For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
– Romans 12:3
What I am going to share might not seem to be a likely candidate for a Christian living illustration. Hopefully you will see the connection. Some of you will be immediately familiar with this reference. For others, there is enough information here for you to look up the video if you are curious.
Many years ago there was a skit on Saturday Night Live featuring the actors Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken, along with members of the rock band Blue Öyster Cult. The scene was a parody of a studio session with the band members recording one of their iconic hits from the 1970’s. Ferrell was cast as an additional band member with the very odd role of playing the cowbell. The prominence of the cowbell proved to be problematic for the other band members. Nevertheless, Walken (who played the very successful director) would insist on more cowbell. The humor of the skit was built around how Ferrell, by his overly passionate playing of the cowbell, became the center of attention.
Back to the scripture. Writing to the church, the apostle Paul is telling believers that we do not need more cowbell. Preparing to speak regarding the nature of the body of Christ, Paul first offers a corrective statement to any who (to use the analogy) may see themselves as the “cowbell players” in the church. Christ didn’t design the body so that one stands out as to overshadow all the rest. Rather, Christ designed the church to be a body in which each has an indispensable role. More on that tomorrow.
It is noteworthy to me that Paul, obviously cautioning against thinking too highly of oneself, is not at the same time saying to think less of oneself than what is proper. Paul isn’t trying to demoralize anyone; he is wanting the members of Christ’s body to have a correct perspective, about the body as a whole and about each one’s role in that body. Paul offers a lengthier consideration of this in 1 Corinthians 12, where is says, “But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be?” (v. 18-19). To our analogy once again, Paul is saying, “If everyone were playing cowbell, would we even have a band?” Paul even says that “God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked” (1 Cor. 12:24). It doesn’t mean that all parts of the body are the same. It simply means that the body of Christ is not designed for members who consider their contribution to the body to be more important than that of others.
Christ has designed the Church to function in proportionality. No member is expected to give more than what they have received from God. Likewise, no member is called to give less than what they have received from God. Sometimes our problem is that we think too lowly of ourselves, and therefore our gifts are wasted being underutilized or neglected altogether. At other times we have to reign in the pride that makes us a little too impressed with our own gifts, which always comes at the expense of the value we see in others’ gifts.
Check in tomorrow as we continue our consideration of our place in the body of Christ. I will still have bells on my mind.
See you along the Winding Path.
