SermonIndex Audio Sermons
SermonIndex - Promoting Revival to this Generation
Give To SermonIndex
Discussion Forum : Scriptures and Doctrine : FEELING SUPERIOR by Zac Poonen

Print Thread (PDF)

PosterThread
shibu
Member



Joined: 2003/9/13
Posts: 230
Goa, India

 FEELING SUPERIOR by Zac Poonen

To those who feel superior, Paul writes:

"The eye can never say to the hand, 'I don't need you.' The head can't say to the feet, 'I don't need you.' And some of the parts that seem weakest and least important are really the most necessary......So God has put the body together in such a way that extra honour and care are given to those parts that might otherwise seem less important.....Now here is what I am trying
to say: All of you together are the one body of Christ and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it (1 Cor. 12:21-27-TLB).

There are some conceited snobs in the church who feel they are more important than their fellow-believers. They consider their ministry to be more necessary to the Body than that of others. Of course they never express their feelings lest they be considered proud, but their actions and attitudes give them away. Such spiritual pride not only ruins them spiritually, but also rings the death-knell of true fellowship.

The eye is a very important part of the human body and has a significant function to perform. But if (to continue the analogy) it despises the hand saying, "I don't need you", then it has misunderstood its function in the body altogether.

So with anyone who considers his ministry more important than another's. Our hearts are so deceptive that we can easily fool ourselves into thinking that we are called to be spiritual leaders and prophets among God's people. Those who fall into this trap then covet to be elders in churches and leaders in Christian organizations. They feel superior to others and are like a cancer in the Body of Christ.

No one is indispensable in God's work. When Elijah complained to God that he was the only one prophet standing true to God in the land of Israel, the Lord told him to go and anoint Elisha to replace him as prophet (1 Kings 19:14-16). Perhaps this was to teach Elijah that God would never be without men whom He could use. Even the great Elijah was not irreplaceable.

No one is indispensable in Christ's Body.

On the other hand, no one is dispensable either. The Bible says that all the members are necessary.

But we have first to recognize that we are dispensable, before we can become truly indispensable. We are most needed in the Body of Christ when we have realised our nothingness. Whenever someone feels that God's work in a certain place will not carry on without him, the truth usually is that the work would be far better off without him!

God's work is dependent on the corporate ministry of the Body of Christ - not on any one individual. In fact, the individual who tries to do everything himself is a positive hindrance to the work of God - for he leaves no room for others to function.

The eye is an important organ, but if the whole body were just one big eye such a body would be quite useless. Thus, when a church or Christian organization centres around the ministry of one man (however gifted he may be), it ceases to be an expression of the Body of Christ. Such a group actually becomes a hindrance to the work of God. However impressive the statistics may be, churches that centre around one gifted leader or pastor, do not fulfill their God-ordained function. True Christian fellowship is impossible in such a situation.

When one cell in the body grows into a size far beyond what God intended for it, it can only do so by crushing the life out of other cells in the process. This is cancer and, untreated it always kills the body.

This, alas, is the situation in many Christian organizations and churches. The believers therein are not able to grow spiritually because of the overpowering personality of one man in their midst. They are like small mushrooms growing under the shade of a mighty oak tree, that seldom see the sunlight themselves.

Let those who have an outstanding spiritual gift take note: You are more likely to hinder the growth of other believers than those with mediocre gifts. You are more likely to kill true fellowship than other less-talented brethren. Besides, you are in danger of making members of Christ's Body more dependent on yourself than on Christ the Head.

If we do not allow others to fulfil their ministry, we violate one of the fundamental laws of the Body. The Bible exhorts everyone of us to regard others as more important than ourselves (Phil. 2:3). We may not be able, in all honesty, to consider everyone as more spiritual than ourselves, and the Bible does not urge false humility. What we are asked to do is to consider others as more important. Surely we can all do this - if we see our place and the place of others in the same body.

