Overview
Rev. Rico Magnelli examines “From Me to We” through Romans 2, Romans 10, Romans 12, Ephesians 5, showing how body, individual, together shape a believer’s relationship with God, daily choices, and service to others.
Transcript
Understanding From Me to We
Romans chapter 2, please. From me to we, me being a first person singular, we being a first person plural, from me to we is another way to look at who we are as Christians. Why do we get together? Why do we plan? Why do we labor for the common cause of Christ? Well, interacting one with another reminds us of both the me and the we and helps us keep balance in our lives.
Me is in reference to the individual. We is a way of expressing us together collectively. We get together to help us keep the balance between me and we because isolation often steers us towards the me part, which we all could be susceptible to.
Our identity in Christ has the vision of both me, the individual, and we, the individual in the context of the body of Christ. And what’s so fantastic is the more that we understand the word, we actually see that’s God’s vision for our lives. It’s to grow from a life of just me to a life of we, while never losing me.
God doesn’t want you to lose your individuality, your uniqueness. That’s not God at all. See, the me part finds its greatest purpose and satisfaction when it’s framed in the we part, kind of like a sports team.
The individual excels with great athleticism and skill, but it’s usually in a context of a team. In the we part, we see the interdependent fit of each member of the body, and that is fantastic. It’s only in the we part we see that.
Look at Romans chapter 2, verse 3. Paul is addressing the single individual, not the Christian here. Verse 3, and thinkest thou this, O man, that’s a singular reference, that judges them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shall escape the judgment of God? Or despiseth thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee, singular, to repentance. See, the book of Romans highlights the individual, the me part, and that foundation should never leave us.
The Biblical Foundation
You never graduate from me to we and forget about me. It’s part of it. It’s the goodness of God that leads the individual to repent.
Romans really highlights the individual. Romans 10 9 says that if thou shalt confess, singular, three verbs in this verse, they’re all singular. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe, singular, in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved, singular.
Confess, believe, saved. It’s starts with the individual, but God’s vision is much broader from the very get-go, but he doesn’t demand us to understand it all. It’s something we grow into.
Look at 1st Corinthians 12. But as a leadership body, it’s so important for us to understand why we get together, why we labor together, why are we planning together, because we’re trying to help people move from me to we without losing the me. The human body is an example of the unified support and complementary function of the individual parts.
As I mentioned, the book of Romans emphasizes the singular person. Ephesians and Thessalonians emphasizes us as a group. And this is where we find a great explanation in Corinthians about the body, because unity is not achieved by conformity to a mold, but by interdependent diversity.
That’s how unity is achieved spiritually. Interdependent diversity. You contribute, I contribute, she contributes, he contributes, each in our own unique way.
Only God could design life in which the individual eternal life salvation that we have, each of us, and the divine freedom we have as a child of God, can be aligned perfectly with a collective interdependent function in the body. Only God can figure this out. And there’s a great figure of speech here in 1st Corinthians 12.
Examples and Spiritual Lessons
It’s actually a double metaphor. It’s beautiful. But it’s using the body to describe the individual capacity for the manifestation of the Spirit, but it’s also describing the individual in the context of the body of Christ.
Verse 12, For as the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of that one body being many are one body, so also is Christ. For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one spirit. For the body is not one member but many.
And in the context, the body of the manifestation of the Spirit is like one unit that each person can receive and be energized in. But it also holds true that the double metaphor is applied when it comes to the body of Christ. You got the me, and you got the we.
And that’s the backdrop, in one way of speaking, of God’s vision. Look at Romans chapter 12, please. This is just another way of looking at a common truth that we’re aware of.
That yes, each of us is born again, and I have a relationship with God the Father just like you do, but we’re also called to a body. But I never lose my relationship, my personal relationship with God, nor my eternal life that he gave me, nor you. But I bring it, and I stretch it out, develop my ability and awareness of it as I conduct myself in the we portion of God’s vision, which is the body.
In Romans 12, look at how it says it this way, in verse 3, for I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith. I call that a sealing. It caps out how we should think of ourselves, the potential each of us has in Christ.
Every man has been given this potential. But Paul doesn’t stop there. He moves right into verses 4 and 5 into kind of a we application.
