In Romans 12:5, Paul teaches us that believers make up various parts of one body. It says, “So, we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” What Paul was trying to get the Romans to do was change the way they think about themselves. We love to think of ourselves as independent, unique individuals. There is a sense in which each of us brings something of value to the table, but no one is better than anyone else. We love to hold up our index finger and shout, “We’re number one!” But remember, Chapter 12 begins with exhortations about not being conformed to the image of this world but being transformed by the renewing of our minds. It’s really all about the way we see or think about ourselves. That’s why verse 3 of Chapter 12 tells us “not to think of ourselves more highly than we should.” This is a key teaching in the Bible. All disputes, all contests, and all competitions were responded to by Jesus when he heard his disciples arguing about which of them was the greatest. The Bible answers that question by teaching us that there is neither male nor female. There is neither rich nor poor. There is neither Greek nor Gentile. All are one in Christ.
This is highly counter-cultural in our country. America dearly prizes individualism, and we always hold up the famous, the glamorous, and the rich as the epitomes of success. They are always on the news, in the papers, and on the television. Our culture despises anonymity, while Christ honors it. Like those at the tower of Babel, we want to make a name for ourselves, while God has given Christ the name above every other name. God calls us to lose ourselves in and for Christ, but the world calls us to make ourselves stand out. If we can make a name for ourselves, we will be successful. Alan Richardson says it well: “The hatred of anonymity drives men to heroic feats of valor or long hours of drudgery, or it urges them to spectacular acts of shame or of unscrupulous self-preferment. In its worst forms, it tempts men to give the honor and glory to themselves which properly belong to the name of God.”
Truly, this is what Paul is referring to when he talks about not being conformed to the thinking of this age but being transformed in how we think. He wants us to put Christ first in our thinking and our service. If we’re truly going to be successful and hear “well done, good and faithful servant,” we have to put the advancement of Christ ahead of self-advancement. This begins with changing the way we think. A. W. Tozer writes, “We can never get too weak for the Lord to use us—but we can get too strong if it is our own strength. We can never be too ignorant for the Lord to use us—but we can be too wise in our own conceit. We can never get too small for the Lord to use us, but we can surely get too big and get in His way.” God always favors the weak and foolish things in the world over the strong and wise, according to the world. Jesus adds to that idea in the Sermon on the Mount. He says, in Mattew 5:5, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”