In celebrating diversity and unity (1 Cor 12:12-31), Paul reminds us that there are many different roles and functions within any church. The ‘lists’ of gifts here (apostles, prophets, teachers, miracle workers, gifts of healings) obviously reflect the Corinthians’ emphasis on the supernatural, but ‘helping’ and ‘administration’ are also mentioned (far less visible gifts!) In other parts of the Bible, the lists include other, less spectacular giftings (eg Rom 12:2-8, where prophecy and teaching are linked to service, encouragement, showing mercy and generous giving.) The point of this is to remind us forcibly that just as each part of the human body is vital (especially the ‘less honourable’ parts!), so it is with the church. Some roles may well be more visible than others (as the hand, adorned with jewellery, is more visible than the foot, covered in socks and shoes), but this does not mean these are more important.

Paul reminds Timothy that ‘godliness with contentment is great gain.’ (1 Tim 6:6) He tells the Romans ‘Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.’ (Rom 12:3) In thinking rightly of ourselves, we have to:

1. know the truth and be set free by this truth (see John 8:32)
2. accept God’s evaluation of us over and above our own feelings (or what anyone else may tell us – the Message version of Rom 12:3 says ‘The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.’)
3. be content with the person God has made us to be (recognising that we’re now new creations in Christ, see 2 Cor 5:17)
4. accept others unconditionally as Christ accepts us (Rom 15:7)

John Piper comments ‘like all issues it comes down to a radically God-focused issue—do you trust God?’ We have to be prepared to trust God’s sovereignty in placing us (and others!) in the body of Christ exactly where He wants us (1 Cor 12:18) and learn to serve Him right where we are.

Paul’s reference to the diversity of body parts (1 Cor 12:12-31) is a vivid reminder that diversity is everywhere. We see it in the animal kingdom, with animals categorised in different ways (carnivores, herbivores, birds, reptiles etc.) and then within categories a wide variety (wild cats such as lions and tigers, domestic cats such as tabbies and Siamese.)

We see it with food types (carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vegetables & fruits and dairy produce, for example, with a whole range of differences within each category– sprouts, beans, carrots, onions, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli and cucumber all being vegetables that are vastly different to each other!) We see it in people – different genders, races, ethnicity and so on.

It seems that God likes diversity! As the saying goes, ‘variety is the spice of life’! Yet for many of us, it’s this very diversity in life which causes problems. Wars break out because of the differences; we can’t cope with people who look different to us, who act differently, who eat different foods, who follow different traditions.

Many of our differences are simply due to differences in personality or taste or traditions, however. Personality varies enormously; tests such as the Myers Brigg Personality Indicator or the ‘animal test’  look at how our personalities manifest themselves and can go a long way to explaining why we find X congenial and Y so irritating! It can be helpful to understand the difference between the gregarious extrovert and the contemplative introvert, between someone who is rational and methodical in their way of working and someone who is impulsive and emotional, if only because we tend to assume that everyone is like us, only to be shocked when we discover they’re not! This huge range of personality is just another area of diversity in the creation God has made.

Instead of hating diversity, we do well to embrace it, for it’s surely here to stay! I sometimes think different denominations are more to do with our different personalities than different doctrines! – people care about the style of worship (liturgy or spontaneity, hymns played on organs or modern music with a church band) as much as they do about right beliefs. If variety really is the spice of life, then we do well to explore and embrace variety, understanding that there is a place for each one of us in God’s church. No one is superfluous to requirements; no one is all-important. Church is a great leveller and it’s important we reflect on Christ’s headship of the body to understand our role as servants, not lords. (Eph 1:22-23, Col 1:18)

Paul’s discussion of the church as a body (1 Corinthians 12:12-31) reminds us that there is unity in diversity. The Godhead mirrors this perfectly; Jesus said ‘I and the Father are one’ (Jn 10:30) and prayed for His followers to know the same kind of unity (see John 17:11, 20-21); unity does not equate with uniformity, however. As Rend Collective say, ‘the beauty of church is that it champions unity while adamantly rejecting uniformity.’

