Christ's body Archives | Moment to Moment

Ignorance is bliss? (2)

I do not want you to be unaware.

You know that when you were pagans, you used to be enticed and led astray by mute idols.

Therefore I want you to know… (1 Corinthian 12:1-3)

“I do not want you to be unaware…”

That’s not the first or only time Paul ever used that phrase.

And once again, it struck my heart.

Paul’s saying here, “I don’t want you to be ignorant. You used to be ignorant, and as a result, were led astray. But now I want you to know.”

I want to know too. I don’t want to stay in my ignorance, nor be satisfied with how much I know. I want to know more.

I want to better understand how to discern God’s Spirit from lying spirits.

I want to better comprehend spiritual gifts.

I want to better know the same Spirit, the same Lord, the same God who grants us these gifts and the purposes for which he gave them to us.

I want to better grasp how he sees me as part of his body, how much he values me.

I want to better understand how he sees the other people in his body, how much he values them.

And I want to know the better way. The better way to think of and use my gifts. The better way to live my life for Jesus.

Lord, let me not be ignorant. I want to know.

What’s most important

It strikes me that as much as Paul is talking about the spiritual gifts, it is not his primary concern. He never goes into details on the gifts as he would have if the gifts themselves were his primary concern.

His concern is that the schisms in the church be taken out.

He reminds them again and again, “You are one body. You share the same Spirit, the same Lord, the same God. The gifts you have are to benefit all in the church. You need each other. You are to honor each other.

“Is one of you suffering? Their pain is your pain. Is one of you honored? Rejoice with them! They are part of you and you are part of them.

“You desire all these spiritual gifts. Great! But remember that you are one. So cast out the divisions among you.”

And that leads straight into 1 Corinthians 13.

How about you?

Do you value God’s church and the people in it as much as Paul did?

Or are you thinking like the Corinthians?