1 Corinthians 12
August Memory Verse: So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 (NIV)
Read: 1 Corinthians 12
Apparently, amidst all the problems within the Corinthian church, they had issues with understanding and practicing spiritual gifts. Paul set out to show them “a still more excellent way.”
Verses 4–7 pack a lot of instruction regarding spiritual gifts. There are a variety of gifts and service opportunities, yet the same Spirit and Lord over all. God, by the Holy Spirit, empowers gifts in EVERYONE. And, each gift is for the COMMON GOOD.
When a person comes into a relationship with Jesus, they receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gifts that person to build up the body—by the newfound freedom in Christ and the power of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, that person can fully live out the Great Commission and Great Commandment. God designed us to do all of that and more within the context of biblical community, i.e. the Church.
The problem for the Corinthian church was that people were becoming jealous of the giving of positions of other people in the church. Here’s the rub, Roman society was very clearly stratified. The Church, however, was not. Slaves and senators sat at the same table—"For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” Societally speaking, this was downright scandalous. Now imagine a slave prophesying over the church, will you, as someone higher up, listen?
Although hypothetical, we can imagine the difficulty for many people to accept the idea of all believers becoming one body in Christ. There is a great book I read in seminary called The Lost Letters of Pergamum that fictionally paints the picture of the New Testament world. It does a great job of illustrating the class barriers that the church smashed and I recommend it if you want more.
Paul ends the discussion of spiritual gifts with a surprising twist. Even compared to the “higher gifts” Paul said, “I will show you a still more excellent way.” Spoiler alert, 1 Corinthians 13 teaches about love. Then chapter 14 teaches how the gifts are to be used for building up the body in an orderly way—without scaring off non-believers.
The vast amount of writing and teaching on spiritual gifts probably contains more useless content than pretty much any other biblical subject. I would guess 90 percent of it could be trashed and we would all be better for it. The extra-biblical speculation on the subject baffles me. So, I caution you dear reader, when it comes to matters of spiritual gifts, stick close to the Word. Pay less attention to the specific gift assignments and more attention to the purpose of the gifts—the COMMON GOOD.
People spend time, energy, and sometimes, money trying to discover their spiritual gift, but don’t lift a finger for the COMMON GOOD of the Body of Christ. That’s what we call “Missing the forest for the trees.” To quote the late great Howard Hendricks, God didn’t give us His Holy Spirit to sit in the bleachers. Get to work! Serve! Some of us find our gifting by doing. There is pretty much no job in the church I have not done and after almost 25 years I pretty much know where I’m gifted. I say that tongue in cheek, but if you’re seeking your spiritual gift outside serving the body of Christ, that is ludicrous.
If you have questions about serving, either inside or outside the walls of CPC, please let me know. Wherever you’re at, if you have a relationship with God through Jesus, God can use you for mighty, eternity shaping things. Believe that and let’s get to work!
By: Tyler Short
Read: 1 Corinthians 12
Apparently, amidst all the problems within the Corinthian church, they had issues with understanding and practicing spiritual gifts. Paul set out to show them “a still more excellent way.”
Verses 4–7 pack a lot of instruction regarding spiritual gifts. There are a variety of gifts and service opportunities, yet the same Spirit and Lord over all. God, by the Holy Spirit, empowers gifts in EVERYONE. And, each gift is for the COMMON GOOD.
When a person comes into a relationship with Jesus, they receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gifts that person to build up the body—by the newfound freedom in Christ and the power of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, that person can fully live out the Great Commission and Great Commandment. God designed us to do all of that and more within the context of biblical community, i.e. the Church.
The problem for the Corinthian church was that people were becoming jealous of the giving of positions of other people in the church. Here’s the rub, Roman society was very clearly stratified. The Church, however, was not. Slaves and senators sat at the same table—"For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” Societally speaking, this was downright scandalous. Now imagine a slave prophesying over the church, will you, as someone higher up, listen?
