The Gospel and Church (Romans 12:3-8)

Big Idea: Respond to the gospel by thinking less about yourself, more about the church, and by serving in God’s strength.

What does it look like when you really understand the gospel? What does it look like to be so transformed by the truths of Romans 1-11 that we surrender our lives and are transformed by his grace? What does it look like in real life?

It looks like a lot of things, but here’s one of the first: it looks like a certain kind of relationship with his church. Particularly, it looks like three things: thinking less about yourself, valuing the church more deeply, and serving in God’s strength.

Let’s take a look at what Paul says. Here’s the first thing he says.

Think Less About Yourself (12:3)

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.

Paul has been unpacking the truths of the gospel for 11 chapters. Now he’s showing us how these truths should change our lives. He’s already told us that the gospel calls us to commit ourselves fully to God and to be transformed in our minds. Now here’s the first way in which he calls us to change our thinking. He calls us to change the way we think about ourselves.

In other words, there’s a wrong way to think about ourselves and a right way to think about ourselves. Thinking is his focus here. Paul uses the word “think” four times in eleven words. What’s the wrong way to think about ourselves? It’s to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think.

Here’s the sad reality that all of us face: almost all of us think of ourselves more highly than we ought, and we want others to have similar high opinions of us too. It’s called pride, and it’s a problem. When Paul wrote this letter, he wrote in the context of a Roman culture that valued self-promotion and honor-seeking. Our culture isn’t much different today; our hearts aren’t very different either. We face the same cultural pressures and the same internal temptations to think more highly of ourselves than we should, and to want others to think highly of us too.

When Paul says to not think too highly of yourself, he’s not saying that you should put ourselves down. He’s not calling for us to hate ourselves or to say negative things about ourselves. Actually, that’s false humility, and it can be a form of pride too.

Here’s how we should think of ourselves: with sober judgment, and according to the measure of faith we’ve received.

The first one is easier to understand but hard to do. It’s very difficult for us to make a sober judgment about ourselves. Here’s the only way I know how to do this: stop looking at yourself altogether, and instead look to Jesus and what he says about you. One man (Ray Stedman) said that every day when he woke up, he reminded himself of three things:

• First, that he’s made in the image of God, that he has inherent dignity and the capacity to respond and to relate to God.
• Second, that he’s filled with the Spirit of God, that he has the Spirit of God at work within him even through all the problems and pressures that he faces.
• Third, that he’s part of God’s plan.

Listen to what he said:

I am part of the plan of God. God is working out all things to a great and final purpose in the earth, and I am part of it. What I do today has purpose and significance and meaning. This is not a meaningless day I am going through. Even the smallest incident, the most apparently insignificant word or relationship, is involved in his great plan. Therefore all of it has meaning and purpose.

Taken together, he said that this gave him “confidence without conceit.”

Think soberly of yourself. Remind yourself of how God sees you. And then measure yourself according to the faith that God has apportioned to you. This is harder to understand, but I think it probably means thinking about ourselves in light of how we are using whatever God has given us to serve his church. More of that in a minute.

Here’s what Paul is saying. What difference does the gospel make in our lives? It means that stop wanting to be a big deal. We stop trying to impress others. We stop focusing on ourselves altogether. Instead, we focus on what God says about us and how we can serve others.

By the way, a humble person is a breath of fresh air. C. S. Lewis argued the opposite: “To get even near HUMILITY, even for a moment, is like a drink of cold water to a man in a desert.” Tim Keller preached something similar: “There’s nothing more relaxing than humility.” Humble people see others, do not posture or manipulate, and freely serve and love. It is freeing, and it is beautiful.

Think less about yourself. Trade the illusion that you’re a big deal for the truth that you’re deeply loved by God. and then see yourself as someone he’s entrusted with a calling to serve. In other words, move from pride to humble, glad service.

But then Paul says something else:

Think More About the Church (12:4-5)

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. (12:4-5)

Paul has called us to think differently about ourselves. Now he calls us to think differently about the church. Here’s are the three things Paul wants us to understand about the church:

• Unity — There’s one body. God's gracious gift of salvation has saved believers into a family with brothers and sisters, a body with many members. We really are united to each other. If you’re not a member of a church, you’re betraying this unity, because God has called you to be part of a body.
• Diversity — Even though we’re part of a body, we’re all different, just like the parts of your body are different by design. Just as God has built diversity into nature and into our own bodies, God has built differences into the church: different temperaments, different skills, different spiritual gifts.
• Mutuality — The unity and the diversity work together. We need each other. We need the ministry of other believers in the church.

You see how what Paul has said so far goes together. He’s told us to get over ourselves; to stop overestimating ourselves, to stop trying to prove ourselves and impress others. Instead, look at what God says about you and serve. Now he’s giving the other thing we need: see that God has made you to be part of his church. Get over trying to be a big deal and admit that you need others. You need people who are very different than you. You need them and they need you.

