Gifted To Serve

 

 

The honeybee has one of the most highly developed social structures in the animal kingdom. At the heart of the hive, which may house as many as 80,000 bees, is the queen. Without her, the colony has no future. But the 80,000 don’t just sit around watching their queen. Each bee has a specialized duty to fulfill. The forager bees encounter the perils of the outside world to collect food. The guard bees protect the hive entrance from intruders. The undertakers are responsible for removing dead bodies from the hive.

The water collectors bring in moisture to regulate humidity. The plasterers make a kind of cement to repair the hive. And the fanners station themselves at the entrance and fan the scent outward to signal the location of the colony to lost or disoriented bees. The scout bees keep the hive alerted to opportunities and dangers of the outside world. The variety and specialization of the worker bees seem endless.

Jesus promised his disciples “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever” (John 14:16). The Holy Spirit is always present in and among Christians.  However, at some times His presence is more apparent than at other times. He manifests Himself through gifts. Spiritual gifts are gracious endowments that come by his extraordinary influences.

The Corinthian church was rich in spiritual gifts; they had every gift (1 Cor. 1:7). In spite of all that, they did not know how they should function. They had a poor understanding of the Holy Spirit and His gifts. Some Corinthians fell into grading the gifts, attaching importance to public, showy gifts and relative unimportance to less observable gifts. Paul’s desire was that they understood these gifts and used them properly.

In Chapter 12 Paul addressed that problem. He wrote, “no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit. Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be ignorant… There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work” (1Cor. 12:1, 3-6).

In Romans 12:3-8 he wrote “I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith...We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy…if it is serving…if it is teaching… if it is to encourage…if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully (Rom.12:3-8).

Peter summarized the two general varieties of spiritual gifts: speaking and serving gifts. He wrote “each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides” (1 Peter 4:10-11).

Paul list some of the gifts in the Corinthians church, “to one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge … to another faith … to another gifts of healing … to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues (1 Cor. 12:8-10).

Paul emphasized that all the gifts have a common source, the Holy Spirit. He is the one who decides who will have what gift. He distributes to each one individually just as He wills; we do not choose. The gifted persons do different kinds of service, but they all serve the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

To “each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good” (1 Cor. 12:7). The  manifestation of the Spirit is an intriguing description, for the Spirit is invisible, but here Paul says His effects are clearly observable and thus evidence of the reality of His existence. The spiritual gifts are visible, clear public displays of various working of God through the Holy Spirit.

The manifestation of the Spirit is given to each and every believer. These "each ones" in verse 7 live under the Lordship of Jesus. No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor.12:3).  Living under the Lordship of Jesus is only enabled of the Holy Spirit. If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body (Rom. 8:13). His divine power gives us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3)

People can and do imitate the “each ones” in verse 7, but they cannot deceive God. God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness  (2 Tim. 2:19). Jesus said "many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord , did we not prophesy in your name...and then I will declare to them , I never knew you (Matt. 7:22-23).

The manifestation of the Spirit is “given for the common good” (1 Cor. 12:7). Spiritual gifts are the result of grace and not merit. Spiritual gifts are not intended for private purposes, each gift is designed to serve the entire church. Spiritual gifts are for edification. They are given to the Church to enable it carry out its mandate, which is the Great Commission: evangelism and discipleship (Matt. 28:18-20).

The whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Eph 4:16). Teamwork is unity in diversity. Each believer does his part, but the results are team-oriented. And just as a diamond's brilliance comes from its many facets, so too does the manifestation of God's grace through various spiritual gifts, each unique and contributing to the whole. 

The Spirit distributes the gifts to each one individually as he wills" (1Cor. 12:11). This is a very comforting verse. It tells us that every believer in Christ has a unique purpose in God’s grand scheme of things. The Holy Spirit does not just randomly fling gifts in the air but personally and individually gives them. This means that there is some prior thought and purpose to it. He gives every Christian a spiritual gift.

In Christ we, though many, form one body and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us (Rom 12:5,6). God has allotted to each one of us a measure of faith equivalent to the gift. We can refuse to exercise our gifts or we can misuse them. Failure to use the gifts will affect the effectiveness of the Church. Misuse of gifts shatters unity, divides believers and ruins their testimony before the world.

Some who are more gifted or have showy gifts might feel they are more important than others in the church. They feel their gifts and contributions are more significant than that of others. Such feelings and thoughts are inaccurate. To such Paul's says “do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you” (Rom. 12:3).

Paul makes it clear that each gift and each person is important and necessary. Each of us has been uniquely gifted. The Holy Spirit puts the gifts just where He desires in the congregation. To deny the importance of certain gifts is really to question the Holy Spirit and the Lord’s wisdom in distributing them. Even the “least” gifted member who is using his gift is as important to the function of the church as the “most” gifted person.

The prayer warrior is as essential as the soloist in the choir who stands before the people. A lone evangelist who leads people to salvation and brings them to church is as necessary as the preacher who stands in the pulpit. The person who ministers to the sick or elderly is as honorable than the committee chairman who leads the whole congregation in administrative matters.

God has placed each of us in His Church exactly where He wants us to be, and equipped us to do exactly what He wants us to do. We all have what God desires for us. You need to grasp that and stop coveting somebody else’s gift. Simply accept what you have been given and receive the privileged gift with joyful thanks.  The Lord wants you to see yourself as he does, uniquely created and highly valued by Him. It is tragic to be discontent with the gifts he has given to you.

God’s service is not about being the most gifted. It’s about doing your part faithfully so that together with others you can make a successful team. There is no such thing as insignificant service for Christ. A self-sufficient spirit that overlooks the contributions of others can ruin it all. Aware of our deep indebtedness to others, we should be grateful for their vital role in the Lord’s work in and through us.

Different members have different gifts to teach us interdependence. We lean on each other’s gifting for our spiritual maturity and journey of faith. Spiritual gifts are meant to unify not divide. All of us are to use our gifts to serve one another so that together we can make a significant difference in our world. We were never intended to live in isolation but to work together to become a great force for God and the advance of His cause. How humbling it is for us to realize that we can’t grow in maturity apart from depending on others.

The Church has been endowed with supernatural gifts so that it can have a powerful witness in the world. The Church is not a spectator sport. It is not a professional pulpitism financed by lay spectators who sit there and watch it happen. The Church is a living organism that functions on the basis of the ministry of each member within that Church. Every member of that body has a function in harmony with every other member.

All Spiritual gifts are temporary; they will not be needed in Heaven (1 Cor. 13:8-10). God’s gifts to us must be fully put to use because someday each of us will give account of himself to God. The Promise of the Holy Spirit  and his gifts is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will  call" (Acts 2:38-39). The promise is made to all generations. call” (Acts 2:38-39).