Tea Sampling
I will be conducting a tea sampling over the next few days. A friend of mine got me a huge box of tea. The box says “Tea Forte — Extraordinary Teas.” I will be sampling these 20 teas over the next 20 work days.
Day 1: Monday, November 2nd, 2009. Earl Grey. 7 stars.
Earl Grey, organic black tea. A finely balanced black tea from India’s Sewpur gardens infused with Italian Bergamot.
Being my first tea, I took it and sniffed it pretty hard to take in all the goodness. What I did not realize was the extent to which the tea was finely granulated in some ways. Some of the dust was sitting on the outside of the silky outside covering, and I sniffed a nose and lung full of Earl Grey tea powder. I don’t think this counts as drug use, but I did feel a slight infusion of euphoria in my body a few moments later, as if someone had pumped the Earl Grey goodness directly in my veins. The taste is not bitter, very lively in fact. It has a slight bite on the finish. I added a touch of honey to give it some sweetness, but all in all, the very strong blackness of the tea is coming out in the taste. Though the smell is pleasant, the taste is a tangy subset of what I am smelling. It is interesting… makes me wonder what the teas to come will be like. This is very bold tasting, it should give me a jolt today I believe. All in all, I give this tea a 7 out of 10 stars on the Dan Lee scale of tea loving.
Day 2: Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009. Orchid Vanilla. 6 stars.
Orchid Vanilla, black tea. A divine blend of fine crisp black tea with Madagascar vanilla, and coconut slivers.
Well so far, I’m enjoying the smell of the tea. I am waiting for my quick boil to finish boiling the water. The tea it self smells like flowers, so it’s pretty pleasant, I imagine the aroma that will come about as the tea steeps will be quite nice for a morning in the office. I’m really digging these tea bags. They are in almost like silk mesh contains, letting out only the finest amounts particulates from the tea. It diffuses well. I should get a nice jolt from this black tea I think. Now that it’s done steeping, the smell of the tea is like a freshly baked birthday cake. Wow, pretty awesome. I had to for sure add honey to this… it’s very bitter. The aroma is nice, but the taste is a little lacking on this one. The after taste is not as pleasant as I thought it would be, but it has that coconut that really gives it some “oooh” factor. But the lack of a balanced body to this tea kind of doesn’t sit well with me. I had to put a decent amount of honey to kill the initial shot of bitterness. I give it six stars.
Day 3: Wednesday, November 4th, 2009. English Breakfast. 4 stars.
English Breakfast, organic black tea. A robust, full bodied Assam black tea blend that is maltry, bold, and truly inspired.
Aigo, I accidentally inhaled tea dust again when I went to smell this dry tea. This particular tea seems considerably less aromatic than both of the other black teas I have tried. It is interesting because though it is less aromatic, this may have a different effect when it comes to taste. The other two teas had strong aromatics, but the taste was a little on the tough side, needed a lot of sweetening compensation to make it work. On the other hand, once sweetened, the natural taste of the tea leaves really were accentuated. So, we’ll see where this tea is going. Having poured the water in, this tea immediately turned very dark. The others took a bit, but this tea looks as though it’s serious. The resultant aromatics from the tea being in water are pretty minimal, there isn’t much of any smell. It’s quite amazing, when I pull the special silk tea bag out, the small amount of tea that was at the bottom has blown up to emcompass the whole thing! Crazy. Yikes! This tea is REALLY bitter. There is a ton of body, borderline black coffee feel to it. After adding some honey to take the edge off, I am wondering if it’s teas like this which make Europe so angry, or the English so angry all the time. If I had to drink this every morning, I’d be pretty pissed too. There is no amount of lemon, or honey which will salvage this, but I will not waste the tea’s enriching qualities. The tea is getting slightly milder as I sip more, but there’s a very odd aftertaste that sort of lingers. Today, I give English Breakfast four stars. Not the finest tea… but to those who like a punchy tea taste, with a mild afterburn, it’s not a bad one to choose.
