1 Corinthians 12:1-13
This passage begins a discussion that continues through chapter 14; so to get the full effect, one would do well to read chapters 12-14 in one sitting.
Paul begins his discussion of spiritual gifts by making a simple–but profoundly important–point: No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit. This is significant because, apparently, members of the Corinthian church have been assessing their own spiritual maturity and importance by how dazzling or unusual their spiritual gifts are. As a consequence, they have apparently been claiming that some members of the church don’t possess the Spirit because they are not demonstrating spiritual gifts such as prophesying or speaking in ecstatic, “heavenly” languages. But Paul wants to make one thing quite clear: everyone who has made a commitment to Jesus’ lordship has the Holy Spirit operating within them.
The presence of the Holy Spirit is not discerned by the presence of miracles or the presence of ecstatic speech. As Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, “Many will say to me, ‘Did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do miracles in your name?’ But I will say to them that I never knew them.” The presence of the Holy Spirit is not determined by amazing, apparently supernatural, activities. The presence of the Holy Spirit is determined by whether we are following Jesus, living in love, and excercising our abilities and gifts “for the common good” (verse 7). The Holy Spirit is essentially about building up and helping one another.
So Paul begins by putting all members of the church on a “level playing field’–as far as possessing the Holy Spirit goes. All judgments about who is more spiritual or who “really” has the Spirit are misplaced; if anything, such an attitude shows a lack of the Holy Spirit’s presence.
But Paul is certainly not against prophecy or healing or miracles or speaking in ecstatic speech (speaking “in tongues”). These are all good gifts in the church, but God gives different gifts and abilities to different people. This is not spiritual inequality, this is spiritual diversity! Behind every kind of gift is the same Spirit. behind every kind of service to one another is the same Lord Jesus Christ. Behind every function of the church is the same God–the source of all we do. So some have a special gift for wisdom, and some for knowledge, and some for speaking for God (prophecy), and some for discerning, and some for bringing healing to others, and some for praying in ecstasy. Paul could have added some more mundane special gifts: some have a special gift for finances, some for administration, some for teaching children, some for fixing broken furnaces, some for typing, some for providing transportation. As long as what we do is being done for the good of the community, out of love that we have learned from Jesus, we are motivated and empowered by the Spirit.
The community of faith is potentially very diverse–with different ethnicities, different religious or non-religious backgrounds, different abilities, different economic circumstances, different colors and different orientations. But the community of faith is still one body. We have one overall lord who guides us: Jesus. We are empowered by one Spirit. We belong to one God. The church has often forgotten this–fragmenting over divisive issues and constructing rigid boundaries instead of focsuing on the core at the center. Paul says to us: our unity is in our core; stay focused on that.
The early church overcame the biggest social barriers in the ancient world: barriers separating men and women, slaves and free, gentiles and Jews. What are the social barriers today that the church ought to be overcoming through the one Spirit?
Paul, of course, did not have a doctrine of the Trinity. The doctrine of the Trinity would be hammered out centuries later using fine-tuned Greek philosophy and vocabulary. But in this pasage we see that Paul–and the early church in general–thought of God’s activity in a trinitarian way. There is one God and Father of us all from whom all things come. There is one “lord”–Jesus Christ–who embodies all of God’s authority and is God’s ultimate representative to humanity. There is one Spirit–the presence and power of God active in our world through human beings. The Spirit is the Spirit of God–and the Spirit manifested fully in Jesus. Jesus Christ is both a human being and–now–at total oneness with God.
This seems to be Paul’s way of thinking. It is the rudiments of the Trinity, but without trying to figure out all the “substances” and “natures” and other philosophical detail. It is clearly not “three Gods.” It is one God, made known to us and manifested in our world in primarily three ways: through all of creation, through a human being, and through God working within us.
[Due to Christmas and New Year's, this blog will continue on January 9.]
