The Romance of Romans-Part 86

Romans Chapter 12 cont'd

God has given to all of us a sphere of life and ministry in which to function for which we also have been given the corresponding necessary amount of faith. Our physical body is one and yet it has many members, each having a different function. So the body of Christ is one and we, each of us, are one of its many members. But even though we have various roles to play, we are organically joined both to him and to one another.

Comments:

Toward A More Healthy Community

The second "reformation point" of four that I am putting forward out of Romans 12 has to do with this vital issue of forming and living in a healthy network of relationships in our faith communities. The longing for belonging and inter-personal connectedness are basic to the way that we, as humans, have been created in the image of God. Because that image has been marred, though not eradicated, by sin...all our human relations are presently imperfect. God actually, and ironically, seeks to use this pain and ache to keep us from "relational idolatry" and longing, in a healthy way, for the new heavens and earth in which we won't be tempted to worship anyone or anything but him. This will provide a perfect balance and harmony in all our other relations as the love of God will perfectly govern all things.

Still, we are called to experience a substantial foretaste of and prophetically model this relational fullness yet to come through the realism of the love and unity of the Body of Christ that witnesses to the world of the inauguration of God's new creation in Jesus. Walking out the love of God in a practical way in our relationships with fellow believers should be a main priority for us, as it is fundamental to the release of so much good into everything else around us in this world. How often did the apostles of Jesus instruct us to "love one another"? This high calling and great challenge should be no wonder to us. May God empower us to learn well what this kind of love "looks like".