Day 4: Thursday, November 5th, 2009. Silk Oolong. 5 stars.
Silk Oolong, oolong tea. This rare, handcrafted, Fujian tea has an astonishing smooth and buttery character.
I can see why they said it has a buttery character. This is something fatty about the smell. It has a certain je ne sais quoi where you know something interesting has been added to the mix but you don’t know exactly what it is. I’m wondering what this will taste like, and what the aroma will be like. If it’s anything like English Breakfast, it will probably be less biting since it has that careful buttery aroma, but at the same time, in the last 3 days, I have experienced a world of opposites. Tea that smells extremely aromatic for instance, has a very balanced and light taste, whereas tea that is mild and is lacking a strong aroma, has a very bitter and biting taste. The quick boil is going, so we’ll see how it pans out in a little while, I have my honey on standby for emergency bitterness intervention. The tea acts like a sponge. When I lift the silk tea thingy out, no water falls off, the tea is acting as a sponge, very interesting, this oolong tea. The tea actually ended up being very mild. It wasn’t bitter, it tasted like normal tea, but the aftertaste left a “coke-like” feel on the inside of my mouth, which wasn’t very pleasant. Although I wouldn’t call it a strong tea, I will say that the ’silk’ description is correct. It is a smooth taste, albeit lacking in aromatics, and a decent balance of taste, the ingredients make it out to be a very smooth and pleasurable experience. I added a little honey to kick the initial taste, and the sweetness of the honey actually brought out the salty buttery feel that the description had. Where it wasn’t revolutionary, the tea was at least not horrible. I give Silk Oolong a 5 star rating today.
Day 5: Friday, November 6th, 2009. Black Currant. 8.5 stars.
Black Currant, black tea. Naturally sweet black currant and blackberry leaves infused in Chinese black tea.
This tea, just from the description sounds amazing. I am excited because it said the word sweet, and said it has blackberry leaves in it. I love blackberries. Yum. The smell is extremely strong, you can really smell the black te ain there, but there is a touch of blackberry and sweetness in there as well. The aromatics are pretty distinct. As i said yesterday, usually the teas that smell the best are the ones that taste the most bitter. So, we shall see how much of an affect the sweet black currant and the blackberry leaves offset the strength of the black tea. Quick boil is going, and i’m just taking in the nice aroma coming from my expectant starbucks mug… by the way, my starbucks mug is a limited Seattle-only edition mug. It is extremely large, and very plain… simply says ESTD 1971, STARBUCKS COFFEE CO. on it. Best mug ever. If you want one… too bad, they are limited edition… silly Chicagoans and their gaudy excuses for mugs. Well, the tea is steeping now, and it’s not turning into a dark mess… it’s nice, the tea has a very distinct brown color, doesn’t look like it’s over powering. I’m excited to see what comes from this. The initial taste is interesting. The tea tastes sweet, but definitely the normal black tea taste is there, the strong robust black tea taste that kind of snatches away the sweetness from the blackberry leaves and black currant. With a little honey to kick the aftertaste, WOW, this tastes excellent now. Just a little honey paired with the black currant and blackberry taste… wow, it’s like this combination that defies all belief. It’s still not the most amazing tea ever, but it’s definitely got a place among the teas I’d surely like to visit again in the future. I give this tea an 8.5 rating this morning. Its cool balance of sweet and the black tea quality are just fantastic. Really a nice pick me up this morning.
1st Corinthians 1:26
1st Corinthians 1:26.
26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
If there is one statement that I find to be totally devoid of truth in Asian churches in America today, it is that this verse is being lived out. I think I’ve spent a lot of my college years and post college years trying to put together the fact that this verse for some reason is one that we forget all too often. I don’t believe it is a generalization, and I further maintain that the problem persists because it is an accepted, and even valued part of our church culture. And I say that for a few reasons, it is accepted, meaning, in our culture, heavily koreanized, you step on whoever you can step on and when one person suffers or fails, and that failure or suffering helps you in some way, you pay them lip service while rejoicing in your hearts. If one member is honored, you pay them lip service while wishing the worst of them in your heart. Now, this is valued in our culture, and I say that as an implication to the fact that it is not addressed, it is not cut down when people see it happening, and it has become such second nature for us to live in this environment that for it to be exactly what this verse is saying would be a cultural anomaly.
