ROMANS 12: 8b
THE GIFTS OF GIVING, LEADING & MERCY
A biting wind was blowing as Bill walked home late in the day. Then suddenly he heard them-SCREAMS IN THE DISTANCE, desperate yells, life-threatening cries. With instantaneous reaction he ran faster and faster to the side lake, dove in, and swam to the boy who had just given up the struggle and was going under for the last time. With his arms he pulled the boy to the surface of the water and swam back to the shore. Then with his mouth he gave mouth-to mouth resuscitation until the boy began to breathe again.
Which part of Bill's body was the most important for saving that boy's life?
Was it the ears that heard the screams? The brain that interpreted the screams? The glands that pumped energy into Bill's body? The legs that ran to the lake? The arms that swam? The hands that grabbed the boy? The mouth that gave mouth-to mouth resuscitation?
In the same way the different parts of Bill's body worked together to save the drowning boy, so should the different parts of Christ's body, the church, work together to save a drowning world.
We are far off base to believe that some people are more or less valuable than others. God needs us all-and we need each other. Every member in the church, Christ body on earth has an important function to perform if we are going to save any of those drowning in sin all around. Nobody is a nobody in Christ's body.
Each believer has been gifted for service in Christ's earthly body the Church. Each believer is a unique creation and recreation of God. God has no duplicates. God has gifted you and expects you to use your gift as a good steward. Though the gifts are diverse each of them and each of us is needed to bring a lost world to Christ.
The next three ministries and their empowering gifts are giving, leading, and mercy. Each of these just like any of the others are essential for the body's proper functioning. If you are uncertain what your gifts is, try using one you suspect you might have or one where your interests lie and ask others to evaluate over time whether your gifted in that area.
I. THE GIFT OF GIVING, 8b.
II. THE GIFT OF LEADING, 8c.
III. THE GIFT OF MERCY, 8d.
The next spiritual gift is the virtue of giving. "He who gives, with liberality;"
A fifth category of giftedness is that of giving. The word here is intensified with a prefix (meta-didome) and could be translated; "sharing or imparting what one has." Giving is necessary so that the work can not only be done but expanded. Giving with "simplicity" means giving with no strings attached. All Christians should give but there are those who have a special gift of giving and they should take extraordinary care to see that their special ability is exercised liberally or with above-average giving.
Many Christians whom God gave the ability to make money He also gave the gift of giving. Christians like J. C. Penny. Mr. Kraft, Mr. Cromwell founder of Quaker Oats, Mr. Colgate, A.A. Hyde of Metholatum, John D. Rockefeller, R.G. LeTourneau, Wallace Johnson founder of Holiday Inn, and Stanley Tam founder of United States Plastic. All started tithing and God prospered their work and business abundantly so that they could give even more to the cause of Christ.
The Lord blessed them abundantly so that they could be a blessing to His work. Most of these folk went on to give God more than 50% of their income.
But this gift is not reserved for the wealthy. Philippians 4:10-16 and 2 Corinthians 8 indicate that those who were poor gave liberally. [Persons with this gift have the ability to give abundantly not "out of" their possessions but "according to" them.] Clearly the issue is not the amount, but the ability do it abundantly out of our little or much.
When this faculty is properly functioning, it will be without secret reluctance (2 Cor. 9:7), without false pretense (Acts 5), and with an eye single to God (Rom. 12:8).
God began to expand one Christian man's BUILDING BUSINESS in a phenomenal way early in his career. As it mushroomed, he developed the conviction that his spiritual gift was giving. The more the business expanded, the more he gave. In the subdivisions he was developing, valuable prime property was sold to evangelical churches for one dollar. God alone knows what has been accomplished through his giving. Untold thousands of souls have been saved and blessed.
Dorcas may have been just this kind of woman. We read that this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity, which she continually did" (Acts 9:36).
