Believe 17: Spiritual Gifts
February 15, 2015
A few years ago Neiman-Marcus was selling 3 Ford Taurus cars built by Roush Racing, and driven by Mark Martin in NASCAR races. The car was being sold for those men who have everything. It was a Father’s Day special. What do you think this car was worth? Keep this in mind - - - It is a used Ford Taurus, without power windows and locks. In fact, it doesn’t have windows at all; it just has a net. There are no doors, you enter through the windowless window. It doesn’t have eight-way power seats; it has one uncomfortable bucket seat, bolted down. There are no headlights, muffler or CD player. It gets five miles per gallon. There is no air conditioning. Trunk space is limited since the gas tank takes up most of the trunk. It doesn’t have alloy wheels, no treads on the tires, no windshield wipers.
According to Kelly’s Blue Book, a used 2006 Ford Taurus in good condition, without those options, would cost about $4,300. Do you think Neiman Marcus sold that car for $4,300? Nope!
They sold it for $125,000. That’s crazy! Well, what makes that car so valuable? It’s because it’s not an ordinary Ford Taurus. It was designed and built for a special purpose — — for NASCAR racing.
And the same can be said for every one of you. God designed you, built you and equipped you for a special job within the body of Christ and that is what makes you valuable. You are not some ordinary Ford Taurus. You are a special, unique child of God. We are valuable; we have more worth and value than we can imagine; and that is because our worth and value comes from God.
Before we jump into our text in 1 Corinthians 12, let me set the scene. The Corinthian church had lots of problems. The church was filled with division, arguments, lawsuits, and immorality. On top of that, there was confusion about marriage, food sacrificed to idols, worship, the Lord’s Supper, the Resurrection, giving, and spiritual gifts. Some people thought they were more important than others because they had some pretty spectacular gifts. When Paul wrote this letter to the church he addressed these issues.
In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul began to address the issue of spiritual gifts. In the first SLIDEverse Paul said, 1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, I do not want you to be uninformed.
Paul wanted to end all of the arguing and disputing about spiritual gifts. He wanted these new Christ-followers to understand these mysterious blessings. He wanted them to understand more about faith in Christ. Paul wrote ~
4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;
5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;
6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.
7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
Paul is reminding the people
there are a variety of gifts
there are a variety of services
there are a variety of activities
BUT - - - it is the same Spirit, the same Lord and Same God who gives and empowers these in every Christ-follower. And why are they given to each believer? For the common good!
Let me give you what I believe is one of the best definitions of Spiritual Gifts. It comes from Bruce Bugbee, founder and president of Network Ministries. This ministry also has what I believe is the best Spiritual Gift inventory to help you determine your gifts. We have used this tool to help people as well.
Bugbee said ~ “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” (“What You Do Best in the Body of Christ,” Page 52).
Your spiritual gifts are given to you by the Holy Spirit and they are given to every believer in Jesus. Nobody who has faith in Jesus can ever say they are not gifted, because you are. These gifts are not given to you for you to become popular or stand out in any way, they are given to you for the common good of the body of believers, the church.
We also need to understand there is a difference between natural abilities and spiritual gifts. Some people have natural abilities. It could be an artist, musician or athlete for example. They may not know Jesus, but they have great talent and they allow the world to see it. But they are not doing it for the body of believers. They may be the greatest singer you’ve ever heard. It is their talent, not a spiritual gift.
Juxtapose that with someone who is a follower of Christ, and they are an excellent singer. This great singer gives free concerts to children because they want to bless them. They are using their natural talent as well. The difference is they have the spiritual gift of mercy and compassion and they are using their talent and gift for the common good.
The question is “Who is receiving the glory from what we do? Us or Christ? It’s important to recognize that a spiritual gift is given to us by the Holy Spirit when we first accept Christ into our lives.
Ultimately, Paul tells us there are a variety of spiritual gifts — about 20 overall. He lists some, but not all of the gifts, but all of the gifts come from the Holy Spirit. We can do all kinds of different things for God - - - some of you can teach, some have the gift of hospitality, others will be compassion, or prophecy, or wisdom, or maybe administration, or giving; maybe healing or a bunch of others. But they are all given by the same God, through Jesus, and they are all to be used for the same purpose, to serve God and bring glory to God.
Now one thing we need to understand about spiritual gifts is that when you state you believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you receive the Holy Spirit. It’s a supernatural process that occurs. We can’t explain it in human terms, other than to say we take it by faith that God plants the Holy Spirit within us at the moment we proclaim Jesus is the Messiah.
