Sober Thinking in a Drunken Age Text: Romans 12:3-8
Introduction: The Body and the Bag of Marbles
We live in a drunken age. I do not mean drunk on wine, though there is plenty of that, but rather drunk on the self. Our entire culture is a massive, ongoing celebration of the imperial self. We are told from every quarter to look within, to define our own truth, to be authentic to our own feelings, and to think more highly of ourselves than we did yesterday. The modern project is the deification of man, and the first sacrament of this new religion is self-esteem.
Into this intoxicated haze, the Apostle Paul speaks a word of shocking sobriety. After eleven chapters of glorious, world-altering doctrine, laying the foundation of God's sovereign grace in salvation, he pivots in chapter twelve to the practical outworking of that grace. And where does he begin? He begins with the mind. He begins by telling us how to think about ourselves. The gospel does not just save your soul; it restores your sanity.
The world tells you to build your identity from the inside out. Find who you are, and then present that self to the world. The Bible tells you that this is madness. You cannot know who you are until you first know who God is, and second, who your brother is. Your identity is not found by looking in a mirror, but by finding your assigned place in the body of Christ. The world wants to build a society that is like a bag of marbles, a collection of autonomous, self-contained units that occasionally bump into one another. God is building a body, a living, breathing organism where every part is distinct, necessary, and completely dependent on all the other parts. This passage is the divine anatomy lesson for the church. It is the charter for a sane community in a world gone mad.
The Text
For through the grace given to me I say to each one among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound thinking, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another, but having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: whether prophecy, in agreement with the faith; or service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with generosity; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
(Romans 12:3-8 LSB)
The Rule of Sober Judgment (v. 3)
Paul begins with the foundational command that governs all life within the body.
"For through the grace given to me I say to each one among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound thinking, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith." (Romans 12:3 LSB)
Notice how Paul prefaces his command. He speaks "through the grace given to me." He is about to command them to think rightly about the grace given to them, and he models it by acknowledging that his own apostolic authority is nothing other than a gift of grace. He does not pull rank; he points to his Giver. This is the posture of all true Christian leadership.
The command has two parts, a negative and a positive. The negative is a prohibition against pride: "not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think." Pride is a kind of intellectual insanity. It is a miscalculation, a failure to see reality as it is. The proud man is like someone who insists he is a millionaire while his bank account is overdrawn. He is out of touch with the facts. Pride is the native language of the fallen heart.
The positive command is the remedy: "but to think so as to have sound thinking." The Greek word here is sophronein, which means to be of a sound mind, to be sober, sane, and sensible. Christian humility is not self-hatred or a false, groveling piety. It is sanity. It is simply agreeing with God about who you are. No more, and no less.
And what is the standard for this sober thinking? It is not your resume, your talents, or what your mother told you. The standard is this: "as God has allotted to each a measure of faith." This is the great equalizer. Whatever role you have, whatever gifts you possess, they are an allotment. They have been distributed to you by God. You did not generate them. The "measure of faith" here is not saving faith, which all believers have, but rather the specific trust and spiritual enablement God gives for a particular function. It is the divine equipment for your assigned post. Since your capacity is a gift, an allotment, how can you possibly boast in it? You can no more boast in your spiritual gift than you can boast in the color of your eyes. To do so is to forget the Giver and worship the gift.
The Organic Metaphor (v. 4-5)
Paul then provides the central metaphor for understanding our corporate life: the human body.
"For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another." (Romans 12:4-5 LSB)
This is a brilliant and simple illustration. A body has two essential characteristics: unity and diversity. It is one body, but it has many members, eyes, ears, hands, feet. And these members are not interchangeable. An eye cannot do the work of a foot. This is a direct refutation of the egalitarian spirit that plagues the modern church, which seeks a kind of bland, uniform sameness. God loves differentiation. He loves hierarchy. He loves specific function.
Our unity is not found in having the same function, but in being connected to the same head: we are "one body in Christ." He is the brain, the command center, who coordinates and directs all the various parts. Our unity is organic, not organizational. It is life, not a club.
But then he adds a crucial phrase that demolishes American individualism: we are "individually members one of another." This means you do not just belong to Jesus. You belong to the other members of this church. The hand does not exist for itself; it exists to serve the mouth, the eye, and the foot. Your gifts are not for your own personal edification. Your gift of teaching is for the person who needs to learn. Your gift of mercy is for the one who is suffering. Your gift of administration is for the body that needs order. To be a Christian is to be drafted into a state of radical interdependence. You need me, and I need you. There are no solo practitioners in the kingdom of God.
The Gracious Diversity (v. 6-8)
Having established the principle, Paul now gives a representative list of the gifts that grace produces.
"but having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us..." (Romans 12:6a LSB)
He cannot emphasize it enough. The gifts, the charismata, differ. And they differ "according to the grace given to us." Everything is grace. Your place, your function, your ability, it is all a gift. This leaves no room for envy of another's gift or pride in your own.
He then lists several examples:
- Prophecy: This is the gift of speaking God's truth into a particular situation. Crucially, it must be exercised "in agreement with the faith." This is the guardrail. New Testament prophecy is not on par with Scripture; it is subject to Scripture. It must conform to the apostolic deposit of faith.
- Service: This is the Greek word diakonia, the root of our word deacon. It refers to practical, hands-on help. The gift is to be exercised "in his serving." In other words, just do it. Get on with the work. Don't seek applause; just meet the need.
- Teaching: This is the gift of explaining and applying the Word of God with clarity. It is to be exercised "in his teaching." The focus is on the craft, on the faithful handling of the text, not on personal charisma.
- Exhortation: This is the gift of encouragement, of coming alongside someone to urge them toward faithfulness. It must be done "in his exhortation." The exhorter must himself be full of encouragement.
- Giving: This is the gift of sharing material resources. It must be done "with generosity," or as the Greek can mean, with simplicity. There are no strings attached. It is open-handed, without a thought for return.
- Leading: This is the gift of administration and oversight. It must be exercised "with diligence." Leadership is not a title; it is hard work. It requires earnestness, zeal, and careful attention.
- Showing mercy: This is the gift of ministering to the sick, the sorrowful, and the distressed. And the manner is absolutely essential: "with cheerfulness." Grudging mercy is no mercy at all. Cheerful mercy is a balm to the afflicted soul because it shows that they are not a burden, but a joy to serve.
Conclusion: Finding Your Place
This passage is a call to sanity. It is a call to leave the drunken party of the self and to find our sober, glad, and appointed place in the household of God. The world tells you that you can be anything you want to be. God tells you that you can be everything He has created you to be, and that this is the path of true freedom and joy.
So the application is straightforward. First, you must repent of your pride and your individualism. You must stop thinking of yourself as an autonomous unit and begin to think of yourself as a member of a body. Second, you must ask God, with sober judgment, what He has equipped you to do. What is your measure of faith? What grace-gift has He given you? Look at the needs of the body around you. Look at what brings you joy in serving. Look at what other mature believers affirm in you.
And then, once you have some clarity, you must get to work. If you are a hand, start grasping. If you are a foot, start walking. If you are an eye, start seeing. Do not despise your gift because it is not as flashy as another's. Do not bury your gift out of fear or laziness. The health of this entire body, and its witness to a watching world, depends on each one of us embracing our God-given place and functioning in it with diligence, generosity, and cheerfulness. This is how a community of grace works. This is how we display the sanity of the gospel in a world that has lost its mind.