The Church Is Not A Pyramid

Text: Romans 12:6-16

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

When I was a teenager, I remember very clearly that the best thing I could do as a Christian was to be a missionary. That is right. Whether intentionally or not, it was communicated to me very clearly that being a missionary overseas was the highest or best Christian calling. 

And so, most of the missionaries that I had met served in Africa. This was a problem for me. In my young teenage mind, Africa was way too hot for a North Dakota boy. And so, as a young zealous Christian, I found myself in a dilemma. I wanted to do the best thing for God, but I did not want to go to Africa. That meant I had to realize that I would never reach the highest tier of Christian living.

So, I looked for the next best thing. I became the president of our youth group. I volunteered to read Scripture during church services. I taught Sunday School. Eventually, I became the youth leader. These things gave me a sense of spiritual significance. They felt like steps on the ladder, moving me closer to that top-tier Christianity. But truth be told, I hadn't quite arrived at the top until I announced that I was going to seminary to be a pastor. Then I felt like I had finally done it. I had reached close to the top.  

Now, please do not misunderstand me. I am not disparaging these things. It is good to go to seminary. It is good to serve as a pastor. It is good to serve as a missionary. These are necessary and honorable vocations in the church. However, the problem comes when we begin to rank these vocations and callings as if some are inherently more faithful than others. 

You see, what happened to me as a teenager, and what happens so often in the church today, is that we construct a spiritual ladder. Missionaries are at the top. Pastors are right below. Then come elders. And then we have the trustees, the Sunday School teachers, the quilters, the coffee makers, and finally the ordinary laypeople just sitting in the pews. We do this because we give weight to the gifts and callings that are most visible, supposedly most sacrificial, and those callings that have the apparent most impact.  

This kind of thinking results in a mindset in which faithfulness is measured by how visible the work is, how sacrificial it appears, and what perceived impact it seems to have. And so, when this mindset spreads in the church, we begin to see the Body of Christ not as a body, but as a pyramid. Certain vocations are elevated. Others are minimized. And people either feel guilty that they can't reach the higher callings, or they become prideful because they think they've made it. People chase after positions for the sake of spiritual clout, or they languish in shame, believing that their quiet service isn't enough to meet Jesus’ approval.

Lord have mercy. This is not how it is supposed to be in the church.

In our reading from the Epistle to the Romans, the Apostle Paul gives us a better way. He says, 

"We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us.” 

And then he lists several: preaching, serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leading, and showing mercy. Now, it is important to note that Paul does not say that every Christian must possess or exercise all these gifts. He does not rank them either. He does not say that preaching gets you more spiritual points than showing mercy, or that leading gives you more bragging rights than serving. No, he simply says: if you teach, then teach. If you serve, then serve. If you encourage, then encourage. If you give, then give.

Paul is saying that God is the one who calls and equips His people. And He does not do it the same way for every person. That is good. That is by design. We are not all called to the same work, and God does not expect us to be. Instead of giving the same gift to everyone, He gives a variety of gifts, each according to His will, for the purpose of building up the church and serving our neighbor.

But here is where we falter. Instead of receiving that diversity of gifts as grace, we begin to compare these gifts. We start assigning value and measuring these spiritual gifts. We elevate certain gifts and diminish others. And once we begin doing that—once we assign religious points based on visibility, or sacrifice, or perceived impact—we twist the grace of God into a system of merit. And that system breeds pride, envy, guilt, and despair.

Dear friends, if certain roles are seen as more earning more spiritual points, those in those roles will be tempted toward pride—believing they are more important. And those who are not in those visible roles are often given to guilt and shame, always questioning their worth, if they are doing enough for Jesus.

And then the church begins to malfunction. It no longer operates as a body. It begins to run like a machine—fueled by fear, driven by performance. The grace and peace of Christ is replaced with pressure and anxiety. Comparison takes the place of contentment. Instead of being encouraged to use the gifts we’ve been given, we’re told to chase after the ones we don’t have.  We will try to collect spiritual gifts like baseball cards. 

Dear Baptized Saints, that is not the church. That is not how Christ has ordered His body. That is the way of the world. That is how corporations function. That is how political campaigns work. That is how a drama-filled-girls basketball teams operates. That is not the church.

So how does the church function, then?

The church functions by grace. It functions by the gifts of Christ, given freely and distributed according to His will. It functions not by comparison or competition, but by love and service. Christ gives some to be leaders, others to be teachers, others to be helpers, others to be encouragers. And these gifts are not meant to be trophies or measuring sticks. They are not badges of honor. They are tools to bless your neighbor. They are gifts to build up the church in the hope of the Gospel and the love of Christ.

Listen up!  God does not expect you to fulfill every role. He has not equipped you to do everything. And so, you do not need to feel guilty if you are not gifted in a particular way. You do not need to chase after a calling that the Lord has not given you. You do not need to be someone else. Paul does not say, 

"The one who encourages must also teach." 

No, he says, 

"The one who encourages, encourage." 

He does not say, 

"The one who gives must also lead." 

No, he says, 

"The one who gives, give generously."

Oh, how much time and energy is wasted in the church trying to push people out of their God-given vocations in the name of getting people out of their comfort zone to be on fire for Jesus.  How often is the grandma who bakes cookies and blesses the church with her hospitality made to feel as if that is not enough? As if she needs to be on a mission trip or leading a Bible study to really count in the kingdom? Shame on that ideology. That is not the way of Christ and His Church.

Instead, what if we encouraged people to find joy in what they are already gifted to do? What if we stopped pressuring people to become someone else and simply encouraged them to be who they are in Christ? What if we echoed the words of the Apostle Paul, saying, 

"If you help, then help. Do it well. Do it faithfully. If you teach, then teach sound doctrine. Do it with clarity and truth. If you encourage, then guide gently. If you lead, then lead with integrity. If you give, then give cheerfully. God be praised!"

Baptized Saints, when we begin to see all of these gifts as equally necessary, equally valuable, equally from the hand of Christ, then something beautiful happens. There is no longer competition. There is no longer jealousy. There are no emergencies in the church. If you are gifted in one area and another person is gifted in another, you can rejoice in each other's service. If two people are gifted in the same area and there's more help than needed, one can step back without feeling threatened, because the goal is not personal achievement. The goal is blessing your neighbor. The goal is love.

And even more than that, when we understand that our identity is not in our gifts but in our baptism, when we understand that we do not serve to become Christians but because we already are Christians, then we are free. Free to serve without fear. Free to rest when needed. Free to rejoice in the gifts of others. Free to be faithful with excellence to the vocations the Lord has set before us.  

And so, dear Baptized Saints, the church of Christ is not a ladder to climb. It is not a hierarchy of spiritual rankings. It is a body, governed by grace. God does not call every Christian to the same work, but He does call every Christian to be faithful in the work He has given. 

And so, at the end of the day, whatever our calling, we say with Christ, 

“We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.  And we trust that even our weak and imperfect service is sanctified in Christ because we belong to Him”  

In the name of Jesus. Amen.