The first word in Romans 12:3 is the word “for.” This tells us that we are continuing the discussion that began in Romans 12:1-2. Remember that in Romans 12:2 that we were told that being living sacrifices means that we must not be conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we can discern the will of God. God wants us to know his will through his word. But discerning his will requires a transformed mind. This is where Paul is going now in Romans 12:3-8. We need to have a different way of thinking. We also noted in our last lesson that, before we come to Christ, our thinking is darkened and futile (cf. Ephesians 4:17-18). So we need our minds renewed. We need a new way of thinking as disciples of Jesus. Paul is going to teach us how to think about ourselves, how to think about others, and what to do with this new way of thinking. Open your copies of God’s word to Romans 12:3-8 and let us consider together the new way of thinking God wants for each of us.
The Way To Think About Yourself (Romans 12:3)
What does Paul say is the common problem that we experience? You will notice in verse 3 that the problem is that we will think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. I think this command should cause us pause. We live in a culture and a time in which we are often told that the solution for our life problems is that we need to think more of ourselves. Our culture says we need to think more often about ourselves and we should think higher about ourselves. But God is telling us that this is worldly thinking and we are not to conform ourselves to the thinking of this world. God says that we have the problem of having a high regard for ourselves. Now this is an important challenge because I would imagine that if we took a poll of the Christians in the room we would all believe that we are all NOT thinking too highly about ourselves. I would imagine the same would have been true in the Roman church when this letter was read to them. Paul is telling us to notice how often we think about ourselves and do things out of a love for self.
Now I want us to notice how Paul describes the right thinking we need to adopt. He does not give a definition about what thinking too highly looks like or what thinking too low about yourself looks like. Paul just says, “Think with sober judgment.” The Greek word refers to thinking sensibly, and some translations read this way. Here is Paul’s picture: think reasonably. Think sensibly. Be in your right mind. Be rational. Be reasonable about how you think about yourself. You are not the only person on the planet. You are not the center of the universe. It is not all about you. Think with sober judgment.
What is the basis for this sensible thinking about ourselves? What are the guardrails so that we will not think more highly than we ought to think? You will notice that there are two guardrails in verse 3. Notice the beginning of verse 3. “For by the grace given to me…” Paul gives his instruction as he considers the grace of God given to him. You will notice that he will apply this to us in verse 6. We are to be looking at the grace that has been given to us. When we look at the grace of God toward us in our lives, then we will not think more highly than we ought to think. The second guardrail is at the end of verse 3. Think rightly, according to the measure of faith distributed to you. Paul made this point in this way to the Christians in Corinth:
I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? (1 Corinthians 4:6-7 ESV)
What do you have that has not been given to you by God? Name one thing. Proper thinking comes from seeing all of life through this lens. We are not any different from one another. Everything I have and everything I can do comes from God. Paul is not telling us to think badly about ourselves. Paul is telling us to see ourselves through what Christ has done for us and has given to us. This is the grace lens that Paul is giving to us.
The Way To Think About Others (Romans 12:4-5)
This proper thinking is to also change the way we think about others. Look at Romans 12:4-5. Paul wants us to think about each other in the body of Christ like we would think about our own physical bodies. Our bodies have many body parts. There are many members that belong to our physical body but they do not have the same function. The feet do not do what the eyes can do. The ears do not do what the fingers can do. But they are connected and belong to one physical human body. In the same way, even though we are many, we form one body in Christ. We are connected to each other. We belong to each other. This is the way we are to look at each other. We are not to look at each other out of envy or jealousy. We are not to look at each other as if this was a competition. We are not look at each other as if one part is more important than another. We are to look at each other, recognize our differences, but know that we belong together and we need one another.
I think this is one of our biggest problems in the local church today. We do not see that we need each other. We do not see that we are connected together. We do not see that we are a finger in this body and we need everyone else: the eyes, the ears, the nose, the mouth, the feet, the torso, and all the other parts. We are not sufficient to ourselves. We are one piece of the puzzle. Friends, how well does a puzzle work if you only have one piece? You cannot do anything. One puzzle piece is woefully incomplete. If you were to open a puzzle box and find one piece inside, you would think that you have nothing. This is the thinking that Paul is trying to give us. We need each other. We are nothing without each other. My eye is useless without its connection to the rest of the body. But now let me flip the illustration in the other direction. Have you ever worked on a puzzle for hours only to come to the end and have a puzzle piece missing? It is terrible. You might think that it is just one puzzle piece. But the puzzle is incomplete unless all the pieces are connected together. Sober thinking realizes that each of us are just one puzzle piece. You need the rest of the puzzle pieces to complete the picture and the rest of the puzzle pieces need you to complete the picture. This is the way we are to think about ourselves and to think about one another. So what is the instruction to us now that we have right, sober thinking in place? Look at Romans 12:6-8.
Use Your Gifts (Romans 12:6-8)
There are three keys that Paul instructs for us when it comes to right thinking as living sacrifices. First, everyone has a gift. You will notice that verse 6 does not say that some people have gifts and some people do not. Everyone has abilities and gifts given to them. When Jesus told the parable of the talents and the parable of the minas, none of the servants were described as being given no money. Just as much as it is wrong for us to think more highly than we ought to think, we are just as wrong to think that God has given us nothing to use. We need to see that God has given us blessings that we can use. We need to see that God has given us abilities that we can use. The next question that frequently arises is wanting to know what gifts we have. I heard Andy Cantrell make this observation, I believe, when preach here for us in a gospel meeting. He said that you probably already know your gifts because you are using them in your daily lives. You know the things that you are good at because you have made a career from those abilities. You have helped others with those abilities. You have had people tell you that you are good at something. The issue is not that we do not know what we are good at. The issue is not that we do not know what abilities we have. The issue is we do not think about using them in the kingdom of God.
