Having a Servant’s Heart: Give Him Your Best I Corinthians 12 September 2, 2007 CBC
The story is told of this woman who decided one day to try horseback riding. Now she had never ridden a horse before and had never had a lesson on how to ride a horse. And so she sees this horse and she says I’m going to ride this thing. And she hops onto that horse and it immediately begins to spring into action. Well the horse is moving along at a nice pace but the women begins to lose her balance and is about to slip from her saddle and so she grabs for the horse’s mane but she can’t get a firm grip. So she then tries to throw her arms around the horse’s neck but that dies not work and she begins to slide down the side of the horse. And so here is this woman struggling on this horse but the horse pays her no mind and continues to move along. Seeing that something must happen, she attempts to leap away from the horse and throw herself to safety. But her foot becomes stuck in the stirrup and is not at the mercy of the horse as her head is struck against the ground over and over again. And just as she is about to lose consciousness to her great fortune, her comes Bobby the Wal-Mart Greeter to her rescue and he rescues her by unplugging the horse.
After reading I Corinthians 12:verse7-11 we can explain the connection to this story in this manner: If a person’s gift is saving a woman from a mechanical horse then let him be the mechanical horse hero. Today I want all of us to know that we each have a special gift for his or her ministry. This morning as we continue our series on Having a Servants heart, I want to encourage you that not only does ever believer in Christ have a spiritual gift but Christ encourages us to use those gifts. And so today I ask all of us the question, are we using our gifts and are we giving God our best?
Well to be honest, statistics tell us that not every believer is using his or her gifts to serve God through the church. It is a proven fact that not every Christian is committed to service. The statistic that has been used is the 80/20 principle: That is that 80% of the work of the church gets done by 20% of the people. I am thankful that statistic does not work in this church; however we are only doing slightly better. Yet can you imagine what would happen if 50 percent of the people were willing to give God their best through service. Imagine what would happen if 75% of the people were involved in giving God their best through serving in His church.
I am a firm believer that it takes all the people of God to do all the work of God. God’s work is so important and so large that it cannot be done by just 20% of the congregation. No, it takes all people giving their best to God through service in his name.
And so this morning I want to take just a few moments and encourage all of us to realize that we have been given wonderful gifts by God and he encourages us to use those gifts to do our best and to invite all of us to join together to serve Him.
Now our story opens up in I Corinthians 12 in some pretty uncomfortable territory. There is a church in Corinth who is undergoing a lot of problems. It seems that there are different groups in the church and they are filled with division and griping and complaining about just about anything that is going on within the church. Chapter 12 comes up in the midst of a growing argument between two groups of people who are upset because there are some people in the church who thought they were more important than others because they had some pretty spectacular gifts. When Paul wrote this letter to the church he specifically addressed these issues.
1) To Give God Our Best, We Need To Understand Spiritual Gifts
Paul wanted to make sure that the Corinthians as well as we understood what spiritual gifts were and how they were to be used. In verse 1 Paul encourages us to not be ignorant about spiritual gifts.
Now in order to not be ignorant about spiritual gifts and to understand them, it’s probably best that you and I define what a Spiritual gift is. Here is one definition that I think will help: “Spiritual gifts are divine abilities distributed by the Holy Spirit to every believer according to God’s design and grace for the common good of the Body of Christ.”
Now these gifts are given to each Christian to help them do their best in serving God. They are given freely so that you and I can minister to the needs of the body of believers and to enable us to be able to do extraordinary work for God. These gifts are designed to help and the problem is that if these gifts are not used, then how we can fully maximize God’s potential.
Now in this passage today we discover there are approx 20 spiritual gifts, but this is not an exhaustive list as there are other gifts found in Romans 12 as we looked at last week, this passage in I Corinthians and also in Ephesians 4 and I Peter 4.
Now once we begin to understand that spiritual gifts are given so that you and I can give our best to God through service it is then vital that you and I understand that there are different gifts. The good news is that everyone has different gifts.
2. Everyone Can Have a Different Gift
Skip down to verses 4-6 and you will discover that each of us can have different gifts but the same God. I love the way the Message paraphrase puts verses 4-6: ‘God’s various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. 5 God’s various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. 6 God’s various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all.
Did you catch who is involved in the distribution of gifts? Verse 6 says that God himself is behind it all. I love the fact in knowing that God cares so much for each of us and he has so much faith that you and I can do His will that he puts his all into providing for us. And if God is willing to put all of himself in the distribution of spiritual gifts to us, then shouldn’t you and I be willing to put all of ourselves into giving him the very best in our service.
No 3 times in this passage Paul tells us that we are given Different types of gifts, different types of service and different kinds of working. Now let’s break this passage down. First of all there is not just one gift that says size fits all. Rather there are different gifts for different people. And they are provided for different kinds of service. Now the spiritual gift that has been given to you is to be used in a particular area of ministry service. There are plenty of opportunities for all of us to use our unique gifts for service. And when we do that we will see them work. The word “working” refers to the results or accomplishments that come when we use our gifts in meaningful service. Whether or not we are able to see the results, God does.
Philippians 2:13 reminds us: “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” Because God is at work within us, we can accomplish His purposes. The Corinthians had elevated the more spectacular gifts and were giving more attention to the spiritual superstars. Paul challenges them, and us, to understand that all of us are different and all of us have been given different gifts. The same God is at work in us, but He customizes His work through us for His ultimate glory and the strength of the church.
3) Giving our Best For God Requires Teamwork.
