The Church Needs You!
1 Corinthians 12:1-12
The Seattle Central Korean SDA Church is a fine church. And I believe that it deserves the best. I believe that you deserve the best. I want you to help me out this morning. Help me to understand what the perfect youth pastor should look like?
The perfect youth pastor should:
Be holy, yet at the same time be funny and entertaining, and be everybody’s buddy.
Must be very social, and able to make friends with everybody.
Must preach sermons that aren’t too long, and aren’t too short. Not too boring, but not too funny.
Must be able to dress very well.
Must sing well and know how to play the guitar.
Must be willing to give rides to everybody.
Have the answer to everybody’s spiritual problem.
Must know the Bible like a scholar.
Have great leadership abilities, and administrative abilities.
Must be available to take phone calls at any time of the day or night.
Must work seven days a week. Is not entitled to vacations.
Should never raise his voice and have the patience of a saint.
Should have the wisdom of Solomon, the courage of David, and the endurance of Moses.
Alright, that was fun. I’m going to shift gears at this time and go in a completely different direction. Later I will return to this.
I want to share with you some documented remarks of what young people say about Adventism.
“Dull, and it gets in the way.”
“It’s just a bunch of do’s and don’ts.”
“I don’t have any feelings toward it.”
“No fun on Saturdays until the sun is down.”
“A ritual-type thing. Emotional ups and downs.”
Do these remarks resonate with you? Do you enjoy church? After one Sabbath is over, do you know what I look forward to? I look forward to the next Sabbath! I love coming to church on Sabbath! Do you love coming to church on Sabbaths! I know I’m not the only one. There are others out there who look forward to it too. For those of you who think church is dull, and who have no feelings for it, I’m going to tell you how church can become exciting for you too. Are you interested in knowing?
Christian A. Schwarz and his team from the Institute for Church Development in Germany analyzed responses from 4.2 million people, from more than 1,000 churches in 32 countries.
They looked at big churches. They looked at small churches. They looked at healthy churches and they looked at unhealthy churches.
They want to know what the common denominators were of healthy churches.
Now today, I don’t want to go into what makes a church healthy. But I want to share with you something interesting that they discovered. Christian A. Schwarz and his team discovered the one factor that made the biggest difference when it came to the contentedness of Christians. They discovered the one thing that made Christians more happy than anything else.
In his book Natural Church Development he writes:
“An interesting corollary result of our research was the discovery that probably no factor influences the contentedness of Christians more than whether they are utilizing their gifts or not.”
What makes Christians more happy than any other factor? It is whether they are using their gifts. People who understand what their gifts are, and who are using their gifts are the happiest Christians.
Do you know what kind of gift God has given to every member in the church?
He has given us spiritual gifts. That makes sense! God has given to every member of the church a spiritual gift. Don’t forget what I read to you earlier. People who use their spiritual gifts are the most contented Christians. Every one of you who have accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior has a spiritual gift. Do you know what that gift is? Do you want to discover what that gift is?
Today, I just want to give you an introduction to what spiritual gifts are about!
Let’s read about spiritual gifts. Let’s turn to 1 Corinthians 12. Now before we read, let’s set the context.
The Corinthian church was beset with many problems and difficulties. 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. In particular, 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 specifically addressed these issues.
1 Corinthians 12:1-12:12
(1) Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant:
How many of you already have an understanding about spiritual gifts? Okay, Paul is speaking to us.
This is a topic that is too important for believers to be uninformed about.
John MacArthur writes, "No local congregation will be what it should be, what Jesus prayed that it would be, what the Holy Spirit gifted it and empowered it to be, until it understands spiritual gifts.” (The Church p.136).
Definition of spiritual gifts: 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.
There are lots of people in churches who are completely ignorant about spiritual gifts just as in Paul’s days. There was doubtless considerable misunderstanding. It is also clear that there was some abuse of the gifts, as well as unfortunate rivalry between possessors of various gifts.
(4) There are diversities of gifts but the same Spirit.
(5) There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.
(6) And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.
It is the same Spirit, same Lord, and the same God who is at work. We’re not here to serve Martin. We’re not here to serve Pastor Lee. We’re not here to serve ourselves. We are here to serve God. Amen!
(7) But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
Each person has at least one spiritual gift. Some of us have more. But we all have at least one.
(7) But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
Do you know why God has given you a gift? It is not for yourself. It is for the profit of others. We are called to serve others. People who are self serving cannot be happy.
Let me quote Rick Warren. He’s the well known pastor who wrote Purpose Driven Life.
“God gave me a gift, not for me but for you, and God gave you a gift, not for you but for me. If you don’t use your gift, you’re depriving me; if I don’t use my gift, I’m robbing you.” Rick Warren
(8) for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,
(9) to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,
There are people here who have the gift of healing. I wonder who here has this gift.
