WHO MAKES YOU DIFFERENT?
WHO MAKES YOU DIFFERENT?
“For who makes you different from anyone else?”
There are not supposed to be any divisions in the Body of Christ but the congregation at Corinth was divided. Paul had been informed by some from the household of Chloe that the church was quarreling. “What I mean is this: One of you says, ‘I follow Paul’, another, ‘I follow Apollos’; another, ‘I follow Cephas’; still another ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?” (1 Cor. 10:12). While everyone was baptized (Matt. 28:18-20; 1 Cor. 12:13), Paul was grateful that he had only personally baptized a few lest anyone should say that he had baptized in his own name. The church of Jesus Christ is One Body and is not to be divided! The only foundation for unity is Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 3:11).
The situation at Corinth was apparently so sensitive that the true identity of the trouble makers was not used. Paul later explained: “Now brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, ‘Do not go beyond what is written.’ Then you will not take pride in one man over against another. For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it why do you boast as though you did not?” (1 Cor. 4:6,7).
The answer to the question is obvious. IT IS GOD WHO MAKES US DIFFERENT! Since God made every star different from every other star (1 Cor. 15:41), why should He make every person the same? Even though the Body is One, it is composed of many parts and every part was specifically designed by God for a specific purpose (1 Cor. 12:4-31). “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’”(1 Cor. 12:21). Since it is God who makes us different from one another there is no reason for anyone to boast or be proud.
Paul wrote the same thing to the Romans reminding them: “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members to not all have the same function so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others” (Rom. 12:3-5).
In the following verses Paul lists 7 spiritual gifts: prophesying, serving, teaching, encouraging, contributing, leading, and showing mercy. The beauty of this diversity has been illustrated by these 7 gifted people sitting at the same table when someone spilled his milk. Each gifted person saw identically the same thing, yet because each person was “different” they reacted in a “different” way.
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The “prophet” spoke and accurately described the problem.
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The “servant” saw the spilled milk and immediately began cleaning up the mess.
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The “teacher” analyzed what had happened and immediately explained how it could be avoided. •
The “encourager” spoke to the one who spilled the milk and gave him comfort.
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The “contributor” took his milk and shared it with the man who had spilled his milk. •
The “leader” immediately began organizing everyone to avoid this problem in the future. •
The one who showed “mercy” put his arm around the man who spilled the milk.
While every person acted differently, they did so because of the different spiritual gifts God had given them. The word translated as “gifts” in Rom. 12:6 is “charismata”. Every one of these 7 gifts is a “charismatic” gift.
When we eat good food is nourishes every part of our body. That food, however, will nourish our eye differently from the way it nourishes our foot. In a similar way every gifted person understands the Scriptures from a different point of view. Each draws from the same words the particular teaching to strengthen and nourish his or her own spiritual gift.
IT IS GOD WHO MAKES US DIFFERENT FROM ONE ANOTHER! DO NOT TAKE PRIDE IN YOUR SPIRITUAL GIFT FOR IT CAME FROM GOD AND NOT YOU!