In Corinth, it seems that – as everywhere else! – people struggled to embrace unity without uniformity. We tend to like the people who are like us and there can be two extremes which are equally dangerous to church life: feelings of inferiority (being a foot but longing to be hand, to continue Paul’s body analogy) and feelings of superiority (believing that because we’re an eye, we don’t need ears.) Paul adamantly rejects both extremes and by using the picture of the human body – which is made up of many different parts but which is one complete body – shows us how ridiculous these extremes are. A body that was all eye would look utterly strange; a body that had great hearing but no sense of smell would not be perfect.

Whether we realise it or not, ‘God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.’ (1 Cor 12:18) This is true of the church as well as of the human body: ‘Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.’ (1 Cor 12:27) Our task is to find our ‘part’, our role, our function, in the body of Christ and work for His glory. We all need each other; there is no place in the church for self-sufficiency (pride or arrogance) or for feelings of uselessness (which ultimately do not reflect the truth that we are valuable and chosen by God.)  The Message version of 1 Cor 12 says the human body is a model for how our church lives fit together: ‘every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t.’ Lone rangers and condescending arrogance have no part in the church. We’re called to love each other, suffer with each other, rejoice with each other and bless each other, because we’re all needed, important, loved and put in our particular place by God Himself.

Senescence, a lovely word, comes from the Latin word senesere, meaning ‘to grow old’. It is all about our gradual deterioration as organisms: ‘the condition or process of deterioration with age or loss of a cell’s power of division and growth’, so its meaning is not quite as nice as the sound of the word! None of us particularly relishes ageing and it can be very daunting to face increasing fragility, whether that is physical, mental or emotional. Certain ‘age’ milestones (hitting 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and so on) may leave us feeling depressed, insecure and melancholy as we look back at what we have achieved and look ahead with apprehension. We may feel we have not used our time wisely or be plagued by regrets; we may look back nostalgically and wistfully at the past, seeing there our ‘glory days.’ We may look ahead with trepidation, unsure as to how our bodies will cope with growing old and how we will carve a meaningful identity for ourselves after work or if we are isolated by physical ailments.

Life is made up of different areas, defined by some as ‘quotients’. These are:

1. PQ – physical – Human Living – To Live
2. IQ – intellectual – Human Doing – To Learn
3. EQ – emotional – Human Being – To Love
4. SQ – spiritual – Being Human – To Leave a Legacy

It’s unwise to focus on one area only; we have to realise that life is not just about what we know or what we can do, but also involves our ability to forge relationships and to love.

The exciting thing for Christians is to realise that even though we may face ageing and deterioration in some areas of our lives, this is not the whole story. Paul tells the Corinthians ‘we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.‘ (2 Cor 3:18) Whilst we may deteriorate with age in many areas, spiritually God continues to transform us into his image and renew us on the inside: ‘Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.‘ (2 Cor 4:16) As we progress with God, we learn more of His faithfulness and character: David reminds us ‘I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.‘ (Ps 37:25) We also learn that our value and worth do not depend on our ability to do things for God; we absorb the truth that ‘the only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.‘ (Rom 12:3, The Message) That can be hard to grasp when we are young, vigorous and full of energy, but God’s unconditional love and acceptance for us are not dependent on our age or ability.

Today, let’s pray Eph 3:16, knowing that our inner strengthening comes from the riches of God’s glory and not from our own strength!

In order for Thumper to venture outside safely, he had to wear a harness which was attached to a lead. (We were not at all sure it was a good idea simply to ‘let him loose’ without any means of getting him back inside!) However, the harness had to be fitted before he went outside and he was not at all happy about this, recognising it instantly as an unfamiliar item which restricted his movements and which, therefore, had to be resisted vigorously. Let to his own devices, he would probably have bitten through the harness relatively quickly!

