Chronicles of Love, Part IV
"...IT DOES NOT ENVY,..."
[caption id="attachment_239" align="alignleft" width="97" caption=""Oh sure, pick on the little guy, with his ONE GOOD EYE!""]
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So, if your "whole body was an eye," (1 Cor. 12:17) what exactly would that look like? Many times I've attempted to paint this picture in my mind after reading Paul's words. It makes me think about Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc. fame. But even with dental-floss-sized arms and legs, only 40% of him is actually ocular appendage.
Obviously, Paul is not talking about a literal, physical body made up of 100% optical extensions. Nor do I think this is strictly a physical issue, referencing personal possessions. Although, when we think of envy or jealousy, that's usually the first place we go, right?
No, I think the concept that Paul is trying to convey he actually repeats again here in the 13th chapter: Love DOES NOT envy. That means not envying the immorality of the lost, nor the conscience of the immoral, nor the seeming "freedom" of the wayward human being. It's easy to become envious of the ungodly when we fail to see ourselves "free indeed" (John 8:36), as believers. But there is also a form of jealousy among brothers and sisters in Christ that exists, as well.
Each part of the body matters, and if you are overcome by selfishness, you will begin to envy other gifts that God has granted to other believers and NOT to you. Hence, the reason Paul cites the concept of the whole body being an eye. Jealousy of other gifts would not accomplish all the tasks we are responsible to as disciples. We must be grateful for what God has gifted us to do, and not desirous of other Christians abilities in this life.
However, it's really not so much about the person you envy as it is about the person who is actually looking up to you...the person who is counting on you to come through with YOUR gift. That's the real core of this jealousy, as that is where the first real signs of breakdown begin to occur.
Think about it for a second. If the Bible says that the distribution of Spiritual gifts is planned by God's very Spirit, that means the assignments are PERFECT. God doesn't make mistakes, and He's certainly not going to start making mistakes where the condition of men's souls are hanging in the balance. That's right, our gifts were designed to be used for "saving the world," ... literally!
Perhaps we can begin looking at unenvious love this way: not so much about what we "wish we had" as much as simply loving others by being grateful and even happy for the gifts and blessings the Spirit has granted them. Are you content enough with the gifts God has blessed you with? If not, envy is creeping in. And, if you can't be grateful among brothers and sisters in Christ, what's to stop raging jealousy when you are in the company of the unsaved?
just a thought...
[caption id="attachment_239" align="alignleft" width="97" caption=""Oh sure, pick on the little guy, with his ONE GOOD EYE!""]
[/caption]So, if your "whole body was an eye," (1 Cor. 12:17) what exactly would that look like? Many times I've attempted to paint this picture in my mind after reading Paul's words. It makes me think about Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc. fame. But even with dental-floss-sized arms and legs, only 40% of him is actually ocular appendage.
Obviously, Paul is not talking about a literal, physical body made up of 100% optical extensions. Nor do I think this is strictly a physical issue, referencing personal possessions. Although, when we think of envy or jealousy, that's usually the first place we go, right?
No, I think the concept that Paul is trying to convey he actually repeats again here in the 13th chapter: Love DOES NOT envy. That means not envying the immorality of the lost, nor the conscience of the immoral, nor the seeming "freedom" of the wayward human being. It's easy to become envious of the ungodly when we fail to see ourselves "free indeed" (John 8:36), as believers. But there is also a form of jealousy among brothers and sisters in Christ that exists, as well.
Each part of the body matters, and if you are overcome by selfishness, you will begin to envy other gifts that God has granted to other believers and NOT to you. Hence, the reason Paul cites the concept of the whole body being an eye. Jealousy of other gifts would not accomplish all the tasks we are responsible to as disciples. We must be grateful for what God has gifted us to do, and not desirous of other Christians abilities in this life.
However, it's really not so much about the person you envy as it is about the person who is actually looking up to you...the person who is counting on you to come through with YOUR gift. That's the real core of this jealousy, as that is where the first real signs of breakdown begin to occur.
Think about it for a second. If the Bible says that the distribution of Spiritual gifts is planned by God's very Spirit, that means the assignments are PERFECT. God doesn't make mistakes, and He's certainly not going to start making mistakes where the condition of men's souls are hanging in the balance. That's right, our gifts were designed to be used for "saving the world," ... literally!
Perhaps we can begin looking at unenvious love this way: not so much about what we "wish we had" as much as simply loving others by being grateful and even happy for the gifts and blessings the Spirit has granted them. Are you content enough with the gifts God has blessed you with? If not, envy is creeping in. And, if you can't be grateful among brothers and sisters in Christ, what's to stop raging jealousy when you are in the company of the unsaved?
just a thought...
I think a key is when we can actually get to the point where we encouragingly build each other up because of the gifts that are being used in service as opposed to trying to point out all the flaws while sitting on the sidelines saying I’d get in the game if they were playing it my way. We all have our own personal desires and preferences but the thing that matters is being able to lay it all aside and sell out to God’s team. God is perfect and it is difficult for me to remember that all the time because I enjoy being right and trying to convince others I’m right.
ReplyDeleteI’m sitting here watching the first game of the NBA finals and it is so funny watching and second guessing the coaches. What is even funnier is listening to the commentators. I think the cream of the crop came this past weekend. I was watching the NCAA softball world series. It was late in one of the games and the team up to bat was down by 3 with two outs. One of the three starting seniors on the team was coming up to bat and the coach decided to pinch hit for her with a freshman. Everyone was going crazy. How could a coach do that? The camera panned to the dugout and the senior that had been pulled was shouting like crazy for the freshman and obviously the most encouraging one in the dugout shouting and yelling encouragement to the freshman batter. The freshman had not started any games all season; in fact did not have a very good batting average for her first year playing at the collegiate level. She watched strike one……fouled off one – strike two……..a couple of balls and another fouled off. Things were not looking very good. The senior that had been pulled was rutting lauder and harder for the freshman. The pitcher hung a pitch and the freshman hit a grand slam homerun scoring 4 runs. They ended up winning the game by a run.
It just amazes me as I read your blog how relevant that is to functioning in the Body of Christ. For many, many, many, years we have may have been the starter in a ministry area and successfully conducted, lead, participated in ministry. Then all of a sudden God brings in a pinch hitter or replacement. Do we fully support, get on board, encourage our heart out for the new player and stay ‘in the game’ or do we get envious of the ‘new player’ and sit on the bench quietly mumbling to ourselves that God should have left me in there. The cool thing is that God’s team is infinitely large. There is always an opening on the roster. The gifts that the Spirit has given are always in play and sometimes they may even move around. The question I ask myself is am I going to sit and pout on the bench or am I going to sell out to supporting the ‘new or renewed player’ in their service to God. Am I going to be envious and second guess God’s call?
Well all this may make absolutely not since to you reading this but it is amazingly crystal clear in my mind….. Thanks for sparking the thought!
Adam
[...] sure we didn’t miss it? First, he said that to love we must learn not to be envious (see last week’s blog), then he instructs against boasting and pride. As different as they are, they are still very [...]
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