Knowledge and understanding bring power into our relationships!

When I can crack the code on what makes someone tick; when I can understand why someone views something so incredibly different than I do; when I can appreciate that God designed variety into His body for a purpose, I can truly celebrate!

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Conflict comes easily when we simply do not know how – or desire – to understand. 

So today, I have a simple little exercise for us.

Imagine, if you will, that 7 different people are representing the 7 motivational gifts of the Holy Spirit as found in Romans 12:6-8 (listed as prophet, server, teacher, encourager, giver, leader, and mercy). All 7 of those people are plunked down in the middle of a worldwide crisis called the COVID-19 Pandemic. Then, use your imagination with me as we answer these questions:

How would each of those people view the pandemic problem? And how would each of them be motivated to take action?

Let’s take a brief peek, and I think you will get the idea:

The Prophet immediately tries to figure out what went wrong. “How did we get this virus released? Where is there sin in the camp? What is God speaking into the hearts of men that we must change? What needs to be revealed from the darkness to the light? How can we do better? Where are we going and how can we stop all forces of darkness trying to kill, steal, and destroy? And by the way, how does this whole pandemic event fit into the grand scheme of God’s calendar here on earth?”

The Server immediately lays their hands to action. They try to find facemasks and PPE for healthcare workers. They take to their sewing machines. They start calling the corporations to find out how the community can rally around the people of greatest need. They organize food outreaches. They call their elderly neighbors and drop off food and medicine to their front porches. They call their pastor and ask him what he needs to be done to meet the needs of the people. They get easily frustrated with the limits of a stay at home order, so they start finding amazing ways to make their homes more pleasant for the family stuck at home.

The Teacher immediately takes to the internet to do the research. They want everything accurate and become testy when people are sloppy with their statistics and their instructions. “What do we know about the virus? What are the latest recommendations? Are we sure about those risk factors? What kind of a chart should we be using to teach people to sanitize their environment?” They put together little memes to explain how to use a face mask and maintain proper social distancing. Some of them begin digging into the constitution and discover exactly what our laws say we should be doing or not doing.

The Encourager is the community cheerleader. They’re very concerned about people growing discouraged, depressed, frightened, or suicidal. They hold up signs for healthcare workers as they’re coming off their shifts. They post Bible verses and organize prayer efforts to check in on the people. They post humorous sayings on Facebook and encourage the people to laugh. They don’t understand why everybody is being so critical of everybody else. They really believe that “we are all in this together”, and they are quick to acknowledge the good of humanity when it works together.

The Giver immediately begins assessing our supply line. “What will we do about the unemployed? What’s going to happen to all of our charitable organizations? Will we have enough food to feed the children?” They write sacrificial offering checks, jump on school buses to help deliver food, and work with the server to underwrite the sewing face mask campaign. As time wears on, they become alarmed. They recognize that we can’t keep this up forever and that we must find another way to meet the needs of the people.

The Leader springs into action with a checklist and flow chart in hand. “We need a new way to do church? Great. I’ll find the people who can crack the code on Zoom and get the word out. We don’t have a way to get enough testing stations? No problem. I’ll assess the community and figure out how we can re-appropriate our resources. We have some open businesses, some closed businesses, and it doesn’t seem fair? OK, I’ll call our state legislature and see if we can get this system sorted out. They say we can’t open the schools and allow this virus to spread through all the children? Then I’ll work with the IT department and the teachers and will propose three different schedules for when we open the schools in the fall.” The leader sees the need and then organizes and manages the team.

Mercy, when they hear of the disease, immediately fall to their knees in prayer. The toll of human suffering in terms of sickness and death pains their heart. They read all the human interest accounts – from the nurse in the ICU in New York City to the barber in Alabama forced to shutter their business to the single mother home with four little children attempting to homeschool and work online. They just want to find some way to help! “Can we design more emergency stimulus checks? Can we do something to get everything opened quicker? (Or maybe not, because then more might get sick!)” A trauma like this with no immediate solutions causes mercy to feel worn out with empathetic living, but she’s going to be OK…because she knows that, ultimately, God will meet our needs better than they ever could anyway.

So which one of those views to the problem is correct?

Which is most valuable?

Which is most familiar to us?

And which is most foreign?

The answer to those questions is right here in the same chapter:

“For by the grace given me, I say to every one of you: do not think of yourself more highly than you are, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God is giving you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts according to the grace given us.”

-Romans 12:3-6a

Suddenly, I love my brothers and sisters in Christ…so I most earnestly pray: 

“Lord, help me to receive your good gifts in my life. Help me to not despise the parts of your body that I just don’t easily understand. Help me to recognize that – from each one of my brothers and sisters – I may receive just a little bit of you. And when I get irritated, Lord, give me greater patience. Help me to look past the weaknesses and see the strength that you desire to bring. For your glory, Lord, and for the advancement of your Kingdom! In Jesus’ name, amen.”

(Used with permission from Project 7000. Article by Lisa Cherry.)