I recently attended the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America, our church’s denomination. General Assembly—or GA for short—is the annual gathering of church leaders, elders, and representatives of the PCA, along with their families and guests. This year, there were over 2,400 Commissioners, the Teaching and Ruling Elders who handle the business of the PCA.
For the second year, I was privileged to attend GA as one of those Commissioners. There is a joy (some might call it a twisted joy!) in listening to the various reports, being a part of the discussions, hearing both sides of an argument, and operating within the polity and practice of the PCA. However, for a rookie like me, GA can feel overwhelming. The decorum that brings joy can also be challenging. The opinions in my head do not always come out in thoughtful, well-spoken ways. Simply put, it’s easy to feel like a small fish in a big sea.
Thinking Soberly
In Romans 12:3-8 Paul writes:
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Paul’s primary concern is that everyone should not think of himself (or herself) more highly than he ought. This is for good reason, because we all struggle with pride in one way or another. We struggle with self-importance, self-sufficiency, self-promotion, and more. (I’ll note that all of those are about me and myself.)
Then Paul says that we need to “think with sober judgment” about ourselves. This includes the aforementioned caution of thinking too highly of ourselves. But, it also includes the opposite: thinking too lowly of ourselves. We may think we have nothing to offer God’s people or we struggle with anxiety about how our work within the church could fail. Maybe we compare ourselves to others, thinking we could never measure up to the standard they possess.
Paul reminds the Romans, and through Scripture he reminds us, that God has assigned us all a measure of faith and he has gifted us all in different ways and we should use those gifts! We are all part of the body and within that body, one man’s “eye” is as valuable as one woman’s “ear” and those are as valuable as my “big toe.” My gifting might seem insubstantial, but thinking soberly means understanding that, without my “big toe” the body would walk slower and be off-balance and unstable.
Back to GA
I enjoy GA and, at times, I feel like a sponge soaking everything up. But then I see some of the older, respected guys and feel inadequate. Perhaps the day will come, Lord willing, when I will know the Book of Church Order front to back and understand the church’s polity, but today is not that day!
But I’m on equal ground here, inexplicably. I was called and sent to serve and represent WPCA at General Assembly and I trust that I’m using my gifts for the building up of the body, both locally and denominationally. That provides motivation to serve well now and to strive to grow in order to better serve in the future. Because serving well means thinking soberly about who I am in Christ as I seek to serve the body for the glory of God.
Photo credit: Cliff Lester