Spiritual Gifts 101 #1

Spiritual Gifts #1

During our Sunday gathering (Church) one of our leaders, Grenville preached on the gifts of the Spirit. The sermon was followed by an opportunity for people to respond - and people did respond. It was encouraging to see people wanting to encourage one another! There seemed to be a recognition that we all ought to use our gifts for the common good more than we do.

However, this is fairly new territory for us, and there is a great deal of confusion surrounding spiritual gifts - hence, I decided to do a series of blogs on the subject to help bring clarity. There are two important elements to consider ...

1) The main thrust, emphasis and teaching of the Bible on the subject

2) How the local church handles and manages those things practically.

For example, the Bible teaches that prophecy must be weighed and tested - but it does not tell us how. There for, that we must weigh and test prophecy is clear, but we as a local church must work out 'how' to do that. It is for leadership to decide under God what the 'house rule' (The way we do things) are to be. We will get to (2) above in a future blog.

What are Spiritual Gifts?

Spiritual gifts are given specifically by the Holy Spirit to a Christian so that the Christian can more effectively serve the church by building up believers. However, it is important from the outset to bring into focus natural gifts. Natural gifts are gifts we have naturally - that is, gifts we had before we were Christians. God wants us to use those gifts to build up the church too.

Spiritual vs Natural gifts

The term 'spiritual' has an air of superiority about it compared with 'natural'. People often think spiritual gifts are superior to natural gifts. However, that is not true. In fact, there is clear overlap. Consider the gifts listed in the following verse ...

Romans 12

7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Are those gifts spiritual or natural? The answer is, they could be either. There are many unbelievers who are naturally servant-hearted. I have an aunt who is not a Christian, but she loves to have people in her home, she will spend a whole day cooking in prep. Then she loves to treat people really well. She is naturally gifted with a servant heart and hospitality. The same is true for all the other gifts. eg, you may remember particularly gifted school teachers. They may have been gifted teachers or leaders and encouragers.

If those people become Christians, they can then use those gifts in God's strength, empowered by the Spirit for God's purposes. Like King David who transferred His skills as a shepherd protecting his flock from lions and bears to slaying Goliath for God!

On the other hand, they can all be spiritual gifts. An unbeliever may not be a natural leader, but then after conversion, he finds a passion, fire and desire to see a church make progress, as he gives himself to the task he finds he is able to enthuse and lead others. His is a spiritual gift of leadership. The same can be said for all those other gifts.

However, it is important to underline that, when we speak of spiritual gifts and natural gifts, we don't mean 'spiritual' gifts and 'unspiritual' gifts. We simply mean, one is given post-conversion by God's spirit, the other is given naturally from birth, and we naturally begin exercising it as we grow. But notice, the difference and emphasis, is on the giver and the time of giving of the gift. One is of the spirit and is given subsequent to faith, the other is given by God before we come to faith, but in practice, they may be exactly the same. A spiritual gift, is a gift given specifically by the Spirit to a Christian to build up the church. 

Then there are spiritual gifts that are exclusive to Christians. Eg, prophecy, tongues and faith (in Jesus).

But the distinctions between natural, spiritual and exclusively Christian gifts are not important. What is important is that they are all used in the strength of God for the edification of the church.

Objection

If it is true that natural gifts are as important as spiritual gifts, why does Paul exhort us 'eagerly desire the spiritual gifts' (1 Corinthians 14:1). 'Spiritual gifts' are in addition to our natural gifts. We already have all our natural gifts - there is no need to desire or ask for what we already have - but spiritual gifts are gifts we don't naturally have, so we should desire them as they will help us build up the church - in addition to the gifts we already have. 

Some important bullet points ... 

 • All spiritual gifts are given for the edification of the church and its members

 • Edification means, building up, strengthening, encouraging (encourage means ‘to give courage / strength to’), for the good of the church (the common good, 1 Corinthians 12:7) and God’s purposes.

 • The lists of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 1:6-8, Ephesians 4, 1 Peter 4:10,11 are not at all exhaustive, they are examples of the more obvious, spiritual / common gifts. The Lord can give any gift he chooses.

 • The ‘gifts’ are in fact, expressions of God’s grace, given to us, that we might express that grace to others. (1 Peter 4:10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.)

The Corinthian Trap

We read more about spiritual gifts in Paul's first letter to the church at Corinth (1 Corinthians 12-14) than anywhere else. But the reason is because the church at Corinth was abusing the gifts. Paul writes to instruct and correct, their abuse. The church in Corinth was mad on tongues. To them, it seems to have been a badge of honour they used to show off how spiritual they are.

To correct this abuse Paul tells them that, in fact, tongues are the least of the gifts. This was a direct punch on the nose of their boasting. So they are not so spiritual after all! Paul tells them that the person who prophesies is greater because prophecy builds others up rather than just self. In other words, prophecy is about serving others. It is not a status symbol. 

Another possible motive of Paul's may be that a person with the gift of tongues can speak in tongues at will, but a person cannot authentically prophesy at will. If they would pursue prophecy, the church would be built up and there would not be such an over-use of the gift. It is sad then, that some people pursue prophecy because they want to be great! Their real motive is not to prophesy to build up the church, but to prophecy to build up their own status for their own pleasure! They want to be someone important. This is a wrong motive. 

James 4 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

The result of such a motive will be a 'no' from God at best, worse, inauthentic and carnal prophesying, at worst - outright false prophesying.

The important thing to learn from all this is to be humble. Be a genuine servant. Always seek the good of others. If you are already a servant and so humbly serving others, to build them up, and praying about how you can serve more effectively to do even more people, even more good, then ask God to give gifts to help you help others - He is likely to say ‘yes'.

The most important thing

So remember, God has already given you gifts, natural ones - use them. You don't need to worry about what they are or if you can name them - that is not important. What is important is to give yourself fully as a servant, serving to build others up in love. 

As a servant, wouldn't you love to be able to serve your brothers and sisters even more effectively? Then ask God for the necessary gifts to do so. But watch out for that wretched pride, remember, gifts are not given by God to catapult us to celebrity status. Crush that desire under foot. Ask God to help you repent if that motive keeps creeping into your praying. It may help to repent if you keep telling yourself, "That motive, of pride, is destroying my chances of serving God more effectively". 

So in conclusion, first be a servant, then ask God to help you serve by giving you the  necessary gifts required for the common good of the church.