The Excellent Way

1 Corinthians 12:31

But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

When Paul said that charity is the more excellent way, he was pointing out that what he said in chapter 12 is an excellent way as well. If something is more excellent, that means that whatever you just talked about is excellent. In these two chapters, Paul shows several things that will help a church to be what it ought to be in reaching the souls of mankind and building those lives so they can become tools for God to use in His ministry. Let me point out several things about the excellent way.

First, the excellent way is for every believer to realize they are important to the work of the Lord. God points out that a body is made up of many different members, but every member of the body is important to that body functioning properly. Likewise, every believer is important to the body, the local church. It matters not how insignificant you feel you are to the body; you are part of it; therefore, you are important to the functioning of that local church body.

Second, the excellent way is for the church to work together as one body. A church body that does not work together as one body is a church body that is sick and not doing what God wants to do through it. There are no superheroes in the local church body; we are all a member of one body working together to reach the lost.

Third, the excellent way is for each believer to be involved in ministry. Because you are a part of the local church body, you are critical to that body doing what Christ wants it to do in reaching the lost. If your arm chose not to work, it would greatly limit your body from being what a full-functioning body could do. Likewise, when church members choose not to be involved as the church body works for Christ, they paralyze the ability of that church body to reach the lost.

Fourth, the excellent way is for each believer to use the gift God has given them to help their church. God has given every believer some gift to help their church, and it is disobedience to God not to use that gift in your church. God knew your gift and placed you in the church you are a member of because He knew your gift could help that church. To avoid using your gift for the Lord’s church is to waste that ability, hurt your church body, and limit what God wants to do through your life.

However, the more excellent way is to have charity while doing these things. The organization and everyone working together is good, but if we don't have charity, all the work won't make the impact it is supposed to have. Charity is invested love. If you don't invest your life in others, you will limit the ability of the works God wants to do through you.

My friend, it is critical to work the excellent way along with the more excellent way for your church to be able to make an impact in reaching the lost for Christ. If you only focus on charity, the more excellent way, but never do the excellent way, then charity is not a more excellent way. If you focus on the excellent way, serving together as a body, but don't have charity, then all the service will not be an excellent way. It is both taking each believer's talent and using those talents to invest our lives in building people and reaching the lost that makes them the excellent way and the more excellent way.