Paul is admonishing the church at Corinth again and again about the body of Christ. The BODY of Christ, not the individual of Christ, in fact, the individual of Christ, where God stresses an individual relationship WITH Christ, is never referred to as an individual of Christ in a context where we are called to live that way, not in relationship with others, not in relationship with brothers and sisters. No, we are called to be the BODY of Christ. Now following all the talk in the last verses about how no one is better than the next person, about how we are one body, and cannot be apart of Christ, if we are apart from the body in heart, Paul now straight up rebukes and admonishes the church to watch themselves. He acknowledges that what is happening at CFC, is happening at the church in Corinth.
I really think if Paul were writing a letter to CFC, we’d get our @$$es handed to us. And as a man of incredible conviction and faith, the Billy Graham of his generation, to be rebuked and admonished to have the perspective that everyone is the same, the body must be together, people must know their roles, and we must be a body that hurts when a single member hurts, and rejoices when a single member rejoices. Why is it that we cannot break out of our cultural norms and embrace our call to love as Christ loves, to live out this verse. No, we are too selfish, we are too isolationist, we are too caught up in self.
I long for a church that rebukes on these grounds, and a body that operates on this premise, this truth, this call, that if one suffers, we all do, and if one rejoices, we all do. I am saddened that the condition of the church is not one of a single body of Christ, but of squabbling group of sectionalized and divided Christians, using God’s name in vain through the way we live our lives. I look at my own life, and I see my contribution to this mess. I am compelled today to feel the suffering of one, to join the rejoicing of another, out of the true love of Christ that is putting myself in their shoes, and trying to see the world from a perspective other than my own, to feed, and love without expectation, cost, or pretense. What a body of Christ we would, and could be… if only thoughts of self would fade away, and the single unifying factor of the cross would be our motivation and the compelling force to suffer together and rejoice together as a single, unified body of Christ.
Heaven is going to be awesome.
1st Corinthians 12:22 – 25
1st Corinthians 12:22 – 25.
22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.
I am really encouraged by this passage mainly because I know a lot of people struggling with this idea. I have been reading up on the body for the last week, and I am everyday encouraged more and more through the beauty that is God’s design for the kingdom. When I look around and see the different personalities, gifts, and passions, I see a vast potpourri of differences that make up a workable, redeemed people of God, whose purpose, at times can become stray, always returns to bringing maximal glory to God. People always come up to me and say, man, I wish I could do all the things you do cuz you’re totally being used by God and it’s great, but me, I don’t have any gifts or talents, I can’t do anything. I get really discouraged when I hear that because I feel like I am a contributor to someone else’s woe to their own life. Additionally, I am saddened because they have that perspective, especially in light of how great God is, and how He values every last person.
This passage brings to mind the importance of every last member, whether they are doing up front visible ministry, or doing something else. The parts that seem to be weaker or indispensable or less honorable, God bestows the greatest honor to them. And the unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty which the more presentable parts do not require. But in every part, greatest honor is given to those parts which may seem weaker, though they carry the weight of much, albeit non-visible ways. What an encouragement for us all. For those of us who may be more presentable to the body in ministry and function, the call is to be humble, to think of ourselves as less, and to really give the most honor to those who may seem perceivably weaker or less presentable. And for those of us who may feel like we are useless, not presentable, without gift or talent, God has given you greater honor, and glory, so the call is to live confidently and boldly with that understanding.
I just love how God’s wisdom is like that. Although it seems as though He’s specifically catering in this passage to the seemingly less visible parts of the body, He is actuality talking to all believers. Gotta live and love others with this understanding in mind.
