ministry by themselves.

These differences can cause some to undervalue their work and to overvalue the work of another, 1 Cor 12:15-16.  In these verses, the foot undervalues his role in the body when compared to the role of the hand.  And the ear undervalues his function in the body when compared to importance of the eye.

Likewise, someone working in administration may feel like their role in the ministry is less important than what a person who prophesies does.  They may envy a person for the work he does when compared to their view of the work they do.  I recently heard of a doctor who witnesses to every patient before surgery.  He mentioned to a preacher that he wished he could do what the preacher does.  Thankfully, the preacher encouraged the doctor by assuring him that his effectiveness as a witness with his patients was greater than it would be if he were a preacher.  The Holy Spirit has gifted him and positioned him to be a very faithful witness as a doctor rather than a preacher.   This is diversity.

Likewise these differences can cause some to look down on others and/or to work independently, 1 Cor 12:21.  The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee.  There would be no such thing as eye-hand coordination.  God did not design the body this way.  He designed it to be an interdependent unit.  And the body of Christ is to function the same way.

There is a real temptation for people to compare themselves among themselves.  Paul said, “but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, and not wise”, 2 Cor 10:12.  You just can’t do this because of diversity.

So, while one member should not feel inferior to another because he is not able to do what the other member does, neither should he feel superior because he is able to do something that other members cannot do.  This thought of inferiority and superiority is the manifestation of the flesh, not the Spirit, 1 Cor 12:7.

Conclusion: You have to get “comfortable” in your own skin and with your own gift, administration, or operation.  You shouldn’t frustrate yourself by thinking that there is something wrong with you because God is using you differently than he is someone else you look up to.

When it comes to soul winning, for instance, I’m a sniper.  I wait for the right shot at the right time.  An infantryman, by contrast, engages a soul, immediately, in hand to hand combat.  I admire men who can do that and have thought, at times, that I’m inferior to them because I don’t witness that way.  You know what, they have something that I don’t have and I have something that they don’t have.  And it’s not that one is better than the other.  It’s that the Holy Spirit uses us in different ways to accomplish the work he wants to do.

You should be different because God made you that way.  God put you in this body as it pleased him.  And the Holy Spirit intends to use you in this body the way he has gifted you, and not the way he has gifted someone else.  You should only be concerned that you are filled with the Spirit of God and doing what God has gifted you to do.