Have you ever noticed that people often look for churches the way they shop for cars? They shop as much as possible online, then try to sneak onto the lot unnoticed. That way, they can peek inside the cars and kick the tires unmolested. They try not to make eye contact. And the moment they see someone in a tie coming toward them, they get all sweaty and start gauging how far they are from the nearest exit.

Should our church shoppers ever be so unfortunate as to find themselves duped into a conversation about a potential purchase while skulking about in the narthex, the first thing they want to know is:

• What are the features?
• Can I get this with a manual transmission and a low commitment to committee meetings?
• Are there enough entertainment options to keep the kids busy on a long journey?
• What about service after the sale?
• How does the price you’re charging compare with your competitors down the street?
• And will the seats stain if you spill grape juice on them?

In short, whether buying a car or looking for a church, many people today view both as products that best suit their individual needs.

All of which makes good sense if you’re looking to get from geographical point A to point B. However, I would like to suggest that if what you want to do is get from spiritual point A to point B, looking for the product that best suits your individual needs may not get you where you’re looking to go.

Asking, “What do I get out of it?” may be the first question of bargain shopping, but following Jesus isn’t much of a bargain. Just ask around.

As a backdrop to today’s text, we should point out that Paul’s got his hands full with these folks in Corinth. When Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone decided at the turn of the 19th century that their job was restoring the 1st-century church … Corinth—I imagine—wasn’t the 1st-century church they had in mind.

First Church Corinth was an ornery, contentious bunch of folks. They had different factions loyal to different personalities. They had a guy cohabiting with his step-mother. There were disputes about whether or not it was appropriate to marry, whether or not it was appropriate to eat meat sacrificed to idols, and whether or not the ability to speak in tongues was a sign of God’s personal seal of approval … while a failure to speak in tongues was a sign of spiritual malnutrition.

This was a church simultaneously headed in a bunch of different directions. In short, First Church Corinth was a church in crisis … Each person was convinced they were right, that their understanding mirrored God’s understanding, and that practicing their spiritual gifts was paramount.

But Paul says in our text for today, “Not so fast. There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Cor 12:4-7).

Notice what Paul doesn’t say. Paul doesn’t say that God gives the manifestation of the Spirit for any one person’s private good. Paul says that the first question of the Christian isn’t, “What kind of off-road options package can I get on my baptism?”

In our text, Paul isn’t particularly concerned with whether spiritual gifts are personally satisfying or an individual blessing.

Why?

Because the gifts of the Spirit are meant for the upbuilding of the community of faith—for the common good—not just for me.

If you read through First Corinthians, you’ll see that what drives Paul’s ethical instruction is always the health of the body. “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. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, enslaved people or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit” (vv. 12-13).