1st Corinthians 12:21
1st Corinthians 12:21.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
This morning, I want to be able to move with swiftness and purpose in everything that I do. I felt like yesterday I was lagging about from here to there, just kinda going with the flow, and not that it was a wasted day, but I think more so than that, it reflects my heart right now. Even this morning as I go about my QT and really consider what God is trying to teach me through these short devotionals, I want to give fully to the Spirit, and fight to see the truths that are being revealed to me. Paul continues on in this aspect of the body of Christ, what it means to have each other, and the interdependency of the members of the body that make it so awesome. Incidentally, the honest view I have is sometimes how the interdependency can be not awesome, and not cool. Sometimes I might think, what does the dependency we have on other believers do to make the body of Christ so awesome.
My attitude can quickly become one of exactly this verse, an attitude of independence, and a foolhardy and arrogant view that I have no need of other aspects of the body. Paul is clear as he says the eye CANNOT say to the hand, meaning even if you are to attempt to say that to another member of the body of Christ, you really can’t as it goes directly against the purpose of the body, and the established order of how God’s people are to be together. Paul reiterates that we can insist on this fact, in that he repeats the idea, that we are people who say this again and again, “I have no need of you.” I am rebuked this morning simply by this word “cannot.” It is always difficult to hear those words because in my heart, I am always about being able to do things, but to be reminded that I need the body, that my brothers and sisters are parts of the body which are indispensible to me in doing ministry, I am pressed this morning to pray for my ministry partners, pray for their lives, their spiritual lives, their days, their weeks.
We need each other, so that we can be more like Jesus and be the body of Christ.
1st Corinthians 12:18 – 20 & Random Pictures
1st Corinthians 12:18 – 20.
18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
There’s a certain hope that this passage really bluntly throws in your face. It shows that every single individual was arranged. Every last member of the body of Christ, each one of them, CHOSEN, SELECTED, and ARRANGED. I think I take lightly a lot of times the fact that God was very deliberate with the way that He made me. He was very deliberate with the way that He made any one of us. And in addition to the uniqueness that makes us individuals, we are selected and called by God to fulfill a specific purpose in this life. How can you read this and not feel a sense of hope and have a bigger picture of your life. Life is more than just a job, and making money, and gaining material wealth. It’s so much more than our wildest desires. I think for me, the important part is that God wishes to bless me more than anything I’ve ever even thought of. It’s really sinking in as I relate that fact to these verses, how we are arranged in God’s perfect vision to be the body of Christ.
The second part really brings to note the same fact that Paul has been reiterating again and again. A lot of times I try to be my own body. A body of a single member. The only problem is that it’s impossible to do anything of scale, anything worth much of anything by myself. It is the fulfilling work of doing what God has called me to do which gives me power, which gives my life purpose and influence. I want to be the body by myself, and that attitude reflects itself in the way that I do ministry. I think I’ve grown a lot in this area of my life. God has made it very clear that I have to really learn to love others, work with others, and join in ministry, join together at war with the sin in our hearts. It is not meant to be done alone, it is not meant to be run alone.
The reiteration in verse 20, many parts, yet one body… it really serves to drive the point home for me, again, like it has the last few days. I must get over myself, I must just simply die, and let God reign in my life. Every time my ego, ambition for self, or thoughts of entitlement enter my mind, I become this sinful monster that consumes everything left and right. If anything, I want to die so that those things are not present so that instead of consuming everything, I am the one feeding, the one supporting, the one helping. I must learn to shove this message down my throat continually. One body, I am but one part, and I am privileged to have a purpose and place in this body, and as such, I should be diligent, and have a humble heart, as I acknowledge I am no more important than the next person.