Example of a rabbit harness

Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.‘ (Matt 11:28-30) A yoke, or harness, is often necessary for animals, but that does not mean they like them. Thumper felt the harness was restrictive inside; once outside, however, he enjoyed the freedom and protection it gave him. There were no attempts to bite through the harness when he was outside! Instead, he could hop and jump as much as he liked and he relished being outside.

We can be like that with God’s rules, finding them restrictive and frustrating. We think we know best and chafe at His laws, pulling at them, tugging at them, trying to live our lives without them, believing somehow that anarchy would be better. Who is this God to tell us how to live?! What does He know about freedom and enjoyment, fulfilment and pleasure? How dare He imply that His way is better than ours? We pull and tug at His harness, His yoke, longing to run around doing exactly as we please.

And yet such a way does not lead to freedom, but to slavery (see Rom 6:15-16). It’s only when we come to Jesus, tired, worn out and burned out on religion, that we can find rest and freedom, learning the ‘unforced rhythms of grace’ as the Message version of Matt 11:28-30 puts it. Then His yoke is easy; His burden is light; His commands not burdensome (1 Jn 5:3) but freeing: ‘I run in the path of your commands, for you have broadened my understanding.’ (Ps 119:32) Thumper’s aversion to the harness was completely forgotten as he frolicked outdoors. God’s yoke is light and does not trouble us once we surrender to His ways. We save ourselves a lot of trouble and heartache when we understand this principle.

Today was the day that owners decided Thumper the rabbit would venture outside for the first time. Thumper has been a house rabbit since he moved to Goldthorpe and has enjoyed exploring the house. At first, he was very nervous about this, but has grown in confidence, climbing on furniture, climbing the stairs, venturing into the slippy kitchen (where there is a slippier floor covering than the carpets elsewhere) and generally enjoying his new home.

The great outdoors, however… that is another thing altogether. Thumper would climb onto the window sill and gaze out at the garden, looking longingly at the grass and dandelions outdoors, but actually venturing that far was another story. It took a harness and lead and a good deal of determination on the owners’ part to persuade Thumper that it was worth it.

And worth it it certainly was! All that food! – an all-you-could want buffet!

All of this reminded me, however, how hard it can be for us to actually venture into the unknown. All the humans knew that Thumper would love being on the grass, with a much larger area to explore and food on demand. Thumper was not at all convinced. He spent at least fifteen minutes fighting the unfamiliar harness (not understanding that it was intended to protect him and help him) and just as long sitting by the back door, listening and quivering with fear.

We can be so like that. God beckons us on into pastures new and we sit, quivering with fear, paralysed, unable to imagine life outside our comfort zone. Even if our comfort zone is far from comfortable, we can still be hesitant about new adventures. ‘Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know,‘ the proverb goes, and so often, we are terrified to explore the vast immeasurable freedom that God has provided for us in Christ. (Gal 5:1)

But God has so much more for us to explore! Whether it’s to soar on eagle’s wings or to hop happily like a rabbit in a garden, God wants us to live in the freedom He has purchased for us.

‘You break us out of our cages
Into the wide open spaces.
We are free
Free as a bird on the wind.

No prison wall can contain us;
Your beating heart makes us fearless.
We are free
Free as a bird on the wind.

Love cannot be tamed
You shattered every chain

Let our praises run wild and free;
Your lion heart is alive in me.
Let our freedom and joy begin.
With You we’re dancing upon our chains;
With You we’re soaring on eagle’s wings.

Take us beyond our horizons
Leading us into your wildness
We are free
Free as a bird on the wind

You are the greatest adventure
You are my uncharted waters
We are free
Free as a bird on the wind

You made us for so much more.
You take us to greater shores.
You raise us above the storm.
We rise on eagle’s wings, we rise on eagle’s wings.’ (‘Free As A Bird’, Rend Collective)

Don’t let fear of the unknown stop you from stepping out with God. His plans for us are to prosper us; even when we feel confused and uncertain about the direction in which He leads us, we can trust His goodness, mercy and love. Thumper loved the dandelions and grass. We can lie down in green pastures and walk by still waters (Ps 23:2); we can feast on the abundance of God’s house. (Ps 36:8)