SPIRITUAL GIFTS AND THE CHURCH

Nowadays, the gifts we give each other are seldom crucial to our daily needs or the survival of our families. We count them as enriching but not vital, as supplementary or additional to our other possessions, but not foundational. This attitude to gifts may lead us to undervalue the importance of God’s spiritual gifts. But these gifts are not “extras”.

They are his way of getting his work done. They are the means he uses to fulfil his mission in the world through us, his people. They are intended to help us carry out God’s work, reach out to those who might become members of Christ’s body, and strengthen the body of Christ by living lives filled with joy, peace, effective work and worship. The Holy Spirit both empowers us for various kinds of ministry and carries out an inner transforming work by which he enables us to grow in sanctification and obedience to God.

While there are different kinds of spiritual gifts, these gifts should not be confused with the talents or attractive personal qualities that make us “unique”. Spiritual gifts are not innate, natural talents – like an ear for music or the ability to draw – but are empowerments that the Holy Spirit gives to a believer to minister to the body in ways that were not possible by mere natural effort. They are intended to be used to build up the church, which is the body of Christ (Rom 12:5-8).

The spiritual gifts mentioned in Scripture are of two general types:

The first category involves people being given some special ability to lead the church and help other church members carry out effective ministry. Ephesians 4:11 lists a number of such gifts including apostles and prophets who lay the foundation for God’s church (see Eph 2:20), evangelists who travel carrying the message of the gospel of Christ to places it has not reached, and pastors and teachers who work in local churches, where one person is sometimes both a pastor and a teacher.

The second category of gifts consists of those that are given for the benefit of the community as a whole. The apostles stress that everyone has a gift and that these spiritual gifts are not given for the benefit of the gifted person but for the common good (1 Cor 12:7; 1 Pet 4:10). Such gifts include the gift of prophecy, that is, of inspired utterance of truth that guides the church (Rom 12:6; 1 Cor 14:26, 30), the gift of service to provide for the needs of the community (Rom 12:7; see also Acts 6:1-6), teaching and encouraging (Rom 12:7-8a), helping the needy within or even outside the church community (Rom 12:8b), leading by serving as elders within the church (Rom 12:8c), and the gift of showing mercy (Rom 12:8d). Those with this last gift are particularly sensitive to the needs of other members of the community. Some gifts can be described as gifts of stewardship, including hospitality, speaking and serving (1 Pet 4:10-11).

Gifts such as miraculous powers, speaking in tongues and healing are dramatic. This set of gifts is so unusual and out of the ordinary that it is easy to identify those who possess them. But these gifts have to be tested, since they are public, visible gifts, readily displayed before other Christians.

We can discern whether manifestations of power are truly gifts of the Spirit by evaluating the effectiveness of the gift in God’s work (1 Cor 12:1-3) and looking for affirmation from God’s people (1 Cor 12:4-6). The gifts are meant to be helpful, not harmful; constructive, not destructive; to contribute to God’s programme of salvation and not detract from it. Thus we can evaluate our own gifts and those of others by checking their effectiveness in honouring Jesus as Lord and in doing works that please God.

Jesus is our focus and completing his mission is our mandate. The gifts of the Spirit are to serve his purposes in the church and in our world. These gifts will be needed as long as the church is under construction. When the church, the bride of Christ, is complete and perfect, spiritual gifts will no longer be necessary (1 Cor 13:8-10).

Finny Philip