Years ago Dr. Henry Jessup, a faithful missionary in Syria, was SEEKING HELP for the Syrian Protestant College in Beirut. He was asked to call on a certain woman by a friend who said he believed that she would help him financially. Dr. Jessup was astounded to locate her residence on the top floor of a tenement house. Entering the door he found an elderly lady putting bristles in the wood backs of scrubbing brushes. Eagerly she listened to his story. Taking one of two bags from a nail on the wall, she said, "This is the Lord's treasury. I am able to lay by something for Him, after I have met my needs. Whatever is in His bag today is for you." She counted out thirty-seven cents into his hands, as the tears rolled down his face, saying she was so glad to be able to give it and that she was certain the Lord would bless its use. They then knelt and prayed together.
Those that have the gift of giving are to give with generosity or liberality. The word haplotes denotes open heartedness. The one giving is to do so without ulterior motive, with a single goal in mind, the glory of Christ. He does not give for thanks or recognition but too be a blessing to the cause of Christ and others.
This generosity avoids the "sound a trumpet... as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and the streets, that they may be "honored by men" (Mt. 6:2). Anaruas and Sapphira were struck dead by God for lying to the Holy Spirit because of their desire to retain promised proceeds.
The churches of Macedonia had an abundance of believers who exercised the gift of giving to its fullest. "In a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality," Paul said. "For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability they gave of their own accord, begging us with much entreaty for the favor of participation in the support of the saints, and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God" (2 Cor. 8:2-5). They gave with great liberality, believing that sowing bountifully meant reaping bountifully (2 Cor. 9:6).
II. THE GIFT OF LEADING (8c).
"He who leads, with diligence;"
Leaders are good organizers and managers. Leads is from proistemi which has the literal meaning of standing in front of, standing forward, standing before. It one who stands firm in front of the people. Thus one who presides or is in the forefront (1 Thess. 5:12, 1 Tim. 3:4,8). One who manages and by implication takes care of people. This gift is for mobilizing, motivating and directing others toward the objective. This person is able to give vision and direction.
Titus had this gift. Paul left Titus in Crete "to set in order what remains." It is the gift of leadership within the family (1 Tim. 3:4,5, 12) and in the church (1 Tim 5:17). Although it is not limited to, it clearly will be given to many elders and deacons.
Sensitive leaders are particularly needed in the Church today. In our free for all society anarchy seems around the corner. Because of an absence of godly leaders everyone does what is "right in his own eyes," even as Israel did even under the judges (Judg. 17:6, 21:25, Deut. 12:8).
Scripture has qualifications for those who would be in places of leadership [1 Tim 3: 1-7 etc.]. Morality, character and commitment are prerequisites for anyone to be in a position of leadership. The listed Biblical qualifications indicate that leaders are not to be dictatorial, egotistical or dogmatic. Rather they are to be willing, humble, kind, filled with love yet with the strength to be firm and dependable.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the most prefect example of a leader. "For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). He humbled Himself to become a servant (Phil 2:7). He washed the disciples' feet at then said, "A servant is not greater than his master" (John 13:16). Jesus, by example tells us that every true leader should be a helper, a servant (even a bond slave of Christ). We are exhorted to "through love serve one another (Gal. 5:13). This command is not a suggestion and applies with special force to leaders. [Billy Graham. The Holy Spirit. Word. p. 156].
The winner of the "Best Use of DUCT TAPE" contest used duct tape to patch the wing of the plane he flew from Guatemala to Honduras. There are people in the body like that. They know how to patch things up. They know how to make things fly. They have a feeling for how things should happen. Theirs is the gift of ruling, of governing, of doing all things decently and in order—exemplified beautifully in the life of Jesus and seen practically when He instructed His disciples to make the multitude sit in groups of fifty in order that He could feed them (Luke 9:14).
Church leaders can become casual and careless, but if they see their abilities as divinely granted gifts they will lead with diligence. Because such an important task rest with these men, and the temptation to shrink from, or avoid their responsibility is great, they are admonished to exercise their leadership with diligence. Diligence (spoude) means with earnestness and zeal and can also carry the idea of haste (see Mk. 6:25, Lk. 1 :39). Proper leadership therefore precludes procrastination and idleness. Whether this gift is possessed by church officers or by members who direct such things as Sunday School, Team kids, or the nursery, the gift of leadership is to be exercised with carefulness, constancy and consistency [MacArthur. p. 177].