Now, moving into picture time, just a few randoms from the last few days…
Linda trying to figure out how Andrew is doing this magic stick thing…
Justina & Jing… unimpressed by the magic of Andrew Dai… still… they look on mesmerized…
Andrew doing what he’s doing… wowing the masses… people looking in closely trying to figure it out… Nelson is amazed… =)
Linda showing me some camera love… =)
Doreen with the fake smile… “ehhh hurry up and take the pic… ehhh…” Joanne playing along… =)
Runtao lookin’ interested along with James still… Nelson just getting pissed that he has no idea what’s going on…
AK and JG… JG playing the backwards hat role now…
Anticipating dinner at Applebees… James looks fondly at Nelson’s girly umbrella… Andrew Ryu spotted it first…
Random study time… I call this photo… “the plight of han.”
“whoa whoa whoa… that’s not what I said okay? whoa whoa whoa…”
After teasing Justina… this is the resultant picture we get together… her facial expression reflects how she feels about her leader…
Okay… now on to BIFF Photos… Team Photo day along with some randoms…
Tek and Douglas always take this photo every year… bunch of weirdos…
Douglas Cho Dot Com… notice all the wasted space around our smiley subject =)
Paul had been crying in personal prayer time before and was not ready for photos…
Sooho showing some smiles for the two person team… =)
Jen is all smiley as she gets the captains all rallied together…
Gina giving a polite smile to the camera… she secretly loves photos…
Long time commissioners James Cho and Tim Lee… showing some manly hands on hips action…
This is what Gina looks like at default… coy, penetrating, staring-type of eyes…
Paul Ahn and peeps enjoy some laughs prior to the night starting…
Commissioner James Cho gives some announcements to kick off Week 3 of BIFF Fall 2009…
Douglas neglects the announcements and poses for pictures… =)
Tim wondering what’s up with James’ announcements…
This team is seriously dressed up yo…
I caught these two warming up for turkey bowl… gettin’ the skill down…
So loyal to the school…
No one even knows what these guys are doing…
Holla back… best team ever… =)
Emo wearing black team… get’s a black and white photo…
Gee Samo, Sarah Lim, Pastor Dave, and Pastor Jong… Pastor Jong giving his half smile model look that he’s famous for…
Failed attempt… Sarah doesn’t want to have this non-unified action…
Alas, she breaks… they are unified in their disunity… Sunah with the clutch smile…
Caught a quick one of selah before heading out… =)
Alright, that’s all she wrote… missing about 3 or 4 teams because they didn’t have all four present, but we’re hoping to get em next week. BIFF going into week 4 next week, it should be a great week of competition and a final tune up for teams before playoffs begin. Holla back.
1st Corinthians 12:15 – 17
1st Corinthians 12:15 – 17.
15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?
I think this is very indicative of understanding roles. And of course that’s the lesson we should get out of this passage, but looking deeper, there’s a real semblance of the dysfunctional nature of any group that operates under the premise of everyone simply doing what they want all the time. Much of being in a group is understanding your role, fulfilling that role well, so that the entire unit can work well together. In the instance of a body, Paul uses this illustration, one that is very vivid, to make a simple point. If there are elements of the body of Christ, who are not living their role, and working effectively and faithfully in that role, the body suffers. People may get mad that their role is not as important as being a hand, or an eye, but from the standpoint of how the entire body works together, there is no part that does not have a dependence on another part to some degree. Meaning, one element of the body cannot become a body in of itself. It relies on the collective whole for purpose, for meaning, and simply to live as well.
In the aspects that I serve, I can see how my avenues of service are very ‘hand’ or ‘eye’ or ‘foot’ oriented, meaning the things that people might think are more public, and what not. But the more I look very honestly at my own abilities, I see how things cannot happen away from the body, and things cannot happen away from relying on God. At the very core of say something like worship team. We cannot lead God’s people into worship by ourselves. An example, Friday night large groups are an ordeal to setup and to administrate, let alone perform and lead people into worship. But, for one thousand people, worship team can collectively do the work and faithfully execute our ministry calling. If I were to break and away and try to do it on my own, it’s impossible. It adversely affects worship if anyone has this attitude. The realization that I am poop, dispensable, and replaceable in the realm of doing God’s work is one that keeps me humble, although one must always remember that dispensability and being replaceable do not apply to my standing before God. He loves me unconditionally, and has won my salvation, but that does not mean that in that unconditional love for me, means unconditional use, or indispensability in ministry. Big picture yes that’s true, but specifically with regard to the way God works, He can use anyone and everyone willing, so if I am not, the body of Christ will still move on and grow.