We need to understand why we have them and what we are supposed to do with them, once we’ve got them. The purpose of Spiritual Gifts can be found in a number of scripture passages ~
Ephesians 4:11-12 ~ 11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the BODY OF CHRIST MAY BE BUILT UP...
1 Peter 4:10 ~ Each one should use whatever gift he has received to SERVE OTHERS, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.
1 Corinthians 2:7 ~ Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the COMMON GOOD.
Romans 1:11-12 ~ 11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong — 12 that is, that you and I may be MUTUALLY ENCOURAGED by each other's faith.
When we look at these 4 scriptures, we come to realize that Spiritual Gifts are given to us so that ---
the body of Christ may be built up
to serve others, for the common good
and to mutually encourage one another.
They are always other - centered. They are never about ourselves, they are always used for God.
When we use our gifts they help us become more effective in life, in what God has called us to do. When you learn what your spiritual gifts are, you are supposed to use them. When you receive a gift from someone, you open it and use it, don’t you? In the same way, when we receive God’s gifts, we are to use them, not to put them on a shelf.
We need to learn and understand our God given SHAPE.
Our SHAPE is not how big or small we are, instead our SHAPE is how we put our life together by using everything God has planted within us.
The word SHAPE comes from Saddleback Church in California and it means ~
S = SPIRITUAL GIFTS
H = HEART - - - - PASSIONS
A = ABILITIES - - - - TALENTS
P = PERSONALITY - - - - Introvert/extrovert - order / chaos
E = EXPERIENCE - - - - life’s experience
The greatest thing in this world is to have a great sense of fulfillment. That’s one of the beauties of spiritual gifts. When you know what your gifts are, you can use them according to what your passions are, according to what your natural talents are, according to what your personality is like and what your experience is.
All of that should be taken into account. You may have someone who has the gift of teaching, but they are an introvert and don’t like being in front of people. So, what do you do? Maybe their passion is reading and writing. Could they possibly help write curriculum behind the scenes?
For me, one of my spiritual gifts is teaching. I am energized when I teach. But don’t ask me to teach the K-1st grade class. I would run out of there in a week. They’re good kids, and I could sit and play with them and have a great time, but they would not learn anything. I am not gifted to teach younger kids. My SHAPE is not designed that way. I can hang out with them and play with them and love them, but I can’t teach them.
That’s why we are part of a body, because what I can’t do, others can do. That’s how the body of Christ is called to work. Every part cannot do the same thing. The knee cannot do what the hand can do. The mouth cannot hear. The ear cannot taste. You get the point. And that’s what Paul was talking about to the church in Corinth.
The church is made up of many members, each one having their own purpose, which, ultimately, is to fulfill the larger purpose of helping the church to be the hope of the world by loving and serving one another for the common good.
The goal is for every believer to be involved in something which is using their spiritual gifts. I’m not talking about what you do for a living, I’m talking about how you are serving Christ.
Spiritual gifts range from — Administration to Evangelism to Craftsmanship to Faith, Giving, Mercy, Teaching, Leadership, Hospitality, Encouragement, healing, Speaking in Tongues and more.
Some may sound foreign to you, but once you understand them, they begin to make sense. The goal is not to go through everyone of these today, but to let you know that there are many gifts, and if you are a believer in Jesus, do you know your gifts?
You see, if you are not using your gifts, then you are not fulfilling your God given purpose in this world. This means you are not as complete as you could be, because God’s design for you in your life is not being realized. And that will always leave you unfulfilled. Secondly, the church is not as powerful as we can be because you are not doing what you should be doing.
This may not sound all that nice, but the church is the only hope in a fallen world. Have you unwrapped your gifts from God? If you don’t know your gift, I would be thrilled to talk to you about how to determine your gifts and then to put it all together and use your gifts according to your SHAPE.
You see, this all flows from what we’ve been talking about . . . having a single minded focus on Christ, totally surrendering to Christ, being part of a biblical community . . . and when you are doing this you want to be part of the fun, part of the ministry which is happening . . . so you want to use your spiritual gifts. Over the next couple of weeks, we’re going to look at using our time and our resources.
We don’t leave gifts unopened. We open them, we use them, we celebrate them. That’s the call for you and I. Use our gifts for the glory of God and the good of one another. Just like that Ford Taurus, God created us so we would glorify Him through serving because of the faith we have in Jesus Christ.
My hope, prayer and goal for this church is that every believer is involved in something beside worship in a significant way. Every person is expected to be involved in the life of the church. In far too many churches too many Christians are content to sit back and let others do the work.
