Series

We’re thinking about spiritual gifts: God-given abilities to do something that builds up the Body of Christ. Every Christian has one. As I mentioned last week, there are other gifts that are not mentioned at all in Scripture. Some would include things like craftsmanship, celibacy, martyrdom, which are mentioned in Scripture, but not specifically as spiritual gifts. Other people have gifts related to music, working with children, writing, creative arts—all these talents can be used to build up the Church.

This morning, though, I just want to touch briefly on the ones that appear in the specific lists of spiritual gifts in the Bible. I’ll take them in alphabetical order.

The God-given ability to understand what makes an organization function, and the ability to plan and carry out procedures that accomplish the goal of the ministry.[1] These folks are extremely organized, task-oriented, efficient. They typically have a “to do” list where they take great pleasure in checking off things they have accomplished. They can see ways to streamline procedures and save money in an organization. I think their desks are usually pretty neat, too. Chris Perciante is God’s gift to me and to Faith Church, with his wonderful gift of administration.

The “office” of apostle that the original disciples of Christ held was unique, and no longer exists. There are no more apostles just like the original Eleven plus Paul. Those men served a unique role as eyewitnesses to the resurrection, and as authoritative teachers of doctrine. But some would say that the “role” of apostle continues today, defined as the God-given ability to start and oversee the pioneer development of new churches or ministries.[2]

The danger I see in calling someone an apostle, is that the word is loaded with authority tones, because Paul hammers away at the Galatians to recognize his authority as a true apostle of Christ, on a par with the Eleven. People who want to continue to use this term do so by emphasizing Paul’s church-planting ministry. The word “apostle” literally means “one who is sent”, typically with a message from a higher authority. So while I am willing to grant the use of the word with that definition, I’m a little leery of what someone who calls himself an apostle, or who others call an apostle, is going to do with that label.

When I was in seminary, at the Fuller Seminary School of World Mission, the professors there regularly used the word apostle to define essentially a pioneer missionary, who takes the gospel where it has never been before, and who perhaps oversees a work in that place. If that’s the definition of apostle, then I’m fine with it, and I have known a number of missionaries who fit that definition.

The God-given ability to distinguish between truth and error, and between good and evil spirits. Others religions have miracles, too, but not all miraculous events are caused by the Holy Spirit; some may be caused by demons. Moses discovered that the first few miracles he did in front of Pharaoh were duplicated by the magicians of Egypt; Jesus warned that there would be people who would perform miracles and cast out demons in His name, even though they were not true believers (Matt 7:21-23). So the Body needs to be able to distinguish demonic forces from the Holy Spirit.[3]

I’m not sure if what I’m about to say is an expression of that gift or not, but years ago, when we used to drive our kids to see their grandparents in Mesa, AZ, we would always go through Santa Fe, NM. On more than one occasion, as we drove by the outskirts of Santa Fe, or stopped in there for a meal, I sensed something evil, or some spiritual attack on me personally. I think it was the strong Native American influence there, and I have heard other people describe the same experience in Taos, and in Sedona, both places where Native American religion is promoted.

The word “encourage” in Greek has two meanings: it can mean to encourage someone who is discouraged, to help convince them that they can do it, to inspire them not to give up, to comfort them. It can also mean to give them a swift kick in the pants, to urge them to do what is right, to plead with them or exhort them to follow God.[4] So it is not always the soft, sentimental, comforting type of encouragement; sometimes it’s the push someone needs to do what they know they should. A good coach is an encourager in this sense. My wife, Barbie, has the gift of the soft version of encouragement, and she has been a great blessing to me in that regard.

The God-given ability to effectively communicate the good news of Christ to unbelievers so they respond in faith.[5] We are all called to “do the work of an evangelist” (2 Tim 4:5), but some people are especially good at it, and love to do it. They love to talk to people about their relationship with Christ, and God often uses them to bring someone to faith. Other versions of the gift of evangelism emphasize planting seeds and watering them, and weeding out false ideas from the truth, like someone in the ministry of apologetics. Jim and Debbie Eng are the two best-known “evangelists” in our church.

