In the 2002 movie Spiderman, Peter Parker, a nerdy high school senior on a field trip gets bit by a radioactive spider. Shortly afterward, he discovers he’s got a number of unnatural abilities. He has superhuman vision, hearing, and strength, and his wrists produce super-strong spiderweb type material. Like a high schooler who signs a pro contract though, Parker doesn’t handle it well. He has yet to learn how to use his new powers, and it goes to his head. In a tragic series of events, a robber kills Parker’s uncle, who – before dying – offers a last statement to his nephew: “with great power comes great responsibility.”
This is a message you and I as Christians – particularly Christians in America – need to take to heart.
In Acts 1:11, when Jesus ascended to heaven, there were only a handful of believers on Earth. You had 11 disciples, plus a few women like Mary Magdalene and a few secret disciples like Joseph of Arimethea and Nicodemus. That’s it. How in the world did a handful of people in a backwater area of the Roman Empire turn into a global religion that counts the population of roughly half the world as its followers?
The short answer? That’s how God planned for it to happen all along.
Roughly 600 years before Jesus, the prophet Jeremiah shared this message from God concerning His plan for a New Covenant:
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
For a devout Jew in the times of Jeremiah, this “New Covenant” follower of God must have sounded truly like a superhero. God’s law would be written on their hearts, not on the tablets of stone Moses brought down from Mt Sinai, or on the scrolls of the temple. This means they would know how to do what God wanted them to do – not just intellectually, as the scribes in Jesus’ time did, spending their days copying and dissecting each commandment. These people would know God and His law so intimately that it would be a part of them.
This is a picture of what redeemed humanity will look like – and the Church, empowered by the Holy Spirit – represents the first steps of the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy.
As Paul explains to the Ephesians, they (and we) are New Covenant people of God:
But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”
(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ… (Ephesians 4:7-13)
God gave grace to you and me and all believers through the Spirit – Who lives in every believer (Rom 8:8-11). The Spirit brings gifts – supernatural abilities – to each believer He indwells. If you are a believer, you have a Spiritual gift – and almost certainly more than one. Think about that for a minute: you have superhuman abilities. In some way – obvious or subtle, comfortable or not – you have been given enormously powerful gifts. Why?
In Ephesians 4, Paul explains: “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…”
But take a look at the list of gifts mentioned here. It’s not comprehensive, and there are longer lists in other places (see Eph 4, Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 – all of which focus on the use of the gifts for the betterment of the body). I think there’s a point to the examples Paul lists here: all the gifts he lists are completely useless without the Word. A pastor/shepherd, teacher or evangelist – apart from the Bible, apart from the Gospel – is just a motivational speaker selling a coaching program.
This is true of every Spiritual gift. For two thousand years, believers have used their gifts to build up the Church. But in those times when the Church has gone off track – with tragic consequences – it’s always been when the Church stopped connecting Word with heart.
We have more power than you or I realize to bring the Kingdom of God – in very real, though limited ways – into existence here and now. But the culture around us remains largely unchanged because without a strong biblical foundation, our gifts lie dormant.
As Peter Parker’s uncle told him, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Apart from the Word, you and I cannot properly use the gifts God’s given us for the benefit of His Church. We have a responsibility to show Jesus to the world – through Spiritually-empowered love, service and work.
Questions:
1) What are your gifts? If you’re not sure, start by asking your friends and family. You’re not going to be gifted in every way – but my guess is you’re already using your gifts, even if you don’t yet know what they are!
2) How are you using those gifts “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…”?
3) Do you regularly read your Bible? Why or why not?
4) If your answer to #3 was “I’m too busy,” I (respectfully) don’t buy it. If you are an average reader, you read about 200 words per minute. At that rate, you could read through the entire New Testament in 1 month by reading just 30 minutes per day.
Add Your Comment