Committed to Non-conformity
From the Series—Behind the Ministry
July 5, 2002Spiritual maturity doesn’t result in conformity. Maturity results in diversity. I Corinthians 12:5 says, “There are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God who works all of them in all men.”
NCC is committed to non-conformity. That doesn’t mean we should be different for difference sake. But too many churches take the easy way out--they equate holiness with cultural conformity. So the way you look, your religious vocabulary, or where you go or don’t go become the measuring stick of holiness. That’s not spirituality. That’s superficiality. Isn’t it ironic that most churches are ethically opposed to the idea of cloning a human being, yet that is exactly what many churches produce--clones. Everybody is like everybody else.
When you stand before the judgment seat of Christ, God is not going to ask why you weren’t more like Billy Graham or Mother Teresa. He’s going to ask why you weren’t more like you! There’s nothing wrong with heroes and mentors--people we look up to and pattern our lives after. But if you want to be someone else you’re second-guessing God because He’s the one who made you, you! In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Imitation is suicide.” We need to worry a lot less about conforming to the people around us. And we need to worry a lot more about conforming to Christ. And Jesus was a non-conformist.
Jesus wasn’t crucified because he was a conformist. He was arrested by religious leaders because he didn’t fit into their “religious box.” He walked to the beat of a different drummer--the Spirit of God. Francis Schaeffer said, “One of the greatest injustices we do to our young people is to ask them to be conservative. Christianity is not conservative, but revolutionary. To be conservative today is to miss the whole point, for conservatism means standing in the flow of the status quo, and the status quo no longer belongs to us. If we want to be fair, we must teach the young to be revolutionaries, revolutionaries against the status quo.”
Conformity is not just boring. Conformity is non-functional. In I Corinthians 12:17, Paul says, “If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?” Each bodypart is important. Paul says in verse 21, “The eye cannot say to hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you’!” One of NCC’s core values is everyone is invaluable and irreplaceable. Paul says in verse 22, “Those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.” The Message says, “The least important parts are the most necessary.”
You are irreplaceable. There is no substitute. There is no backup. There is no one to take your place. If you don’t use your gifts, the rest of the body is incapacitated in some form or fashion. No one is part of NCC by accident. Each person has an assignment. Verse 18 says, “God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.”
The 80:20 Rule
I Corinthians 12:7 says, “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”
In the late 1800s, an economist and avid gardener named Vilfredo Pareto discovered that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. Then while gardening he found that 20% of the peapods yielded 80% of the harvest. Those discoveries became known as “the Pareto principle” or “the 80:20 rule.”
Most churches fall into the 80:20 trap. 20% of the people do 80% of the ministry, but 80:20 doesn’t cut it. Paul says “each one” is given a gift. There are no exceptions. God designed 100% of the people to do 100% of the ministry. One measure of church health is involvement in ministry. If 20% of the church is doing ministry then the body is 20% functional. If 80% are doing ministry then the body is 80% functional.
Common Good
I Corinthians 12:7 says each one is given a gift for the “common good.”
One dimension of spiritual maturity is being more concerned about others than you are about yourself. A German Psychotherapist named Fritz Kunkel said that one of the most important shifts we can make as we mature is “the shift from me to we.” You have to come to a point where you realize that life does not revolve around you. When your concern for others outweighs your concern for yourself you have crossed the line between immaturity and maturity in Christ.
Another dimension of maturity is producing more than you consume. When you come to church, consume all you want. But if you only consume and never produce you’re going to get spiritually fat. You need to exercise--and that’s exactly what the word “manifest” means in I Corinthians 12:7.
There are two different attitudes or mindsets you can bring to church. You can come to be ministered to. Or you can come to minister to others. I don’t think the right attitude is either/or. The right attitude is both/and. You ought to get something out of church. But you have something to give as well.
There are countless reasons why some people don’t use their gifts to serve the common good. Some people don’t use their gifts because they haven’t discovered them. Others don’t feel qualified. They feel like they have too many “personal problems” to make a difference. Join the club!
You want to talk about problems? Look no further than Corinth. The Corinthians had sexual problems, authority issues, and personality clashes. Yet Paul says, “Now to each one a manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” The best prescription for personal problems is to start serving others. In most cases, your personal problems will resolve themselves. If they don’t, helping people with their problems will put yours into perspective.
Surfing the Edge of Chaos says, “Mature adults are more likely to act their way into a new way of thinking than think their way into a new way of acting.” Self-discovery can lead to doing, but more often than not it’s doing that leads to self-discovery. Get your feet wet and your hands dirty. I Timothy 3:13 says, “Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.”
The Dream
Imagine a church where everyone is using their gifts to serve the common good. Those with the gift of helps are setting up and tearing down on Sunday mornings and loving every minute of it. Those with hospitality gifts are energized by meeting and greeting guests. Those with leadership gifts are starting community groups and new ministries. Those with musical gifts are leading others into the presence of God with their voices and instruments. That is the dream and the church is God’s dream team.
Next week’s evotional will focus on discovering your gift-mix.