This is not the kind of faith that saves us, because every Christian has that. This is a special ability to trust God to bring about certain things when we do not have a specific biblical promise[6], or when all the odds are against you. We see it in the person who holds on to God in prayer over many years for the conversion of some loved one; or who acts as though what they are praying for has already happened.[7] Some people just seem to have more confidence in God than others; they are just sure that He’s going to do something. I think that in many of these folks, this gift is not just a blanket Pollyanna attitude that naively says, “Everything is going to be wonderful.” It is often combined with knowledge or wisdom that knows what God wants to do in a given situation. Because they are confident that God wants to work in that particular situation, they can pray in faith, and encourage others in faith. Noah had this kind of faith that God was, in fact, going to send a flood; Abraham had this faith when he left his home and headed off on a several hundred mile journey on foot to a place God “would show him” when he got there. George Muller of Bristol, England, ran an orphanage for hundreds of children strictly on faith, because he was confident God wanted to take care of those kids.

The God-given ability to contribute money and resources to the work of the Lord with cheerfulness and unusual generosity. People with this gift do not ask, “How much money do I need to give to God” but, “How much money do I need to live on?”[8] They love to give, and find great joy in doing it. Some people love to give to institutions like churches and mission organizations; others prefer to give to individuals. But always the heart of the giver is to bless someone else with what they have. The pastor I served under while I was in seminary had this gift; someone once told me he gave 25% of his income away. We are all called to give in proportion to our income, and I think 10% is a good starting place, but some people give even more—and they do it cheerfully!

I prefer the word “helps”, as it says in 1 Cor 12:28, rather than serving (used in the other two passages), because we are all called to be servants of others, regardless of our specific gifts. This is the God-given ability to do practical and necessary tasks which free up, support, and meet the needs of others.[9] This is the person who sees the little details, which, if left undone, will undermine the efforts of other people. They typically want to be invisible, to get no public credit for what they do; their reward is in seeing something work well because they supplied a small but critical part of the whole. The ladies who serve meals for our funeral receptions, and who take meals in to shut-ins, often have this gift.

The God-given ability to care for people by providing fellowship, food, and shelter.[10] People with the gift of hospitality do not draw attention to themselves, and their fine table setting, or the food, or their décor; rather, they focus all the attention on their guests, making them feel comfortable, welcome and important. Today in our culture, it gets expressed in the willingness to take in missionaries, and youth interns (as many of you have done), and by having people in the home for the purpose of ministering to them (not just for good fellowship).

These two terms are similar, and I have not found a good way to distinguish them, so I’ve grouped them together. They apparently refer to the ability to hear from God things that we could not otherwise know. Peter had this when he knew that Ananias and Sapphira had conspired to lie to the Holy Spirit. One author I read described a situation in which he was counseling someone he did not know, who had been experiencing nightmares for three months. As he prayed for her, the name Don kept coming to his mind. He stopped praying and asked her if the name Don meant anything to her. All of a sudden, she got pale, and looked very nervous and worried. He gently persuaded her to explain the cause of that reaction, and she finally admitted that she had gotten drunk and had sex with Don about three months before—and that’s when the nightmares had started. Later, she had discovered that Don was into the occult. She confessed her sin, they prayed for her, and the nightmares stopped.[12] There was no way he could have known that that name meant so much to her, but God revealed it to him so that he could help her.

The God-given ability to cast vision, motivate, and direct people to work together accomplish the purposes of God.[13] These are the people who see the big picture, who know where they want to go, who know how to get a group of God’s people to work together to accomplish great things. They are inspirational, motivational, and have an uncanny way of knowing who can do what part of the task best. Bill Hybels tells of the first time he knew he was a leader—he was in elementary school, and on the playground, as the boys were deciding what game to play, he found that the kids often followed his lead more than older boys, and he always knew who should play what position. In our church, Bill Ackerman has more leadership gifts than anyone I know.

The God-given ability to cheerfully and practically help those who are suffering or are in need; compassion moved to action.[14] This is slightly different from “helps” or serving, because it focuses primarily on those who are struggling in some way. People who go into nursing or social work often have the gift of mercy. I think of Penny Prewitt in our church, who is drawn to those who are hurting, or feeling neglected, and she just loves on them with the love of God.