How do you respond to the gospel? Stop thinking too highly of yourself and start realizing how much you need the church. God never made you to live the Christian life disconnected from other believers. You need the ministry of the church if you are going to live the Christian life.

In other words, the church is utterly crucial to your life in Christ. Connection with Christ means connection with each other. God doesn’t just save us as a collection of isolated individuals; he has joined us to each other. He’s going to return to this over and over again in the remainder of Romans.

When we’re independent and detached, it shows that we have too high a view of ourselves. When we realize we need others in the church, that shows the right kind of humility that leads to the life God has designed for us.

Think less about yourself, and value the church more deeply. Then Paul gives us one more thing we need to do.

Serve in God’s Strength (12:5-8)

So far Paul has told us to think differently about two items; now he tells us to act differently.

Here’s the command: “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them…” Your job is simple: it’s to use the gifts that Christ has given you for the sake of the whole body. You don’t just come to be served; you come to serve. God has given you an ability, given by his grace, that he intends for you to use for his glory and for the good of the church. He’s equipped us all to serve. He knows exactly what the church needs, and he has gifted the church with what the church needs to grow and flourish.

What are these gifts? Paul lists seven of them in verses 6 to 8:

Prophecy

This is the most controversial one. Some people see the gift of prophecy as speaking in an authoritative way on behalf of God like the Old Testament prophets, in which case this gift is no longer operative. John Piper defines it as “a Spirit-guided expression of something we otherwise would not know or say, which is powerful for that particular moment and brings conviction or exhortation or consolation for the awakening or upbuilding of faith.” Lloyd-Jones points to 1 Corinthians 14:3 to understand what Paul means: “On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation.” He says it’s delivering a warning, exhortation, instruction, or judgment, sometimes making known the secrets of the heart.

Whatever Paul means, he says that those with this gift must exercise it in proportion to their faith. In other words, don’t claim authority or insight beyond what God has revealed to you. Know your limits, and show proper humility and tentativeness. Don’t claim to speak for God when you don’t have a word from God.

Okay, now the easier ones.

Serving

This means lending a hand with practical things, and meeting practical needs. It’s the same word from which we get deacon. If God has called you to serve — and he’s called all of us to serve, then serve, Paul says.

Teaching

Teaching is the ability to instruct believers from God’s word faithfully, clearly, and helpfully. It transmits doctrine and understanding so people understand God through his word better.

Exhortation

Exhortation calls believers to action or perseverance. It motivates. Teaching engages the mind; exhortation engages the will. It motivates, encourages, and challenges believers to apply what they know. It draws people forward spiritually. It inspires. It calls the church toward faithfulness, resilience, and love, especially when circumstances tempt believers toward compromise or despair.

Contribution or Giving

Some believers have the ability to distribute resources to others with unusual generosity. We’re all called to share and give, but some are particularly equipped with the strong desire and eagerness to contribute sacrificially to others. If God has given you this gift, Paul says, exercise it with generosity.

Leading

The gift of leadership involves the ability to mobilize, motivate, and direct others toward an objective. It can happen at all different levels, from eldership to small groups to individual ministries. Paul says that if you have this gift, exercise it with zeal.

Mercy

Mercy is showing compassion to the weak, needy, and downcast. It involves both emotional responsiveness and sacrificial action directed toward the suffering and vulnerable. Paul says that if you have this gift, use it with cheerfulness, not with resentment.

This isn’t a comprehensive list. The Bible gives a number of lists of gifts, and none of them are meant to be exhaustive. The point is this: God has given you a gift that the church needs. Whatever that gift is, use it because we were meant to serve each other. You don’t even need to figure out what your gift is, just like fingers don’t need training on how to be a finger and noses don’t need training on how to smell. You’ll figure it out. Just get serving, because God has given you a job to do in the body. You are needed.

What does it mean, brothers and sisters, to apply the gospel in real life? It means embracing a particular kind of relationship with the church, not as a consumer, but as a committed member of a family.

It means a renewed view of yourself. You stop imagining you can live independently, or that your life is mainly about making much of yourself. Instead, you see yourself as someone loved by God, saved by grace, and entrusted with a purpose: to serve.

In other words, the gospel moves you from pride to humility, from self-focus to self-giving. And from that new posture, you begin to serve others, gladly and intentionally, with the gifts God has entrusted to you.

Respond to the gospel by thinking less about yourself, more about the church, and by serving in God’s strength.

Believer, the Son died for sinners and rose again. The Father justifies us by grace through faith on the basis of Christ, removing every condemnation and welcoming us as his children. The Holy Spirit applies what Christ has accomplished by uniting us to him, setting us free from sin and death, and assuring us that we are heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.

So take your rightful place, not at the center, but in the body, humbly serving in the strength God supplies.