III. THE GIFT OF MERCY (8d).
If you're expanding the work by giving, do it generously and with simplicity. If you're expanding the work by ruling, do it diligently. If you're expanding the work by showing mercy, do it cheerfully. The last gift in verse 8 is mercy. "He who shows mercy, with cheerfulness"
The seventh and last spiritual category mentioned here is the enablement of showing mercy. Eleeo carries the idea of active sympathy or acts of mercy. The gifted Christian who shows mercy is divinely endowed with special sensitivity to suffering and sorrow, with the ability to notice misery and distress that may go unnoticed by others and has a desire to help alleviate such affliction. The gift of mercy may be exercised in hospital visitation, nursing home ministry, homebound visitation, jail ministry, or in service to the handicapping, the suffering and sorrowing. George Muller probably used this gift in his ministry to thousands of orphans in Bristol, England.
Those who are particularly endowed with the ability to show mercy should not become disgruntled by the heavy demands that will be made on their time and energy when their beautiful gift becomes known. They should cheerfully respond. Everyone who has gone through suffering or special needs has experience those who came and helped and those who hindered. The counsel of Job's friends only dove him into deeper despair, and the horrendous details of an operation can do much the same.
Those who care for people in the hospital, those who sympathize with those going through a traumatic relational experience, or those who cry with those experiencing the heartbreak of divorce have the gift of mercy.
[If you wish to study these things further, look at Jesus. See how He ministered mercy; how He ruled diligently; how He gave sacrificially; how He moved in prophecy. Study Jesus, and you'll find the perfect example of how these gifts are to function in His body of believers.]
In CONCLUSION
God did not ordain that the church should drift aimlessly on the seas of uncertainty without compass, captain or crew. By His Spirit He has provided for the operation of the church through the gifts of the Spirit.
In regard to these gifts and every other gift, believers should "kindle afresh the gift of God that is in them" (2 Tim. 1:6). The church cannot exist in the world nor be truly useful to one another as God intended without the operation of spiritual gifts. They are the powers of the future world to come operating in the world today.
Whether the Holy Spirit gives us one or several gifts, it is important for us to do two things. First we should discover or recognize the gift or gifts God has given us. Second, we should nurture those gifts and do everything we can to improve them as we use them. One who has the gift of mercy should be better able to fill this ministry with the passage of time. And the person with the gift of wisdom should be wiser at the end of his Christian life than at any other time.
When you identify your gifts see how you can use them to build up God's family. At the same time realize that your gifts can't do the work of the church all alone. Be thankful for people whose gifts are completely different from yours. Let your strengths balance out their weaknesses, and be grateful that their abilities make up for your deficiencies. Together we can build Christ's church.
Some day all of us will give account of the way we have used the gifts God has given. The person to whom much has been given will find much required of him. So let's use our gifts as fully as possible and wait with expectation for our Lord's "Well done, good and faithful servant" (Mt. 25 :21) at the judgment of the saints.
[A biting wind was blowing as Bill walked home late in the day. Then suddenly he hear them-screams IN THE DISTANCE, desperate yells, life-threatening cries. With instantaneous reaction he ran faster and faster to the side lake, dove in, and swam to the boy who had just given up the struggle and was going under for the last time. With his arms he pulled the boy to the surface of the water and swam back to the shore. Then with his mouth he gave mouth-to mouth resuscitation until the boy began to breathe again
Which part of Bill's body was the most important for saving that boy's life?
Was it the ears that heard the screams? The brain that interpreted the screams? The glands that pumped energy into Bill's body? The legs that ran to the lake? The arms that swam? The hand, that grabbed the boy? Thy mouth that did mouth-to mouth resuscitation? "
In the same way the different parts of Bill's body worked together to save the drowning boy, so should the different parts of Christ's body; the church, work together to save a drowning world.
We are far off base to believe that some people are more or less valuable than others. God needs us all-and we need each other. Every member in the church, Christ body on earth has an important function to perform if we are going to save any of those drowning in sin all around. Nobody is a nobody in Christ's body.]