(10) to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
(11) But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
Are you interested in knowing what gift you have?
(12) For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.
1 Corinthians 12 doesn’t mention all the spiritual gifts. There are other passages in the Bible that mention these gifts along with others. There are around 18 different spiritual gifts that God gives the church.
Let me illustrate how gifts work together in a church. At our potluck last Sabbath, suppose someone dropped a plate full of Kim Chee on the new floor in the gym. This is how people with different gifts would respond.
Gift of prophecy - That’s what happens when you’re not careful.
Gift of service - Oh, let me help you clean it up.
Gift of teaching - The reason that it fell was because it was too heavy on one side.
Gift of exhortation - Next time, maybe you should let someone else carry it.
Gift of giving - Here, you can have my Kim Chee.
Gift of mercy – Don’t feel too bad. It could have happened to anyone
Gift of administration - Lucas, would you get the mop? Soyoon, please help pick this up. Janet, could you get him another plate.
We’ve all been gifted differently and so we act differently and we serve differently.
Friends, this church has every gift that is needed in order to function as a biblical community. In 1 Corinthians 1:7 it says, “you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. This verse is written to the entire church at Corinth. Even with all its problems, this community of faith did not lack any spiritual gift. Likewise, the Seattle Central Korean English-speaking church has just the right amount of spiritual gifts!
Are you interested in knowing what gifts you have? Are you really interested? Is it important for every member to know what gift they have?
Starting next Sabbath, during Sabbath School, we are going to take everybody through a spiritual gifts seminar. You’ll will journey through this for about 2 months. It will help you to understand what your gifts are and how you can help the church with your gift. Are you interested in learning? Come to Sabbath School next week. It starts at 10 o’clock.
As I mentioned earlier, there are about 18 different spiritual gifts.
How many spiritual gifts do you think the pastor has? Well according to what you have said and this poster, I guess the pastor should have all 18 spiritual gifts. I don’t mean to disappoint you, but the pastor does not have all 18 spiritual gifts. Your pastor only has about 2 or 3. Is it God’s will that I have all the spiritual gifts? No, it is not. God doesn’t want the pastor to be a one man show. He wants us to work together as a body.
Because people don’t understand God’s plan for the church, they have all kinds of unrealistic expectations about their pastor. I’m going to share with you something that I’ve shared with the leaders. I just can’t resist the temptation. My apologies to those who have already heard me share this.
There’s a book called It Only Hurts on Mondays. This book was written by Sunday church pastors. The reason it hurts on Mondays is because they work on Sundays, and by Monday they are depressed because of the difficulties of the work. Now the subtitle of this book is Why Pastors Quit and What You Can Do About It.
“Some people believe there are three kinds of people in the world: men, women, and ministers. The latter, by this definition, are sexless, sinless entities more filled with Spirit than spirits who go through life with blinders that shield them from all the vicissitudes of worldly struggles… It’s unreal-but that’s his job description: unreal.”
I’m going to read you one sentence. Listen carefully!
“There is no other job on earth that expects a man to work every possible waking moment, to comfort the sick and dying, to be the tower of strength for the bereaved and/or the anxious bridegroom, to counsel the maritally afflicted, to pray at a moment’s notice, to be all-wise in the problems of child care and in-family jousting, to administer a [large] budget, to raise money for loan payments without issuing bonds, to run a church program efficiently with an all-volunteer staff that serves when it feels like it, to act as building and grounds maintenance supervisor, to prepare miraculously and preach eloquently, to dress meticulously but not too well, to be a saint in all interpersonal relationship with language that even your grandmother couldn’t question, to love his children and see that they are raised in an exemplary manner, to keep his own marriage and personal habits above question, to be never grossly (or netly, either) in debt, and to set a pattern of living that all can follow in personal faith and spiritual development. In case you have forgotten what I am talking about, the above is the job description in abbreviated form for the twentieth-century Man of God, commonly known as minister.”
Do you understand why pastors get so burnt out so easily? They are expected to do everything. Have you ever experienced burn out while serving in the church?
Have you ever been asked to fill a position in the church for which you didn’t feel qualified, and yet you were pressured into accepting the role anyway? As a result of people being persuaded to serve the church in areas where they are not gifted, many have become disillusioned and refuse to become involved in church activities any longer. That’s why it is so critical to have a gift-based ministry operating in the local church.
Everybody is placed in a ministry where they are using their gifts.
If I were visiting a sick person with some of my church members, at the end of the visit who would be expected to pray. The pastor, of course. Let’s say that one of the members had the gift of healing. Who do you think should pray? The person with the gift of healing.
