We Must Appreciate the Diversity Among God’s People

The possibilities for gifts of the Holy Spirit are infinite, in a sense, because the Spirit of God is not limited. He can manifest Himself through an artistic gift, through a gift for counseling, through a gift for composing music or a musical gift; there are many ways in which the one Holy Spirit manifests Himself in a diversity of expressions, all of them for the benefit of the Church of Jesus Christ and the people of God, the purposes of God on Earth, and the life of the believer through whom these gifts are manifested.

Paul was interested not only in that doctrinal teaching but also in the pastoral aspects of the Holy Spirit. And so, in that same chapter 12 of First Corinthians, he turns to another subject, speaking precisely about the oneness of the Spirit and the diversity of His manifestations, and about the practical consequences of that fact.

And so we see here that Paul says in verse 13, First Corinthians 12: “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all given to drink of the same Spirit.” Again, that universality of the Presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of every believer. We all have the Holy Spirit if we have believed in Christ, but not all of us, as I was saying, have the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

But what Paul is saying here is this: look, we all have this dimension of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Spirit manifests Himself in different ways, and we have to learn to respect and value one another. The person who has a particular gift must not look down on another person’s gift. The person who has a humbler gift should not be longing and wishing for, and envying, someone else who has a gift that is perhaps more public or more spectacular. Each person must appreciate the other, and each must appreciate what he or she has received.

That is why, in First Corinthians 12:14, Paul says: “For the body is not one member but many; if the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I am not part of the body,’ does that make it any less a part of the body?” Verse 18: “But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body as He wished.” Verse 26: “So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it, and if one member receives honor, all the members rejoice with it.”

What Paul is saying is that we Christians have to learn to appreciate the diversity among the people of God and that we have to value one another. No one should feel superior or inferior to others; God will manifest His gifts in different ways. Some will have the gift of tongues, others will have the gift of music, others will have the gift of preaching, or evangelism, or service, or presiding—leadership, in this case—many different expressions. And the children of God have to learn to move as one body, in harmony with one another.

In a church where the gifts are being manifested, there will be a diversity of expressions, but there must always be harmony; we must always prefer one another, love one another, and value one another.

Paul develops that teaching very powerfully in Romans chapter 12, where he says: “No one should think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but should think of himself with sound judgment, according to the measure of faith God has allotted to each one,” and there he also takes up this idea of the members of the body, each one different but all complementary.

And that is why he says there that the one who exhorts, the one who has the gift of exhortation, should exercise it with confidence; the one who gives, with generosity; the one who presides, with diligence; and the one who shows mercy should do so with cheerfulness. And then he says: “Let us be of one mind with one another,” verse 16, “not haughty, but associate with the humble.” He says that we should prefer one another, bear with one another, and share in meeting the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

Paul is saying that the Christian life, in the end, should be a life of harmony, of mutual appreciation, of mutual support, of appreciating the gifts in different people. That is very important because, unfortunately, in churches where the gifts are manifested, there is often discord, there are divisions, there is competition for positions of leadership, as there was in the Church of Corinth; rivalries and conflicts. And Paul says: no, it is important that where there is the power and manifestation of God, there should also be harmony, mutual respect, support for one another, preferring one another, valuing one another, encouraging and spurring one another on, and appreciating each person’s gift, and that we should all move as one body in perfect harmony, because God has placed the gifts wherever He pleases, and He does everything for the purpose of advancing His Kingdom.

So this pastoral teaching that Paul develops in the midst of his Pentecostal teaching is important, and there has to be that balance between the gift of the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And that is often what happens in churches: there is not an adequate balance between the development of the power and manifestation of God’s gift and the Christian character that leads believers to an attitude of benevolence, kindness, patience, mutual tolerance, and appreciation for one another.

We cannot become so enamored of the Pentecostal vision that we forget the vision of harmony and Christian character that should exist among the people of God; these two things are perfectly balanced. And that chapter, First Corinthians chapter 12, is an excellent way to see how, in the mind of the apostle Paul and therefore of the Holy Spirit, there is this call to a balanced life: a life of great dynamism, power, and energy from the Holy Spirit, but also of the fruit and character of Christ. That is what keeps this diversity of gifts from becoming an obstacle, an opportunity, and a platform for rivalries and divisions, competition, and envy of one another, as can so often happen in a Pentecostal setting.

I hope this is a blessing to your lives, and we will continue later to meditate on these fundamental truths of the Christian life. May the Lord bless you, and until our next meditation.