Today we are moving on from the first 2 verses of chapter 12. Remember those are the basis for the rest of everything Paul says here and they are based in the theology of God's mercy in redemption and salvation as outlined in the first 11 chapters. If you haven't checked out Monday through Wednesday be sure to go check those out now.
Romans 12:1–8
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Here in verses 3-8 Paul identifies the first thing that comes to his mind that is the result of having a transformed mind—a commitment to community. This is kind of a strange place to go first isn't it? If someone asked you the first result of having your life transformed by Christ what would you say? It would likely be something related to your circumstances or your personal thinking or feelings, right? I think this says a lot about our individualistic approach to Christianity today that was foreign to the first century church.
As we did with the "therefore" in v. 1 we must ask what the "for" in v. 3 is in reference to. Since Paul uses the word "think" in v. 3 he seems to be connecting it to the believer having their mind transformed in v. 2. So this is what it looks like to have one's mind transformed. First, it's humility and a recognition that you need community. No one Christian has all of the gifts that God has given the church, so we need one another. The character trait at the foundation of the Christian community is humility or as Paul says, "don't think of yourself more highly than you out to think".
I love the way he says this. By saying it this way he implies that we also shouldn't think too low of ourselves. God has given us a gift that is to be used for the betterment of the community of faith. He has showed us great mercy.
The "for" in v. 4 modifies what he says in v. 3 meaning what follows is what it looks like to think of yourself with sober judgment.
To make this point, Paul uses his favorite analogy for the church—the human body. Just like the body has different "members" (ie. parts that serve different functions, hands, feet, eyes, etc.) but is still unified in one person. So the church has different parts (ie. individuals within the church with different gifts) yet is one cohesive community. "...so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another" (v. 5).
In closing, nothing is more toxic to a community than pride, or thinking of yourself more highly than you ought to think. A failure to recognize your dependence and membership to one another to experience the fullness of God's grace is the complete anti-Christ and anti-church state of mind. The Christian must recognize their own giftings, use them (v. 6) while at the same time recognize they are one member of the larger body (v. 4-5) and dependent on others expressing their gifts as well for the church to experience the fullness of God's grace. This cannot be achieved if individuals within the community are pridefully claiming their gifts are better than others or using their gifts for the exploitation of others. To be doing this implies that your mind has not been transformed and you are not correctly discerning what God's will is.
This way of thinking is radically different from the thinking of this age. The thinking of this age emphasizes the lone wolf, independent, self-sufficient person who doesn't need anyone. The thinking of this age tells us to get ours and use our abilities to exploit others and extract everything we can from them to increase our lot in life. This is not the way of Jesus.
There is of course much more to be said about the spiritual gifts but for the sake of brevity we are just sticking with the big ideas today.
Additional Content
If you aren't aware of your gift given you by God, take a few moments to go through the assessment I've included below. This will give a good idea of where to start. Don't take it as gospel. This will give you a launching point to try some stuff within the church community. After practicing these gifts you will likely see where God has gifted you. Which one helps you experience God's presence the best? What do you feel fulfilled in doing? What gets you fired up about church ministry?
Reflection
Reflect on your commitment to community. Would you go to a commitment to community as the first result of being transformed in your thinking? Do you think of your participation in church community as "one body in Christ" and "individually members of one another"?
We all have pride in our lives. How has your pride negatively affected your participation in community? Repent and commit to presenting yourself to God as a living sacrifice and being transformed by the renewal of your mind to know what God's will is (ie. God's will is for you to humble yourself in community).