Tom writes:

Church gatherings should manifest the magnificence of the Trinity. That’s the point Paul is making in these chapters. Here we discover how magnificently chatty God is. Paul contrasts church gatherings with the Corinthians’ previous worship of idols. The idols were mute and powerless so all the work was being done on the human side. Incense was lit, imaginations were used and impartation was sought… but no-one really expected an immediate reply. I guess the hope was that life would go a bit better because of the act of devotion. But the Trinity is a chatty God. Father, Son and Spirit are vocal. They come to church gatherings not just to respond to the requests of the redeemed but to advance their own agenda. They set the pace and they steer the ship. And the way our Triune God loves to do this is through the whole body of people. The One God releases Spirit gifts to the many people so that they will put them together to build up one another. It seems that no individual receives sufficient revelation on their own to know how to advance. All the different revelations must be added together like different paints on a colour-by-number page.

And so this brings two questions right to the fore. The first is the main one; do we attend church gatherings knowing that we carry a brush no one else carries? Do we believe only we can paint a colour that is essential to God’s design? Our nervousness or shyness can help us come with humility, but if it stops us from contributing at all then it is actually working against God’s plans. God’s vision for our lives is that he “chats” his truths through us. When we go to a small group do we look to bring something from the Spirit to the group? If we don’t we need to ask God to help us begin to try. The second question is the flip side of the first (and the one more relevant to the Corinthians). Do we go to church needing God to speak to us through others? Do we believe we don’t have enough on our own and that only through the church can we get what we need to move on? The truth is that no matter how mature we are in faith, God never gives us enough to be independent. We fool ourselves if we think we can stand alone. We need help from one another and church gatherings are the places we receive that help. Our church is the place where we both feed the flock and get fed ourselves.

Question for reflection

How could you step away from self-reliance? How can you help others do the same?

1 Corinthians 12 - Friday 31st May