Read: Romans 12:3-8:
3 For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one. 4 Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, 5 in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. 6 According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the standard of faith; 7 if service, in service; if teaching, in teaching; 8 if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness.
Let's be honest, it is sometimes difficult being someone whose primary service to the church, be it paid or unpaid, is technology. Very few folks even know what we do, much less appreciate it. Our passage is Romans 12:3-8, in which Paul is exhorting the church at Rome to view themselves as individual parts of one whole: united in nature and purpose.
If we look to the beginning of the chapter, Paul is talking about service within the church in light of our entire lives being dedicated to worshipping God (V1). He implores us in verse two to be transformed as disciples: we are not to approach our service to God with any motivation other than that He might be glorified (V2).
We serve our churches in ways others can't or won't. We employ a unique combination of science and art in our service. We are typically not even seen unless something goes wrong. And yet we are not special for these reasons, but because we are a part of the body of Christ. Paul makes clear that any difference between believers is based on God's sovereignty rather than our own. Perhaps more importantly, we as technical folks must fight the desire to compensate for the obscurity of the nature of our service by demanding that we get proper respect. We need not struggle to be seen as equal with anyone, but rather we must fight within our own hearts to serve with humility (V3).
It is our job as church tech folks to bring about the same kind of body-wide unity and function as we find in our physical bodies. The heart, brain and lungs, which are vital to the function of our physical bodies, essentially serve the other parts by supplying them with the blood, oxygen, and direction they need to corporately be the body. Each part has a function that supports the whole. We serve by helping to facilitate a distraction free corporate worship time - that God would be the focus of the church's time together. We rely on each other to use the gifts given each one for the benefit of the whole body (Vs 4-5).
It is by God's grace that we are no longer slaves to our own sin - apart from God. It is by God's good grace to us that He has gifted us to serve the church in this way, and that He has gifted others to serve the body in other ways. The same grace that has saved us unites is as His body (V6).
How wonderful is it to leave your child with a children's ministry servant who feels called to minister to kids? How grateful should we all be for those who clean and maintain our facilities be they paid or unpaid? God's has been gracious to gift each of us to serve Him and His church. (V7)
Verse eight deals with a continuing explanation of the way in which certain gifts are to be lived out. It is interesting that when he comes to the gift of leadership he says that those having this gift are to exercise it with diligence. Given the context provided by the rest of the passage, we know Paul is not telling us to "run a tight ship" or justify any means with a given end. Rather, in light of both our passage here and the numerous relevant passages such as Philippians chapter two and Mark chapter ten verses 35-45, we know that Paul is encouraging those of us who lead to do so with purpose and intentionality such that our work would exemplify the life of discipleship and worship the church exists to promote. (V8).
Application Points: 1) All Christians are gifted by God through His grace for the service of the Church.
2) The attitude of our service should be of worshipful response to God's Salvation
3) Our love for Christ will be manifested by our love for His Church
Discussion Questions for use with your team:
1) What elements do we already apply well within our team?
2) What specifically from this passage can we apply to our team?3) How does this passage affect the way we as individuals approach our service of God?