Although hypothetical, we can imagine the difficulty for many people to accept the idea of all believers becoming one body in Christ. There is a great book I read in seminary called The Lost Letters of Pergamum that fictionally paints the picture of the New Testament world. It does a great job of illustrating the class barriers that the church smashed and I recommend it if you want more.
Paul ends the discussion of spiritual gifts with a surprising twist. Even compared to the “higher gifts” Paul said, “I will show you a still more excellent way.” Spoiler alert, 1 Corinthians 13 teaches about love. Then chapter 14 teaches how the gifts are to be used for building up the body in an orderly way—without scaring off non-believers.
The vast amount of writing and teaching on spiritual gifts probably contains more useless content than pretty much any other biblical subject. I would guess 90 percent of it could be trashed and we would all be better for it. The extra-biblical speculation on the subject baffles me. So, I caution you dear reader, when it comes to matters of spiritual gifts, stick close to the Word. Pay less attention to the specific gift assignments and more attention to the purpose of the gifts—the COMMON GOOD.
People spend time, energy, and sometimes, money trying to discover their spiritual gift, but don’t lift a finger for the COMMON GOOD of the Body of Christ. That’s what we call “Missing the forest for the trees.” To quote the late great Howard Hendricks, God didn’t give us His Holy Spirit to sit in the bleachers. Get to work! Serve! Some of us find our gifting by doing. There is pretty much no job in the church I have not done and after almost 25 years I pretty much know where I’m gifted. I say that tongue in cheek, but if you’re seeking your spiritual gift outside serving the body of Christ, that is ludicrous.
If you have questions about serving, either inside or outside the walls of CPC, please let me know. Wherever you’re at, if you have a relationship with God through Jesus, God can use you for mighty, eternity shaping things. Believe that and let’s get to work!
By: Tyler Short
8 Comments
I've never heard it put that way Tyler! I've always been focused on figuring out my exact spiritual gift. Well said!
Thanks Liz! I'm so glad to serve with you on Welcome!
That's good Tyler. And you're right. God doesn't give us His Spirit and gifts for us to simply sit on the sidelines and consume content. Instead, He gifted us all uniquely so that we can come together as one body and be the Church.
Everyone has unique gifts. You're irreplaceable, so to speak. So if you aren't using your God-given gifts to serve in the church, then the church will not be at its best.
Remember, the job of our pastors is simply to equip the church for ministry. It is the job of the members to actually do ministry, through serving in areas in which you are gifted.
"You're irreplaceable" 100% Agreed. From serving to small-groups, believers not only benefit, but they benefit others by their presences.
So good, Tyler! Working to find your gift is like focusing on the miracle instead of the miracle worker. Just do what opportunity presents itself and God will do the rest. I was asked to serve in Children's Ministry, and, though it was not what I would pick for myself, when I accepted the request I found that the more I served the more I loved it. I am blessed every time I get to be with those precious kiddos. God equips me, and you, with everything you need to serve. You just need to be willing to say "here I am!" I so love the body of CPC!
That's awesome Lindsay! I'm so glad you love serving!
Sometimes we can find the perfect place to activate our skills/gifts/and abilities according to how God designed us---and that's a worthy pursuit. However, sometimes, inside the walls of our local church we have to respond to the needs. As one person said, "We have to get behind the rock and push."
Lindsay, Amy and I were reading your post today and we both said "that could have easily been written by me!" When I started working with kids (not really by my own choice) you could not have convinced me that was where God would have me serve. Now I will remain there until God or Kaitlin tell me different. I have come to believe we focus to much on "finding our gift." Serve, and your gift will find you.
That's awesome Lindsay! I'm so glad you love serving!
Sometimes we can find the perfect place to activate our skills/gifts/and abilities according to how God designed us---and that's a worthy pursuit. However, sometimes, inside the walls of our local church we have to respond to the needs. As one person said, "We have to get behind the rock and push."
Each person has. A different and unique gift, all to help the church become better! The effectiveness is maximized when people are serving and doing what they do well