This is the second point that Paul is making in Romans 12:6-8. Use the gift that you have been given. The ESV explicitly adds this in verse 6 because this is the implied point. If your gift is service, then serve. If you gift is teaching, then get teaching. If your gift is encouragement, then be an encourager. You have abilities given to you by God. Use them! Do not sit on them. Do not bury them. Do not use them for only secular things and not use them for the things of God. The only gift that we read in this section of scripture that we believe has not continued on to this day is the spiritual gift of prophecy. The reason why is that prophecy was the gift in which God directly told the prophet what to say and the prophet would say it. This gift is unnecessary today because God’s revealed will and words have been given to us in the scriptures. We do not need a person today to directly receive from God his words because his words have been now fully given to us. Paul made this point in 1 Corinthians 13:8 that the miraculous gifts like prophecy would soon pass away. But the rest of the gifts we read about in Romans 12 are not miraculous outpourings. These are gifts and abilities that are still present and needed today. Use what God has given for you to do. Use your gifts to the best of your abilities.
I think it is important to make another point right here. This is not a paragraph in which we are allowed to say that we do not have to do a particular thing because we are not good at it. For example, I cannot say that I am not going to serve because it is not by gift. I cannot say that I am not going to serve because I am not good at it. We are all commanded to serve, teach, encourage, and so forth. The point is not to exclude ourselves from doing various works that need to be done. The point is that to the degree God has gifted you, you must use your gift. You may not be the best at teaching, but you need to teach to the proportion of faith and grace given to you. You may not be the best encourager, but you need to encourage to the ability God has granted for you to use. Maybe this illustration will help us with the idea. Have you ever had to use your foot to pick up or move something because your hand could not reach it? The foot is not to say to the body, “Hey, I am not good at picking up things so I am not going to try.” No, we engage our foot to do its best to grab this item so that it is accessible to the rest of the body. The foot did what needed to be done to the best of its ability. I believe this is what Paul is calling for us to see. We are multitalented. We have various gifts given to us by God. Use them to the best ability that God has granted to you.
Then think about the other side of this illustration. Have you had a broken arm to that other parts of your body are trying to the work they are not equipped to do? If you had a broken hand or arm so that now you are using your mouth to try to open a package. It does not work very well because the problem is that the right gifted body part is not available. Or maybe you were trying to open a door when your hands were full. So you are trying to use your elbow or your foot or the back of your hand to try to open the door. This is when you are glad when another person with a free hand comes and opens the door for you. It is much better. It is more efficient. This happens where parts of the body of Christ are doing what they can because those who are gifted are not here. Having missing puzzle pieces makes the work very difficult. So, you have gifts. Use your gifts. Now the final point.
Third, look at the end of Romans 12:8. Did you notice how the pattern shifted? We went from using your gift (“if service, in our serving”) to how we use our gift. Notice in verse 8 that Paul does not say to the one who contributes, in giving. Rather, the call is for generosity. Paul does not say to the one who leads, to lead. He says to the one who leads to do so with zeal. To the one who does acts of mercy, to do so with cheerfulness. You have gifts. Use your gifts. Third, God cares how you use your gifts. Do not just do your gift. But use your gift with the right heart and motivation. Use your gift in a way that honors and glorifies God. When you give, do not just give. Give generously. For those who lead, do not just lead, but be zealous and diligent to lead. When performing acts of mercy and kindness, be cheerful and not begrudging.
The Message
Life on the altar means that we will think properly about ourselves. We are connected together and need one another. We cannot do this alone and we cannot do this kingdom work without you. You have blessings from God. You have talents from God. You have wealth from God. You have abilities from God. Use them. Do not sit on them. Do not hide them. I hope we would think about why this is so important. Imagine if everyone in the room said that someone else is going to take care of what needs to be done. Imagine if everyone said that we do not need to get here early to open the building because someone else will take care of it. Imagine if everyone said that they would not clean the building because someone else will do it. Imagine if everyone said that they would not teach the children’s classes because someone else will do it. Imagine if everyone said that they would not prepare the Lord’s Supper because someone else will do it. Imagine if everyone said that they would not stay late so that the lights at the building are turned off and the door is locked. Imagine if everyone said that they just wanted to get home and did not want to stay and talk to others. Imagine if everyone said that someone else will offer prayers, give announcements, lead the Lord’s Supper talk, or preach and teach. Imagine if everyone said that they were just going to show up and sit, saying nothing and doing nothing, and then leaving as soon as the closing prayer concludes. You have gifts. Use your gifts. We are wrong to expect others to do things that we are gifted and able to do. Use your gifts.
Finally, use your gifts in humility. Be joyful that you have a part to play in the church. Be excited to be a piece of the puzzle. God cares how we use our gifts. So be zealous. Be generous. Be cheerful. Be excited to participate in serving each other and in serving the Lord. Think reasonably about yourself and your work. God has given you wealth and possessions. God has given you talents and abilities. God has given you wisdom and experience. Life on the altar means we will use our gifts to humbly serve the Lord and one another.