Faith in Action
For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office or function, so we being many are one body in Christ, and everyone members one of another. For the Christian, oftentimes temptation is to remain in kind of a me mindset, when really the function of a minister is involved in helping people move from me to we, without losing their individual uniqueness and relationship with God. And that’s an interesting proposition.
And when we interact, we reinforce God’s vision. Like we’re on this call tonight, in all different locations, we’re kind of moving into the we category, reinforcing it. It’s an incentive for us to get together.
It’s an incentive for us to continue to seek each other out. This has helped me so much in my life, because it would be easier just to isolate. Look at Ephesians chapter 5. The marriage relationship is an illustration of the me and the we.
Marriage is not about conformity, but about complementary supportive unity. Each person within the marriage relationship is a complement to the other. Fitting two lives together, like the individual parts in the body working together, it’s the same thing.
And that’s why it refers to the marriage relationship as one flesh. This can only be by design, by God’s design. You got two distinct people, but yet they’ve moved into a relationship where they’re supportive of each other together.
That’s why it’s such a great illustration. It says in Ephesians chapter 5, verse 30, for we are members of his body. I believe the rest in that verse is not in the text.
Walking in Love and Confidence
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. So you got two distinct parts becoming one. And look what he says in verse 32.
This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church. See, this is so deep and so rich because moving from me to we is where the abundance of blessings and grace and mercy and understanding and wisdom and contribution and reception of all those things really plays out. It’s in that context, me to we.
See, both the husband and the wife retain the me. They don’t lose their individuality. They don’t lose their relationship with God.
They don’t lose their eternal life salvation which was given to them, their Holy Spirit. But they grow into a we, each contributing to benefit the other. And that’s one of the things that as ministers we want to continue to promote.
Moving from me to we. And we can start making adjustments in the way that we speak. We can make adjustments in the way that we think.
We can make adjustments when we’re around people. Because the vision, why would God write this if it wasn’t for our benefit and blessing? He wants us to move on from the me into the we, never relinquishing the me though. The balance is amazing here.
Applying the Teaching in Daily Life
And it makes a lot of sense when we read John 14 12 where Jesus Christ makes that tremendous statement, verily verily I say unto you, he that believeth on me the works that I do shall he do also. Well stop right there. He did some pretty amazing works, amazing things that are just jaw-dropping.
But he doesn’t stop there. He says and greater works than these shall he do because I go unto my Father. That would be us working together.
That would be us interdependently supporting and complementing one another. Jesus did not have a companion that he could work with. You and I do in the members, as members of the body.
Jesus was not alone because the Father was with him. But in terms of an earthly companion, a friend, an earthly confidant, an had the 12 but they ended up leaving them when the pressure came, didn’t they? Bless their hearts. But do you see how important and significant it is? Because the goal of me, this is one way of saying it, the goal of me is we.
That’s the goal. And the goal of we is collective good works. The goal of me is we.
And the goal of we is the collective good works. As we read so beautifully in Ephesians 2 10, for we, plural, are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God had before ordained that we should walk in them. Plural, plural, plural.
That’s the vision from me to we.
Key Takeaways
- But it’s using the body to describe the individual capacity for the manifestation of the Spirit, but it’s also describing the individual in the context of the body of Christ.
- That yes, each of us is born again, and I have a relationship with God the Father just like you do, but we’re also called to a body.
- Fitting two lives together, like the individual parts in the body working together, it’s the same thing.
- You got two distinct people, but yet they’ve moved into a relationship where they’re supportive of each other together.
- Our identity in Christ has the vision of both me, the individual, and we, the individual in the context of the body of Christ.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main message of “From Me to We”?
Rev. Rico Magnelli examines “From Me to We” through Romans 2, Romans 10, Romans 12, Ephesians 5, showing how body, individual, together shape a believer’s relationship with God, daily choices, and service to others.
Which scriptures are central to this teaching?
The teaching draws especially from Romans 2, Romans 10, Romans 12, Ephesians 5, John 14.
How can believers apply this teaching?
Believers can receive the truth presented, verify it in Scripture, and put it into practice with faith, humility, love, and consistent action.
Scripture References
Romans 2; Romans 10; Romans 12; Ephesians 5; John 14; Ephesians 2
This text was prepared from the teaching audio or source document. Please verify scripture references against your own Bible.
