What Do I Get Out Of It???

Please open your Bibles to Romans 12:3-8 which we will read in a few minutes.

Why on earth would anyone want to join a church? You don’t need to officially join a church to be saved and joining a church doesn’t save you. So, what’s the big deal?

With that in mind let’s go ahead and read: Romans 12:3-8

The God we serve, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Holy Trinity is the ultimate example of unity in community. The three persons of the Holy Trinity are always in agreement, always in full unity and cooperation.

The church is an extension of that unity, being identified as the body of Christ.

We live in a consumeristic culture. What’s in it for me? How will I benefit?

That same consumeristic culture has crept into the church and has become such a trend that people are constantly moving from one church to another looking to be “fed” or to have their “needs met.”

The question of “where would you have me Lord?” has been replaced with “what’s in it for me?”

Just look at the list of gifts of the Spirit in the Scripture we just read.

Prophecy (preaching)

Serving

Teaching

Encouragement

Generosity

Leadership

Mercy

You see, many Christians have an upside-down view of what they call “church”. They go to church to hear good preaching or to be served or to hear an excellent teacher or to be encouraged or to get something or to follow a great leader or to be shown mercy.

Acts 20:35

“In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus Himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Now, that’s a popular verse that we preachers like to use at offering time, and, even at offering time it is true.

But look at the entirety of this verse. Was the apostle Paul talking about taking an offering here? No, he was talking about giving of himself in hard work to help the weak.

When we attend a church, whether we join or not, if we go only to receive we are cheating ourselves of the blessings of God as surely as if we were to go to our job and sit idly by and expecting a pay check. That wouldn’t last long and you’d be out on the street.

We go to church to give and not to receive. If we are actually born again Christians with any maturity at all we realize that the Lord has given us at least one spiritual gift. That spiritual gift is not for our own use and enjoyment, it has been given to us for the health of the body of Christ, the church, and, in order to honor and glorify the Lord our God!

God doesn’t give us gifts to keep to ourselves.

Recently Anita gave me a gift of Recese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

Recese’s PBC’s are a gift that is intended to be kept for yourself.

On the other hand, the gifts of the Spirit are for us to receive but not for us to keep.

The gifts of the Spirit are gifts that are to be shared with the body of Christ, the church, for the benefit of the body of Christ, the church.

They are given to be used in the church for His glory and His kingdom!

Let’s look at that list of gifts again and line them up with the fruit of the Spirit

Prophecy (preaching) Love, Joy

Serving Peace, Patience

Teaching Kindness

Encouragement Goodness

Generosity Faithfulness

Leadership Gentleness

Mercy Self Control

Now, just imagine a church filled with people who have the fruit of the Spirit and who also have received the gift or gifts of the Holy Spirit and use them diligently for others and for the Kingdom of God. Can you even imagine the impact that could be had for the Lord?

That is why we go to church, to use what the Lord has given us for His honor and glory.

If a person has the gift of preaching or teaching and they refuse to use that gift in the body of Christ, the church, it is a grievous sin.

If a person has the gift of serving and only serves himself it is a sin.

The same goes with encouragement, generosity, leadership and mercy.

Intentional failure to use a gift of the Spirit is sin.

Let me repeat, if a person has a spiritual gift from God that is intended to be used for the benefit of the body of Christ, the church, and fails to use it, it is a sin and there are always spiritual repercussions from sin.

I believe that I see in the Bible and in observation of humanity the following principle; refusal to use a spiritual gift for the purpose for which it was intended will result in a withering of the fruit of the Spirit in that person.