I must understand my roles, and fulfill them faithfully. Will spend some time jotting those things down today to get some perspective on it all. Then evaluate if I am really living with that in mind.
1st Corinthians 12:14
1st Corinthians 12:14.
14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many.
Imagine this, such a subtle and obvious statement, but when you really break it down and meditate on it, it just wrecks your face. The beginning of the sentence, “for,” really gives context here as the word ‘for’ is something that takes a preceding statement, and adds truth to it, or an explanation of it, or insight into it. After we’ve talked about how the body is made up one many members already, and that body is unified under Christ, Paul reiterates again that the body consists of many members, and not just one. Why is there such an emphasis on this point. I think Paul is being very deliberate like anyone would. When something is important, you repeat it several times.
This is my call, my very obvious call today to simply get over myself. I want to take my pride, and ambition for self, and stomp the living junks out of it, and freaking get over myself. It’s not about me, it never has, now it is about me when we’re talking about how God’s love is singular as much as it is a corporate love for His children, but my pride and ambition for self should be pride and ambition for my Father in heaven. Life is not about me. I’m getting it more and more as I struggle, but it’s been pretty awesome how it has affected relationships in my life, pushing this concept of “I am nothing,” and God is everything, and the same love God shows His people, is the same love we should show each other in the body.
Lord knows that’s not easy all the time… but wow, what a difference it has made in my joy and in my service. Even when things do not go my way, or people seek to destroy and cut me down, the perspective of love I have indiscriminately for everyone… wow, what a difference. Bitterness seems to have faded away.
1st Corinthians 12:12 – 13
1st Corinthians 12:12 – 13.
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
A while ago, Pastor Mark Driscoll preached on a section in Timothy about things that are caustic and hurtful to the body of Christ. And he said something very true, that I think has really helped me think of the body. Paraphrased, he said, “the things that bind us together is more than enough than the things that make us different.” He was speaking in terms of denominational differences within Christianity, and how people get caught up on the little things. But at the end of the day, the unity that we experience in Christ, the unity that we experience with each other, it is exactly that same concept where the facts of Christ’s blood shed for us, is more than enough to hold us together, than the petty things we bring up that separate us.
I think more critically about my heart, and how I can look at someone and judge, but it’s scary to consider how I can also look at someone, and in judgment of them, not judge them. It’s a very underhanded unjustifiable way to think. But for me, I think in my non judgment of others, I am judging them for not being non judging like I am. It’s interesting because that distinction only goes as far as certain things and people, but reading this passage is really a reflection of Paul’s letter to Timothy in that he stresses the importance of the body. In a race that was not meant to be fought through and finished alone, we are people who are pushed to love our brothers and sisters in the body. But it is the unification under Christ that causes us to be one body. This concept though simple in terms, is quite complex, but I think I need to live with this verse in mind.
I know people sort of go out and figure things kind of take care of themselves, but usually that doesn’t really work. As I internalize this passage today, I am motivated yet again to fight harder than I have before to love my brothers and sisters in Christ. Without reservation, and without condition. In the same way we are bound together in our devotion, and need for Christ, I too must reflect that to others.
A Few Pictures + 1st Corinthians 12:1 – 11
A few pictures from the last few weeks, and then today’s QT.
Freshmen Class Night
Pretty crazy these guys are… =)
Andrew Kim, one year older! Celebrating another trip around the sun. =)
Gettin’ surprised =)
Confidently blowing out the candles here…
A pretty incredible birthday card if you ask me… =)
farpar2 leaders and AK… =) or rather… =O
Such love for one guy… =)
Some people are only looking at the cake… lol.
