“There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” (1 Cor. 12:4-7)
Every believer receives spiritual gifts (literally “grace gifts”) from the Holy Spirit, but like every good thing they can be ignored, neglected, and abused. There are three temptations that come along with spiritual gifts:
Three Temptations
1. Getting jealous of other peoples gifts
My wife has an incredible gift of faith. She never gets worried or anxious about anything. She trusts God’s sovereignty and providence completely. Sometimes I get jealous of that. Tony has the gift of discernment. I wish I had it. Ethan has the gift of mercy. He can patiently help you work through any problem you’ve got. Whenever I’m meeting with people, I’m always asking myself, “What would Ethan do right now?”
But if the Spirit gave me all those gifts, I wouldn’t need anybody else. I could just start the Church of Matt, and I would be the only member. Meetings would be really efficient, but potlucks would be pretty boring.
2. Using your lack of a gift as an excuse to not do things
“You want me to stack chairs? Sorry, service isn’t my spiritual gift.” … “You wan’t me to help teach the kids? Yeah, I’d love to, but I don’t have the gift of teaching. Such a shame.” This kind focus on gifts we have or gifts we lack forgets the “more excellent way” Paul describes in the next chapter of 1st Corinthians: “If I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” (1 Cor. 13:2). In this passage, Paul’s not really concerned about what gift you have or don’t have, but he is concerned that you love others and serve the church.
3. Believing that everyone in the church should have your gift
If you have the gift of knowledge, then you probably think everyone else in the church is an idiot when it comes to the Bible. If you have the gift of faith, you think everyone else in the church is way too faithless and anxious. You wonder if the rest of us are even Christians. You’ve forgotten that you were given a grace-gift. It all comes from God’s grace! Not from your own spirituality and holiness and worthiness, like the Corinthians thought.
So how do we properly respond to the grace-gifts God’s given us? Let me offer three encouragements.
Three Encouragements
1. Just start serving
The problem in every church is not that people don’t know their spiritual gifts, it’s that people just don’t want to serve. So look for needs in the church, and start meeting them. If someone in your community group is really sick, go over and pray for him to be healed. If there’s a group of kids who need a teacher, sign up and start teaching.
2. Look for possible gifts
Through trial and error, you’re going to start seeing that there are some things you’re really good at, and some things you really stink at. Maybe you’ll realize that whenever you pray for sick people, they never get better. They all get worse. You probably don’t have the gift of healing. But maybe you’ll realize that you’re always encouraging people to trust God’s goodness and faithfulness, and out of that, you inspire them to do hard things and big things. The gift of faith. Guess what? You just found your spiritual gifts. Congratulations – now you can serve even more!
3. Work on those gifts, but don’t neglect the rest
Look for ways to grow in the gifts God’s given you. If you’re a Harborite, we have growth groups starting this fall where you’ll learn how to grow as a disciple and use the gifts the Spirit is given you. But don’t stop serving in other areas where you’re not as gifted. Remember: “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”