“Therefore, do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will. For by the grace given me I say to everyone of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”

What does it mean to live according to the pattern of this world? We all see the world through a set of lenses and Paul is saying the lenses through which we view the world as Christians is different than that of the un-Christian world. I say un-Christian instead of non-Christian because un-Christian gets closer to the nature of the world being not just neutral about Christ but actually opposed to him. The mind of the ruler of this world is not just agnostic or skeptical. It is opposed to our seeing the world through the clarity of the Gospel and what the Gospel says about the nature of mankind and the nature of the world. By the world’s judgment we are not lost. We are simply uneducated. We are not dead in sin. We are only unaware of our potential greatness. We are not created to serve and glorify the Creator but to make the most of ourselves. That is the difference between the pattern of this world and the transformed mind.

And, what is the first sign of still living in the pattern of this world? It is to think of oneself more highly than one ought. The evidence of thinking like the world and seeing life like the world is self-sufficiency and self-promotion. It is the quest for our own fulfillment and trying to forget that we are here to serve and glorify God. The thinking of the world says, “That is not enough. There has to be more to life than glorifying God. What about me?”

And that is why Paul moves from the first indicator of thinking like the world to the antidote. It is not thinking of yourself at all. It is not self-annihilation. To think of yourself with sober judgment is, literally, being in one’s right mind about oneself. It is getting to that place in your life where you have stopped comparing yourself to others or some impossible standard. It is not self-neglect or extreme self-denial. It is not self-humiliation. It is what Paul calls humility and my favorite definition of that is by C.S. Lewis: It is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less. Or as Charles Spurgeon said, “Humility is to make a right estimate of oneself.”

But the antidote is more than that. It is more than coming to terms with who we are. It is to find our place in the body of Christ. It is not possible to be transformed on our own. It is not possible to glorify God outside our connecting to the body of Christ. I expect most of the spiritual self-help books in the world could be replaced by the application of this one sentence, “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 were not designed to be great individuals but members of one body who belong to each other.

So, Paul moves from conformity to belonging and they are two different things entirely. One is allowing ourselves to be the same as others. It is deadening to creativity, color, originality and spontaneity. It is finding and holding to the lowest common denominator in everything. That is conformity. Belonging means being yourself and having a distinct role to play. It means allowing differences that are intentional and finding our individual purpose only as part of a larger enterprise. Conformity is what the world desires. Belonging is the truest kind of freedom.

That is why Paul goes on to say we have different gifts. It’s important to distinguish between gifts and talents. A talent is something we have by nature. It may be playing a musical instrument or running fast or memorizing lists of numbers. Those are wonderful things but they are not gifts. Gifts are the ways we use ourselves – including our talents – for the service of the body of Christ.

It’s important as well to note that this is not an exhaustive list of gifts. There are longer and different lists in Corinthians and Ephesians. Paul was using these as illustrations of a general principle but not as a final list of gifts. He doesn’t single out every organ in the body but his intent is to show how everything works toward the common good as he says in 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4. Paul’s interest is in the maturity of the whole body and not a hierarchy of gifts. Unfortunately, we have elevated some gifts and reduced others as less important or desirable. As a result the church often looks like Popeye with oversized forearms or as the grossly distorted limbs caused by elephantiasis. The body is designed for proportion and maturity and not a platform for what we happen to value.

So, let’s look at a few of the gifts in Romans this week and then the balance next week.

First is the description is the gift of prophesy – or discernment and telling truth. It’s not predicting the future. It is the gift of one who is especially sensitive to perceiving the will of God, then proclaiming it and challenging others.

One with the gift of discerning pronouncement has a strong sense of right and wrong and an almost intuitive sense of what is going on spiritually in an individual or a group.

Typically, and unfortunately, they have only a few or no close friends as people find it difficult to live up to their standards and they have trouble compromising for relationships. They are frank, outspoken and opinionated. In fact, they tend to build a following instead of friends.

They are persuasive and their strong convictions speak as loudly as their words. They want to see spiritual growth in both individuals and groups and they are consistently raising the bar.

They tend to be introspective – looking for flaws and ways to improve.

When they walk into a new situation their first question is, “What is really going on here?”

As in the case of all the gifts, it is good to ask ourselves a few questions about them.

1. Why do we need these people? Where would we be without them?
2. What is their best fit in the work of the Church? What energizes them?
3. What kind of balancing person do they need?
4. If this is me, where is my best use?

Next is the gift of serving. This is not serving on a committee but the physical nature of serving. These people are craftsmen and interested in serving well – not just volunteering. They love physical expression and practical service.

They easily recognize practical needs and are quick to fulfill them. They don’t just analyze a need but they move to do something about it.

They especially enjoy working with their hands and they intuitively understand how things work. They like to feel their work and not just consider it.

They will stay until something is completed and love accomplishment – not just starting something.

They have a hard time saying no to requests for help and are often more interested in meeting the needs of others than their own needs.

They cannot wait to do something and are not great picks for long term planning committees. They prefer a task force to a committee.

They are often more comfortable showing their love for others with deeds more than words.

They prefer doing it themselves to delegating. They often would rather do the work than organizing or leading it. You might call them a solution looking for a problem.

They view serving to be of primary importance and every problem could be solved by more people pitching in.

When they walk into a new situation their first question is, “What needs to be done here?”

Again, let’s ask the same questions.

1. Why do we need these people? Where would we be without them?
2. What is their best fit in the work of the Church? What energizes them?
3. What kind of balancing person do they need?
4. If this is me, where is my best use?

Finally, let’s look at the gift of teaching.

They are motivated by growth in people – not just the delivery of content.

They are more process oriented and able to wait sometimes for decades for results. They are more farmers than sprinters.

They love to learn themselves, to analyze and see the patterns and connect the dots.

They are often described as detached because they sometimes study life more than live it.

They are concerned about accuracy and order.

They attract students – not necessarily followers.

They are fascinated by words, ideas and analogies and always thinking about ways to communicate what they have discovered. They want to make it come alive for someone else.

When they walk into a new situation their first question is, “How can I understand this and then help someone else understand it as well?”

Again, let’s ask the same questions.

1. Why do we need these people? Where would we be without them?
2. What is their best fit in the work of the Church? What energizes them?
3. What kind of balancing person do they need?
4. If this is me, where is my best use?

This passage is such a perfect illustration of the way Paul’s mind works. He works through his logic and then is so moved by the conclusion that he breaks out into a song. I think he might have even been a little surprised himself at the way he came to his conclusion – almost like an artist stepping back to look at the canvas and being delighted at what he has created.

But immediately he heads toward what is useful and practical for the common good – not just some detached theology or doctrine. Time and again that is what Paul most desires. True belief but maturity and the unity of the Church.