The God-given ability to authenticate the ministry and message of God through supernatural interventions which glorify Him.[15] This term is plural, literally “workings of powers”, and the plural may indicate that it refers to different kinds of manifestations of the power of God. It may include things other than physical healings, like exorcisms, nature miracles, or other displays of divine power.[16] I did a word study on miracles, and it turns out that there is no one word that is translated miracle. The most common word is “power”; a miracle is a demonstration of God’s power. The next most common word translated miracle is “sign” (in both O.T. and N.T.); miracles are a sign of God’s power, pointing people to worship and obey Him, and pointing to the true identity of Jesus. Miracles are events that people have no natural explanation for, and which therefore cause them to wonder or marvel at God, or that they interpret as a sign from God, or as a demonstration from God of His supernatural power.

The word pastor (poimen) means “shepherd.” A pastor cares for his congregation (flock) the way a shepherd cares for his sheep. He feeds them spiritually, he guides them individually and corporately, and he protects them from spiritual predators and false teachers. I knew a pastor here in town some years ago who spent every afternoon out in the community, visiting his people. He got into all their homes at least a couple times a year. There are other ways to do it, but I think that was a fantastic expression of the gift of pastor.

I’ll be preaching a number of sermons on this starting two weeks from today, so I won’t deal with it here.

The God-given ability to understand, clearly explain, and apply the Word of God, causing greater Christ-likeness in the lives of the hearers.[17] Brenda Kuseski is a great example of this in our church—she can teach on almost anything at any time. I think this is also my primary gift. I love to explain stuff, especially the Bible. I like the study and preparation part, and the teaching and preaching part as well. My prayer in this regard recently has been for God to make me like Samuel the priest. It says that none of his words fell to the ground (1 Sam 3:19). Isn’t that a great phrase? I pray that the words I speak on Sunday will not fall to the ground, but will lodge in your hearts and minds in such a way that God uses them to transform your lives to be more like Himself.

I don’t think anything in the New Testament addresses that question. The plurals in “gifts of healings”, and “workings of powers” (miracles) may hint that these gifts can appear for the meeting of a particular need but not be a permanent possession of the person. I have personally experienced some gifts very intermittently in my life, even though I wish I could see them operating more consistently. But again, the Holy Spirit is sovereign in who gets what gifts, and He may also decide when we get a particular gift. Some people have experienced a spiritual gift only while they were on a mission trip, for example.

Again, the Bible doesn’t directly answer this question, but in general, I think they can be developed. For example, I have the gift of teaching, but I have also worked very hard to refine and improve the abilities God has given me in that area. Certainly, leaders and administrators can learn to use their gifts more effectively. I have a good friend who is the head of OMF mission agency in Littleton, CO. He is a gifted leader, but he reads voraciously and works very hard to be an even better leader. Even those with the gift of evangelism can develop that ability over time.[18]

There are any number of inventories/questionnaires on the market that will give you a start on this. My favorite is the one in the course called Network. But those inventories primarily ask what kinds of activities you have been involved in in the past. They are based on the assumption that we naturally gravitate to those things we are good at, so for example, if you have done a lot of behind the scenes serving, you probably have the gift of helps. But a person with a servant’s heart and a ministry mind set will often wind up doing a lot of different things that are not necessarily their gift, just because those things need doing. So the inventories are a good starting place, but not infallible.

As I mentioned last week, another way to discover your gift/s is to pay attention to the needs you see in the Body of Christ around you. You will tend to see those things that you have a God-given ability to do something about.

A third way to think about this is to ask yourself, what is it that you are good at, that you enjoy and find deeply satisfying, and which helps other Christians? That’s a clue as to what your gift is. I also find that when people are serving in an area of need that they are gifted at, they don’t get burned out, even if they do it for years on end. But people who are serving in an area in which they are not gifted, get exhausted quickly. One summer when I was in seminary, I worked for the Minister of Pastoral Care in the large church we attended. I spent all day visiting people in the hospital, and shut-ins in their homes. I came home every night just exhausted, and didn’t understand why until I grasped this concept. That’s not my gift. It’s a valuable and necessary ministry, but I’m not especially gifted to do it.

