Monday, April 25
For the common good
Scripture: Judges 15-16, Psalm 49, 1 Corinthians 12
1 Corinthians 12:4–7 Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are different activities, but the same God works all of them in each person. 7 A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good:
1 Corinthians 12:12 For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ.
Observation
In chapters 12-14, Paul wrote to correct their understanding and practice of spiritual gifts. He begins with a plea for unity which is the overall theme of the entire letter. In this case, it is unity in diversity. Different but the same. Many yet one.
There are different gifts, ministries and activities (or effects), but the same Spirit, Lord, God.
There are many parts (or members) in a body, yet they make up one body.
All the many and different work together for the one, for the common good.
Application
How we need to recover this vision of living for the common good, both in the church and in our geographic communities!
Too many Christians treat their faith and the church as if they were consumers of a religious product rather than members of a community. Individualism and consumerism have infected and harmed us. Rather than thinking first of what we have to offer for the common good, we think of what we want to receive for our personal good. We shop for churches like we shop for anything else: what we like, what we prefer. We have lost our sense of community, of belonging, of mutuality and commitment to the common good. We fail to recognize that our brothers and sisters who differ from us are exactly what we need, and rather than avoiding them, we need to embrace them “for the common good.”
American author Wendell Berry has written a series of novels, short stories and poems about Port William, a fictional community in Kentucky (where he lives in real life). Community members talk about the “Port William Membership.”
“The Membership” is the term by which Berry and his characters convey the bonds of a community within its given geographical location. The “membership” consists of any person who recognizes his or her place among—and responsibility for the well-being of—the land, animals, and people of the place. In “The Wild Birds,” the character Burley Coulter explains what he means by ‘membership’: “The way we are, we are members of each other. All of us. Everything. The difference ain’t in who is a member and who is not, but in who knows it and who don’t.” Berry’s concept of “membership” came from 1 Corinthians 12. (This paragraph is from the Wikipedia article “Port William (Wendell Berry)”.)
We have not only lost this sense of community and membership within the church, but within our geographic communities as well. Rather than demonizing those who are different, we need to recognize their unique contribution to the community and embrace them. We really are better together.
And we really are members of each other. As Burley explained, “The difference ain’t in who is a member and who is not, but in who knows it and who don’t.”
Prayer: Lord, help me—help us—recognize our common membership in the church, and in our geographic communities, and make our offering for the common good. Help me to see “the other” not as someone to be avoided but embraced…for the common good.