To Each His Own

Some of the best news is that we're not supposed to follow God by ourselves. We are not alone, we're following God together with other believers. Though this is definitely good news, sometimes it complicates things.

Whenever you talk about doing something together, it can be a hard thing. People can make things more difficult. Primarily, working together introduces the danger for one serious problem: jealousy. We start looking around and realizing that there are some people that are better at certain things than we are. Maybe they have more resources or more talents. They could be better at speaking or more creative than we are. As we notice this and see this, we take our focus off the task and think more about how they are better.

My brother Scott is one year older than me. Growing up, we did a lot of things together. When I was in fifth grade, we decided that it was time to play baseball. Even though we had never played tee ball or baseball before, now was the time. We joined two different teams.

I was really bad. I was put straight into right field where the ball never got hit. I settled at the bottom of the batting order, and “fake bunting” became my go-to move. I was the king of getting walked. I got one hit the whole season. I barely made contact and the ball went right down the first base line. I’m pretty sure it was foul, but they gave it to me anyway. It was a big moment for me.

At the same time that all this is going on, my brother (who had never played baseball either) was playing on the field next to ours. By the end of his season, he was playing short stop, a decent batter, and he even pitched a game! Immediately, I was trapped in a game of comparison. How did he get ALL the athletic genes?

Anytime we do something with people, alongside of them, this comparison is a problem. It can be easy for jealousy to set in. It may not be baseball, but it might be that guy who always seems to have the answers in your community group. Or the girl who can sing better, host better, or whatever. We’re all trying to serve God together, but what we end up doing is looking a lot to the left and right at what everyone else is doing.

In Ephesians 4:1-6, Paul confronts this exact issue:

“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit– just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call– one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

What is Paul doing in this passage? He talks about one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one Faith - what is he doing? He’s pointing out the fact that we don’t have a million singular things going on, but in fact, as Christians, we’re all focused on one thing. One faith. One Lord. He’s zeroing us in on our goal in responding to what Christ has done for us. We’re all living for God - the same God! We’re all working, striving, taking small steps on faithfulness together towards the same goal. We’re not looking at what is going on on the baseball field next to ours, we’re focused on Christ!

A God-honoring life begins with a life that is centered on the truth of what Jesus has done for us. But Paul starts to point out that even though we are all focused on the same goal, we are walking it out in different ways. Rather than be distracted by what’s going on around us, we’re focused on the service Christ is calling us to in our lives. That’s exactly what Paul says a few verses later in Ephesians 4:15-16:

“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when every part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

Paul shows us that it’s not really about what your task is, what your calling is, what you’re good at, or whether someone is more talented than you. What’s important is that we are following and glorifying Christ. He talks about the church like it’s a body - a human body - and Christ is the head. He’s the leader. He’s in the front; He’s in control. And as we follow Him, as different joints, parts and pieces, if we work properly together, our body will grow and build itself up in love.

That’s really an amazing concept. Think about growth. How do we expect to see growth? In the world, growth really happens through competition. The better people rise to the top, band together, and leave everyone else behind. Actually, that’s what happened on my baseball team. By the end of the season, my only friend was the guy with the weird eyes and a worse batting average. But what Paul presents is a way of life that is free of jealousy and ripe with focus. As we keep our gaze focused on Christ and what He’s done for us, we’re able to serve and minister together. As we encourage each other along the way, something incredible happens. Our faith family starts to grow. We add people, we mature in Christ, we grow in faithfulness and spiritual maturity. It doesn’t happen through competition, it happens in love. The power of Christ is a church willing to focus on Him more than their differences.

The church was not intended to be a collection of people trying to outdo one another, but a team of believers working arm in arm for the sake of the Gospel of Christ. That’s the call of the Gospel of Christ - to give everything we have, even our best talents, so that the world may begin to see how Jesus is victorious over our sin.