So that’s it. Apparently people really don’t like this new watermark, so I’m gonna go redesigning again. I’m gonna go ultra text… plain and clean maybe… who knows… =)
1st Corinthians 12:1 – 11.
12:1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
As I read this passage concerning spiritual gifts, I see a Paul who wants to teach, and a Paul that is really giving proper context to the idea of spiritual gifts. I think for me, It’s so easy to look at the things that God has tangibly blessed me with, and use them selfishly to beef up my pride, or give me cause to judge others. But I think it’s interesting because no matter what the gift, Paul reiterates at the end that those gifts come from the same power of the Spirit. It is a single Spirit that comes and empowers us to have these gifts. Now this may seem like an obvious point, but I think it puts things into perspective. When you consider your spiritual gift, you must look at it with the attitude that Paul has here, in that because they all come from the same Spirit, because they all originate from the same power of God, the resultant power that these gifts allot us are equal in value and in intensity in the kingdom of God. There are some gifts that are more public than others. There are some gifts that are more tangible, and visible than others, but almost always, it is not ever the case that the gifts that are internal, the gifts that are not seen are any less powerful. In many cases, it is the gifts that are hidden that carry life changing impact.
In recent days, I have been floored a few times at the maliciousness that has been what I interpret to be, satan exploiting the sin in the hearts of believers to divide the body. I am not at all impressed with satan’s attempt, and I am more encouraged that God’s empowerment in me to have visibility of such things is nothing short of the most amazing grace. I realize more and more that I am surrounded by people who are simply different. Seems like such a rudimentary idea, but the true fact is, people are at different stages of spiritual maturity, different seasons of life, different phases of life, and have their upbringing also, which affects who they are and their personality. Now with this said, I must exhibit the highest levels of patience and love for my brothers and sisters in Christ. The highest levels by which God has empowered me to exhibit, that is. I used to get personally offended, hurt, and would even just cry when I got home, having experienced a blatant attack on me, with full intent to hurt and marginalize me. But when I look at those people in my life who may try to injure me that way, I do see a level of being in their shoes. Understanding where they come from, understanding their spiritual condition, their spiritual maturity, their willingness to fight their selfish hearts. These are all aspects that must be taken into consideration.
I look a little deeper still, and I see the bigger picture of how satan is using circumstance as a weapon. I will not be an accessory to the fulfillment of evil plans, whether they be motivated and instigated by satan in a deliberate and purposeful plan to divide the body, or instigated through the sin of a brother or sister. The fact of the matter is, if I am to use all of the faculties of my being, to show love and patience, the same love and patience that God shows me every day, I am thankful for these trying times. I am confident that though my feelings get slashed, and I feel like recoiling like a child, that through the empowerment of Christ in my heart, I will still be able to exhibit love and patience, even if that same love and patience is not being exhibited towards me. I refuse to be a part of the divisive nature of sin and satan’s evil works. As it says at the end of the passage, all these are empowered by one and the same Spirit… and with that Word, I know that the empowerment to fight these difficulties is not something mustered with me, but within the Spirit of God in my heart.
You may attack, discredit, and maliciously with intent to hurt and divide, say or do awful things. But the only response you will get is more prayer, more love, more patience, and more of Christ being shown. I will not be the one that affects the body of Christ in that way, nor will I be the one who seeks for self in these times, more than I do for the overall wellness of the kingdom. Though it means, when some do not fight, those of us who are fighting must fight harder and longer, so be it, if it means more glory to God’s name, and ministry work can continue. I will not be shaken or moved… instead with what little faith I have, mountains shall move in the name of God, and the continuing crushing defeat of unchecked sin in people’s lives, and the evil plans of satan will be complete. I am an unworthy servant, and with that humble truth in tow, I can help but do nothing and simply do my duty, knowing God will take what is so simple, and explode it to be impactful. Go, fight, we’ve already won.
