Pastor’s Point: 1 Corinthians 12 Reimagined (submitted by Chris Schliesman)

Dear Choir Members,

I want to write to you about the special abilities that the Holy Spirit gives to each of you, for I don't want any misunderstanding about them.

You will remember that before you became choir members, you stayed at home during choir practice (watching TV). Not one of you was singing a single note. But now you are a meeting people who claim to sing messages from the Spirit of God. How can you know whether they are singing for God or whether they are fakes? Here is the test: no one singing by the power of the Spirit of God can curse Jesus, and no one can sing, "Jesus is Lord," and really mean it, unless the Holy Spirit is helping him.

Now God gives us many kinds of special abilities, but it is the same Holy Spirit who is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service to God, but it is the same Lord we are serving. There are many ways in which God works in our lives, but it is the same God who does the work in and through all of us who are His. The Holy Spirit displays God's power through each of us as a means of helping the entire choir.

To some the Spirit gives the ability to sing soprano; others may be especially good at second or alto, and this is His gift from the same Spirit. To some He gives a special solo talent, and to others the power to harmonize. He gives powers for singing tenor, and to others the power to sing bass. He gives someone else the power to select and direct our music - that it is really the Spirit of God who is singing. Still another person is able to operate our sound system, while others are given the gift of playing musical instruments. It is the same and only Holy Spirit who gives us all these gifts and powers, deciding which each one of us should have.

The choir has many parts, but the many parts make up only one choir when they are all put together. So it is with the "choir" of Christ. Each of us is part of the one choir of Christ. Some of us are sopranos or seconds, some are altos, some are tenors and some are bass. But the Holy Spirit has fitted us all together into one choir. We have been chosen into Christ's choir by the one Spirit, and have all been given the same Holy Spirit.

Yes, the choir has many parts, not just one part. If the alto says, "I am not a part of the choir because I am not a soloist," that does not make her any less a part of the choir. And what would you think if you heard a youth say, "I am not a part of the choir because the choir loft is running out of room?" Would that make him any less a part of the choir? Suppose the whole choir was a director, then who would sing? Or if the whole choir just sang, who would play the instruments?

But that isn't the way God made us. He has many parts for the choir and has put each part just where He wants it. What a strange thing it would be if it only had one part! So He has made many parts, but still there is one choir.

The alto can never say to the soprano, "I don't need you." The choir can never say to the director, "I don't need you." And some of the parts that seem weakest and least important are really the most necessary. If one part suffers, all parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. Now here is what I'm trying to say: all of you together are one choir of Christ and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it.

Sincerely,

Paul