This does not mean that all the gifts of the Spirit are of equal value to the upbuilding of the Body. The Bible itself tells us that some gifts are of greater value than others (1 Cor. 14) and we are told to "earnestly desire the greater gifts" (1 Cor. 12:31). All believers have a definite contribution to make to the ministry of the Body, but those who have been given a more useful gift by God (in His sovereignty) will naturally be able to make a more significant contribution. The fact that some have a more outstanding gift is not inconsistent with the fact of the equality of all believers - for equality does not mean uniformity.


_________________
Shibu Clement

 2005/10/3 1:04Profile









 Re: FEELING SUPERIOR

This is beautiful and much needed.

Each and every believer has Gifts and all are equally & much needed. Amen.

Thank you shibu

 2005/10/3 1:25
shibu
Member



Joined: 2003/9/13
Posts: 230
Goa, India

 Re:

Sis. Annie, you are rightly quoted, it is much needed in the body of Christ.

It is good to read the following passage often, in order to stay with in God's perspective. 1 Corinthians 4:7 "For who do you know that really knows you, knows your heart? And even if they did, is there anything they would discover in you that you could take credit for? Isn't everything you have and everything you are sheer gifts from God? So what's the point of all this comparing and competing?"

In Him,
Shibu


_________________
Shibu Clement

 2005/10/3 2:17Profile









 Re:

Amen and happy you are here Shibu.

This is from your post above ...

"When one cell in the body grows into a size far beyond what God intended for it, it can only do so by crushing the life out of other cells in the process. This is cancer and, untreated it always kills the body."


I am copying this message to keep in my files.

Thank you again Shibu for posting such rich teachings.

 2005/10/3 2:39
roadsign
Member



Joined: 2005/5/2
Posts: 3777


 Re:

Quote:
The believers therein are not able to grow spiritually because of the overpowering personality of one man in their midst. They are like small mushrooms growing under the shade of a mighty oak tree, that seldom see the sunlight themselves.



What great picture language!!!
I'd like to add a thought: Often the little "mushrooms" don't want to see the light. They don't want to synthesize their own nutrients (mushrooms are parisites - feeding off of decayed matter) ]

Too many prefer to let the big tree do all the work. And that only feeds the problem - because there will always be ego trippers who love being the big tree.
I ask, can anyone stiffle our growth except that we permit it? We can all approach God for ourselves - just move out of the shade.
Diane


_________________
Diane

 2005/10/3 9:06Profile
MrBillPro
Member



Joined: 2005/2/24
Posts: 3422
Texas

 Re:

Thanks you so much for this post! this was very personal for me, I feel this was the conformation I have been waiting on for two years, I have a friend that has his own ministry and he has told me for the past two years that he knows I am to be a part of his ministry and God has been telling me differently and this was the conformation I needed, I can now carry on.
God Bless


_________________
Bill

 2005/10/3 10:25Profile
MrBillPro
Member



Joined: 2005/2/24
Posts: 3422
Texas

 Re:

Does anyone know if there is an audio sermon or download on this anywhere?


_________________
Bill

 2005/10/3 10:34Profile
shibu
Member



Joined: 2003/9/13
Posts: 230
Goa, India

 Re: FEELING SUPERIOR by Zac Poonen

Hi Br.MrBillPro, I haven't seen yet audio message of this transcript in the web site. But I encourage you to listen to Br. Zac Poonen's topical bible study on "PRINCIPLES OF CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP." There are 10 messages under this topic. In that, the need message for those who are in church leadership and for those who are pursuing holiness is 9th message titled "The Aroma Of Christ." This message had opened my eyes to see how far I am from the life of Lord Jesus Christ. I am very sure that, those who listen this message will be convicted and blessed.

The link for that is http://www.cfcindia.com/cda/mainpages/topical_bible_study.php#Leadership

In Him,
Shibu


_________________
Shibu Clement

 2005/10/3 14:07Profile





©2002-2024 SermonIndex.net
Promoting Revival to this Generation.
Privacy Policy