Now here is the cool thing. You and have been given the awesome opportunity of being a part of something big. I don’t know about you, but everyday I am humbled when I think that not only does God care for me and love me but that he has enough trust in me to help him build His kingdom. Yet it’s not just something that he says Okay Chris go out there and do it on your own. But we are part of a team and as you know as a T.E.A.M. Together Everyone Accomplishes Ministry. God loves teamwork because when more people are working together greater things can happen.
Look at verses 7: Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people
Yes you, regardless of where you have come from, regardless of what you have done in your life, when you give your life to Christ, God will provide the gifts. This partnership is a two way street. There are things that God is going to do and there are things that you and I must do. Let’s look at what God does for us through these gifts.
1) God provides the gifts.
Look at verse 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
Now spiritual gifts are something that you can’t earn and you can’t request a specific gift. Rather God gives those gifts to us as He sees best in our lives. They are not learned they are not deserved but they are given to us for His sake. As we talked about last week God gives different gifts to different people according to his grace. There are some people who think that God throws out gifts like a bride throws her bouquet at a wedding reception. You have seen those right? It’s amazing to watch as all the single women gather behind the bride and the bride turns and says are you ready. And then as she throws that bouquet in the air and the women scramble to catch that thing like it is some WWF Royal Rumble wrestling match.
But that is not how it works with God’s distribution of gifts before we were even born, God had thought long and hard about the gifts that he would give each of us.
This church has every gift that is needed in order for us to function as a biblical community. Even though the Corinthian church was struggling they had all the gifts they needed to do ministry and grow together. And so it is with us. With those that are believers in this church God has given this church every gift that s needed. I am excited about each person that is thinking about joining this church, has joined this church recently or been a member of CBC for years. God has put together an awesome lineup of players and with this Team Not only can we accomplish ministry but we can help one another down this road of life by encouraging, equipping, enabling, and experiencing Christ’s love together through the work of the church.
But there are expectations that come with these gifts as well. It’s college football season. And there are expectations that come with each player each coach to perform to the very best of their abilities. And there are expectations by God that we use that which he has given us. I Peter 4:10 encourages this: I Peter 4:10 says “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in it’s various forms.”
Now while baseball was my sport and it was the best sport that I could play, I had a wanted to play football. My position was quarterback. When I was a freshman I was recruited by my school Deep Creek High School to be the backup quarterback under the superstar quarterback Darren Perry. The plan was that I would learn from him and develop and then take over for him when he graduated. I was so excited about this opportunity. Darren was being watched by colleges all over the country. He would go on to be an All American at Penn State and play for many years with the Pittsburgh Steelers and was recently their special teams coach. I remember the awesome opportunity that I had. Yet there was only one problem. My mom was afraid her little boy would get hurt. I think that she knew that was not my area. She encouraged me to focus on baseball and maybe that was a good thing. When in school I played intramural football and broke my pinkie finger which has never healed. The embarrassing thing is I cried like a baby. So mom was right. But the point that I am trying to make with this is if would of played football, I needed to play my position. Now would I have made a good defensive lineman? No I am not muscular and weigh 300 pounds.
The point I make is this: God has spent serious time not just in making us but in providing specific gifts for us to use and if we are not willing to use them then how can we share Christ’s love with others. How can we be an example if we are not willing to live by His example?
If you don’t know what your gift is I encourage you to see me and I will be more than happy to give you some assessment tools and work with you to discover the gift that God has given you to be used.
So God has done his part by giving us the gifts to be used and now our part is very simple. It is that you and I are to use the gifts that we have been given.
Verses 12-30 explain how each gift influences the body of Christ and helps the body of Christ you and me to become better Christians and to share His love with others. You see, each of us have been given gifts and a key role to play in this church and just to be honest if one member of this church does not implement his or her gift, our church will not mature in faith. Look at verse 14: “Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.” The foot needs the hand, and the ear needs the eye. Likewise, we all need each other. If you’re hoarding your gifts and not using them, the entire body is handicapped.
The problem in Corinth was that they believed that some gifts were better than others. But Paul wanted to encourage each person in that Corinthian church that each gift, each person was crucial to the ministry of the church. And that is what I want to convey to you today. You are vital to this church. This church can’t do the things that it has been called to do without you. We need your hands to work with children in sharing about Jesus. We need your feet in walking through the community in ministry for His Kingdom. We need you mouths to share in fellowship with one another building each other up. We need your tithes to keep these ministries running. We need your offerings to continue to make plans for the new addition to this church. All that you have is vital to this church and never let anyone tell you that your gifts are not needed. If you are 90, be not afraid to use your gifts. If you are 40, imagine the great things God wants to do with you and your gifts. If you are a young adult, you will be amazed at the impact you and your gifts will have upon all people. I love 2 Timothy 1:6 which says For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in
How bright is your light shining for God? Is it like a fire? Do you need to allow the Spirit to fan your gift into full flame? Are you burning bright for Him, or are you just flickering or smoldering?
You might be here today saying You don’t need me. I am just one person. I can’t change the world through this church. But listen to me, without you it does not work. God wants you today to give you your best. God wants this church to give Him our best. And the only way that we can give him our best is to be willing to use all that He has given us and to be willing to go at it no matter what.
This morning I want to close this message with a visual example of what it truly means to give it your best
You’re needed in this church! God has gifted you and now He wants to use you. Don’t allow yourself to think you don’t matter. Nobody is a nobody in the body of Christ. No one can do everything, but everyone can do something. You are the most influential person on this team. I need you. This church needs you, God needs you. God has given you the ability to serve Will you give this church your best. Will you give God your Very Best? Will You Do You Very Best. Don’t quit on God. Give Him your very Best! Let’s Pray
