September 14, 2008 Message

1 Corinthians 14:12; Luke 8:4-8
“Strive To Use Your Spiritual Gifts Well”

We came to church today wanting to worship God, right? But like anything else, there can be distractions that divert our attention and minimize the powerful impact worship can have on all of us. Paul writes to the church at Corinth about such a distraction.

Our lives consist of one distraction after another, and distractions are a common problem for all of us – in all aspects of our life. At school we can be distracted by a beautiful day or falling snow; at work we can be distracted by an ‘office pool’ or rumors of company layoffs; and at home we can be distracted by unexpected guests or new episodes of CSI. There are a gazillion things that distract us from what we should be doing.

This past week, many of us were distracted from the presidential campaigns by remembering and honoring, if only for a brief moment, those who lost their lives on September 11. Even our distractions are subject to distractions. On Thursday I watched Lou Pinnella, manager of the Chicago Cubs, talk about the distraction of hurricane Ike that was to hit the Houston area, where they were to play the Astros on Friday and this weekend.

Distractions can also affect our corporate worship or our personal relationships with God. A cartoon in a popular magazine shows a woman shaking the pastor’s hand after the service saying, “It was loud, forceful, and clashed with my sensibilities. And that was just your tie!” Sometimes it doesn’t take much to distract us – maybe that’s why I’m not wearing a tie today. But for some, that may even be a distraction.

We can be distracted individually, as this woman was… or we can be distracted as a church because there is no clear vision and direction. Our vision, of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world should be clear, but is it, really?

Sometimes I wonder if all the things we find ourselves doing as a church are centered on this vision or on some small distraction that takes us away from our real purpose. I know many disciples here… and you are changing the world framed by this community, but still I wonder about the distractions in our being ‘church’ together, all of us.

The problem of distractions in church is as old as church itself. Paul addressed this problem in the church at Corinth, where distractions were so bad that the worship service was undermined and the good news of Christ was getting lost. However Paul’s letter wasn’t to those being distracted, rather it was to those doing the distracting.

Paul believed worship should be fitting and meaningful – that it should do what it was suppose to do, which was to strengthen the church’s members and help unbelievers come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. So Paul offered a suggestion. He said the way to do this is to emphasize the gifts that build up the church and to not do the things that would distract others. Paul says, “So with yourselves; since you are eager for spiritual gifts, strive to excel in them for building up the church.” (1 Corinthians 14:12)

If we were to read what Paul said before this, we would understand he is talking about the gift of speaking in tongues and how it’s become a distraction. Unlike the tongues speaking in Acts 2, which was for the building up of the church, this was a praying in the spirit (uttering of syllables) that nobody could understand without an interpreter. And for Paul it was a big distraction and served no good purpose.

Now, speaking in tongues is rare in a United Methodist worship service and I’m not aware of anyone doing in their private prayer – although, I suppose, it would be okay. I think Paul saw speaking in tongues as a personal spiritual gift, not intended for the whole church, and never a gift for everyone. A spiritual gift is to be used to build up the church and to not be a distraction. Our Articles of Religion and Confession of Faith spell out pretty clearly that public worship should be in a language understood by the people. Our worship should unite us rather than divide us.

We believe two things about a person’s spiritual gift: 1) the gift is the work of the Spirit in a person’s life, and 2) these spiritual gifts are never about the individual; the gifts are given for the work of the whole family of God. We also believe these gifts bear good fruit when they are used without personal pride or privilege. This is when we are at our best! – when our gift is used for others, especially those yet to be followers of Christ.

Paul was seeker sensitive. True, for him, it was about those who follow Christ, but it was also about those who were yet to follow Christ. There is a phrase in the church growth movement that has been a powerful force in shaping how church is being done across the nation and around the world. The phrase is “seeker sensitive”. Paul in this chapter is advocating a seeker sensitivity in worship services!

Perhaps there’s a need to develop a missionary approach to relationships as well as for our worship services; a need for the church to use language that can be understood by those not yet in the church, to explain things that people don’t understand, and to be more aware of the language we use and what we say to those who haven’t been here as long as we have.

In Corinth the whole church was speaking like foreigners by their use of tongues, but what about us? Do we sound like foreigners to unbelievers? Paul said, “Make worship “fitting.” – for everyone. Is there something we might do to become more effective at accomplishing our primary purpose of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world?

As pointed out in Jesus’ story of the farmer in Matthew - our distractions can swoop down from above, or weigh heavily upon us, or entangle themselves around us so tightly we lose our focus. If the good news of Jesus Christ is to be heard, if disciples are to be made, if the world is to be transformed, if seeds are to grow – the church must not be distracted.

As the body of Christ, we must continue to work towards our highest calling and our number one priority – making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We must remain true to the gospel message, and increase our effectiveness at getting it out to our community. This should always be the focus of our effort as a church and the reason why we do what we do. It should dictate the music we choose, the style of worship we use, and the way we do things. It was this priority that was being violated at Corinth that led to Paul’s letter, corrections that can help us even today. Whatever you do, don’t distract others from coming to God, instead “strive to use your spiritual gifts well.“

Perhaps Paul’s message comes at a good time as plans are being made for some of us to attend a workshop in Vinton this Saturday dealing with “passionate worship” and what we might do to make ours here more so – not only for us, but for all those yet to come. If you believe people should hear and witness the gospel when they come to worship here, if you believe we should not distract them from that end by what we do in worship, and if you believe all our spiritual gifts could possibly be used more effectively for worship – then go with us Saturday. Your place there has already been prepared. Just let me know you will be going. Let us pray.