Natural Church Development – by Christian A. Schwarz p. 24
“When Christians serve in their area of giftedness, they generally function less in their own strength and more in the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus ordinary people can accomplish the extraordinary.”
A person with the gift of healing will be able to heal more people with their prayers than the pastor who does not have the gift.
“When Christians serve in their area of giftedness, they generally function less in their own strength and more in the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus ordinary people can accomplish the extraordinary.”
The reason so many pastors get burned out is because they are doing everything in their own strength instead of letting others use their gifts in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The next time someone is sick, what should I do? Do I have to go visit the sick person? What if I called the person with the gift of healing, and said, “Joe, can you go visit so and so.” The pastor does not have the time to visit every sick person. If you want to kill your pastor just have him visit every sick person?
What if we all came together and worked together in the power of the Holy Spirit?
Right now, we have a handful of leaders who are doing everything. And that’s fine if we are not planning to grow. But we want to grow right! Amen! Is it God’s will that we grow? Is it God’s will that everybody exercises their spiritual gifts? Amen!
Some of you may remember hearing me tell you about my wife Liana during the first sermon I preached here at this church. My wife grew up without any happy childhood memories. She never smiled. She had no reason too. But when she met Jesus, her life was changed. And God gave her spiritual gifts.
Let me tell you about an experience she recently had where I believe God was using her through her gifts.
A month ago when Liana was coming back from Korea, she stopped over in Japan for 5 hours where she had to transfer flights. An hour before her next flight to the U.S. she decided to use the restroom. As Liana came out of a stall and headed for the sink, there was a Korean grandma who was already washing her hands. This grandma kept looking at Liana as she made her way to the sink. So Liana was thinking, “this is strange.” As Liana washed her hands, the grandma turned and asked her, “Are you Korean?” Liana said, “Yes.” She said, “Oh, jal-deh-suh, jal-deh-suh. This is great.” And then she said, “could you help us out.” you know, my husband and I are going to America, but we don’t know English. Could you help us fill out the forms on the plane?” So Liana with a nice smile said, “Sure, I can help you.” Well, they walked out of the bathroom and then the grandma took Liana over to her husband. And she said, Oh yuh-bo, yub-bo, I found some one. I found some one to help us. After my wife and the man exchanged greetings, the grandma said, “God answered our prayers! God answered our prayers!” This grandma likes to repeat everything. Liana said to them, “Do you believe in God?” The lady quickly responds by asking, “Do you believe in God?” So Liana said, “Yes, I believe in God.” What do you think the next question would be? She asked, “What church do you go to?” For a moment Liana wondered about how she should answer this question because in Korea, people think the Adventist church is a cult. Anyways, Liana said, “I am a Seventh-day Adventist.” All of a sudden, things got a little tense. And the couple didn’t know what to say. So my wife in a pleasant way said, “in Korea, they consider the Adventist church to be a cult, don’t they.” Well, that helped to ease the tension. The grandma still didn’t know what to say. The grandpa said, “we go to the Myung Sung church. It is a Presbyterian church. My wife is a kwon-sah-nim there.” A kwon-sah-nim is like a female elder. So Liana said, “oh kwon-sah-nim.” The conversation then went to other things about their children, “my son works at Microsoft… etc.” To make a long story short, my wife helped them during the flight and helped them through customs. They asked for Liana’s phone number and said, “I have a daughter that is about your age. I think it would be great if you guys became friends.” A few days later, the phone rings. I answer it. It’s somebody I don’t know. It’s for Liana. It’s the daughter of the grandma and grandpa that Liana helped. They want to invite us over for dinner.
I believe that Liana has a spiritual gift that allows her to make people feel comfortable. It’s a gift that I don’t have. Where do you think Liana could best use her gift? Should we have her in charge of the programming? What about outreach? Should we start a choir and have her be the choir director? What if we put her on the greeting team? What if we had a team of people that focused on welcoming the visitors and made them feel special and at home? We don’t want to put anybody on the greeting team? If we put the wrong person on the greeting team, some visitors may never want to come back. By the way, do you know when visitors feel the most uncomfortable? They feel most uncomfortable when they first enter the church, and right after the worship service is over. But if they met Liana and others who had the same gift, do you think people would want to come back? Do you get the picture?
When I do visitations do you know who I take with me? I take Liana. Do you think people would be more blessed just seeing me, or seeing Liana with me?
1 Peter 4:10 As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
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.
Is it your desire to discover your spiritual gift? Is it your desire to use your spiritual gift in service for our Master? If that is your desire, please stand and join me as we sing our closing hymn.
Closing Hymn: 567 Have Thine Own Way, Lord
