| The Ministry of Comfort |
Chapter 17 |
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In one of his letters St. Paul exhorts the followers of Christ not to think of themselves more highly than they ought to think, but so to think as to think soberly, according as God has dealt to each man a measure of faith. Then follows an illustration of the exhortation, drawn from the body and its members. There are man members in the body, and these members do not all have the same office or function. Not all followers of Christ have the same gifts or are fitted to perform the same duty. Some have the gift of prophesying, others of ministering, and others of exhortation.
The counsel is that no man think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but so to think as to think soberly. Thinking soberly is recognizing the truth, first of all, that whatever our particular gift may be, it is what God has given us. Our gifts differ, but it is according to the grace bestowed upon us. This takes away all ground for glorying in our individual ability or power. If our gift is greater than our neighbour’s, we may not boast of it nor be vain because of it. God saw fit to endow him with certain abilities, in order that he might discharge the duties that are allotted to him in his appointed place. We have a different place to fill, with different duties, requiring different abilities, and through the grace of God we have received gifts fitting us for our particular duties. Therefore we should not think too highly of ourselves, but rather should think humbly and gratefully, giving God the praise and honour for whatever gifts we have received.
He does not think soberly who leaves God out of his thoughts. It is said of William Hunt, the artist, that he never allowed the spiritual in his work to be obscured by the material or earthly quality. With him thoughts, ideas, duties must always come before [other] things. Once one of Mr. Hunt’s pupils was engaged in sketching a landscape bathed in the glory of the setting sun. In the foreground stood a large barn. Mr. Hunt watched the young man quietly for a while, and then said to him most impressively, “If you spend so much time painting the shingles on that barn, you’ll never have time to paint that sunset. You will have to choose between the two.”
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