As I said last week, the Holy Spirit is sovereign in deciding who gets what gifts. But we are also told to desire the gifts. 1 Cor. 12:31, “But eagerly desire[19] the greater gifts.” 1 Cor. 14:1, “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.” This leads me to believe that if we see that we could be more effective in ministry, if we would really like to be able to do something that is related to a spiritual gift, that’s a good desire and we should ask God to give us that gift. Again, keep in mind that the gifts are all given for the common good, not to make ourselves important—they are for serving others. And at the end of the day, if God chooses not to give us that gift or gifts, we need to be content with that, knowing that He distributes them “as He determines” (1 Cor. 12:11,18,24).

1 Corinthians 12 ends with this leading sentence: 1 Cor. 12:31, “…And now I will show you the most excellent way.” The question is, the most excellent way of what? Well, all of chapter 12 has been on the way the different members of the body express their unity in the midst of their diversity through their different spiritual gifts. It says, we are all one Body of Christ, but each of us is a different part of it. Each one is needed and important; God has arranged the parts in the body just the way He wants; we look out for the seemingly unimportant ones; we empathize with one another, whether we are rejoicing or hurting; etc.

Relating to each other on the basis of our different gifts is very important, but it is possible to exercise the gifts in a selfish, self-centered kind of way that is completely antithetical to the Spirit of God—and that’s what was happening there in Corinth. So Paul is now going on to talk about the most excellent way of relating to one another, the best way to express our unity in the midst of our diversity, and that is by making sure that we always use our gifts in a loving manner.

Watch how he picks up the terms he used in chapter 12 for the gifts and weaves them into this paragraph. 1 Cor 13:1, “If I speak in the tongues of men [possibly teaching] and of angels [possibly spiritual languages, speaking in tongues], but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. [2] If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge [possibly the gifts of wisdom or knowledge], and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. [3] If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames [as a martyr; this is what makes some people think martyrdom is a spiritual gift that you only get to use once!], but have not love, I gain nothing.”

Notice the way Paul evaluates each of these supernatural manifestations of the Spirit. If they are not used in love, they are worthless: I’m just making a bunch of noise, like a gong or clanging cymbal; I am nothing; I gain nothing. Love trumps gifts, no matter what they are. We have been talking a lot about the spiritual gifts, but the fruit of the Spirit is more important than any of them, or all of them together. Jesus’ command to the disciples was, “Love one another as I have loved you,” not, “Be sure to use your spiritual gifts in the church.” The gifts will come to an end at the end of the age, but love lasts forever.

[1] Bruce Bugbee, Don Cousins, Bill Hybels, Network Participant’s Guide (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), Session 5, p.75ff.

[2] Bugbee

[3] D.A. Carson, Showing the Spirit (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1987) p.40. Based on 1 John 4:1-6, I would say that all Christians are to exercise discernment with regard to the spirit of truth and error, and to discern whether the spirits they are dealing with are from God or not on the basis of the spirit’s willingness to confess Jesus Christ as Lord.

[4] Edward W. Goodrick & Kohlenberger III, The NIV Exhaustive Concordance (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1990) #4151, parakaleo.

[5] Bugbee

[6] Carson, p.39.

[7] Michael Green, I Believe in the Holy Spirit (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004), p.242.

[8] Bugbee

[9] Bugbee

[10] Bugbee

[11] “For Paul, the ‘message of wisdom’ refers first of all to the preaching of the cross (see 1 Cor 1:18-2:16; the terminology occurs nowhere else).” Gordon D. Fee, Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Pubs, 1996), p.168.

[12] Jack Deere, Surprised by the Voice of God (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), p.17f.

[13] Bugbee

[14] Bugbee

[15] Bugbee

[16] Carson, p.40.

[17] Bugbee

[18] I have no experience with the gifts of speaking in spiritual languages, or interpreting them, so I can’t comment on that.

[19] The form of this verb can be either imperative, as in NIV, or indicative, as the NIV text note indicates, which would then be translated, “You are eagerly desiring the greater gifts.” I think it makes most sense to take it in the imperative, because Paul has just told us which gifts he believes are the greater ones, and the Corinthians were not desiring those—they were hung up on tongues. Moreover, in 1 Cor 14:1, where the form of the same verb is the same, the context clearly calls for the imperative, to make it parallel with “follow the way of love”, and again, because the Corinthians were not eagerly desiring the gift of prophecy.