Romans 12:3-8 (NIV)
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, 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 do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
Paul understood that pride was a deadly sin that could lead people off the path of salvation, as well as a deadly form of elitism. In the case of Rome, based on what Paul had just finished writing, it could cause the gentiles in the Church to take a sneering, dismissive attitude toward the unbelieving Jews instead of reaching out to them to save them.
It could also lead to divisions within the Church over the matter of non-essential theology and spiritual gifts and callings, as it had in the Corinthian Church (1 Corinthians 3:1-4 and chapter 12). So, just as he had earlier written to the Corinthians about the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-31), so he now writes to the Romans.
Just as our physical bodies are composed of various parts, so is the Body of Christ. And that diversity in our body is its strength. Eyes are different than ears, and thankfully so, because we can both see and hear. A thumb is different than the other four fingers on the hand, and thankfully so, because it enables us to grasp and manipulate tools. A heart is different than a liver, but both are essential to life because of the different functions that they perform, as are lungs, spleens, and all the other organs.
In the same way, prophets are different than encouragers, and thankfully so, because the Church needs to be both challenged and encouraged. Servers are different than teachers, and thankfully so, because the church has physical needs as well as intellectual needs. Givers are different than leaders, and thankfully so, because the Church needs resources to enable them to go where the leaders are leading and to perform the mission that God have commanded them to do.
It was not Paul’s intention here to provide an exhaustive list of spiritual gifts, just as it wasn’t his intention in 1 Corinthians 12. Instead, his point is simply that there is a wide diversity of callings and specific empowerments (spiritual gifts) in the Church, the body of Christ, and all are essential, and must work seamless, just as the parts of a human body do, so that the whole Body is healthy and can accomplish its overall purpose of growing God’s kingdom by making disciples of all nations.
Thus there is no room for smugness, pride, or conceit over one’s calling and role. Instead, each person should humbly and wholly embrace the role to which they have been called, receive thankfully God’s divine empowerment to perform that role, and look for how they can best accomplish that role in the Body, alongside of and in complete harmony with those called to other roles and gifted and empowered in other ways.
Father, I am so glad that we in the Body of Christ are different. I pray and do so effectively. But I am so glad for those in the Body who are called and specifically empowered to pray, because they use those gifts to pray for me, and I am helped and empowered in my specific calling. I care for others, but I am so glad for those who are called and specially empowered to care, because I have been cared for by them in my times of need, and I have been supernaturally strengthened and encouraged by them. I give faithfully, but I am so glad for those who are called and specially empowered to give generously and abundantly, because they facilitate ministries that would otherwise never happen in our congregation. Thank You, Lord, that each of us doesn’t have to do everything all the time, because You have called and empowered every one of us to play our main role in the Body with supernatural ability, and to be able to perform other roles as needed. We are a body, the Body of Christ, and are all called and empowered, whatever our role, to live out His life and to accomplish His mission in the world together. Amen.