In his book, The Great House of God, Max Lucado shares the following story of a husband and wife who went snow-skiing together in Colorado.
“As they were waiting in the line to board the ski lift the wife realized that she was in need of a restroom—in fact, she was in DIRE need of a restroom. Not wanting to lose their place in the long line—her husband advised her to wait. He told her that surely there would be a facility at the top of the mountain which she could use. So she stayed in line and endured the bouncy ride to the top only to find that her husband had been mistaken. There were no bathrooms at the top of the mountain—only snow and trees! At this point she began to panic because she just couldn’t wait any longer. But then her husband had some more advice to give his wife. Why not use the woods? He pointed out that since she was wearing an all-white outfit, she would blend in with the snow—and after all—what better powder room than a fragrant piney grove? Well she had no choice at this point so she skied past the tree line and arranged her ski suit at half-mast. Fortunately, no one could see her. Unfortunately, her husband HADN’T advised her to remove her skis first. So—before she had a chance to grab a tree or something she found herself streaking backwards across the slope, revealing more about herself than she ever intended. With arms flailing and skis sailing, she sped down the mountain under the very lift she’d just ridden where she collided with one of the support poles. As she hurriedly attempted to cover the essentials, she discovered that her arm was broken. Fortunately, her husband raced to her rescue. He summoned the ski patrol who transported her to the hospital. While being treated in the emergency room, a man with a broken leg was carried in and placed next to her. By now she’d regained her composure enough to engage him in conversation. So she asked him how he had broken his leg. ‘It was the most amazing thing you ever saw,’ he said. ‘I was riding up the ski lift and suddenly I couldn’t believe my eyes. There was this crazy woman skiing backwards, at top speed. I leaned over to get a better look and I guess I didn’t realize how far I’d moved. I fell out of the lift.’ Then he turned to her and asked, ‘So how did you break your arm?’
Now—I don’t know if this husband and wife ever went skiing together again. In fact, I don’t know if they remained husband and wife—but I imagine that from this point on in their relationship she was much more wary of any advice he gave. To put it another way, after this disastrous skiing incident I bet she suspected his advice to be more “nonsense” than “sense.” And we’ve all been in similar situations. A friend or spouse shared wisdom that seemed to make sense at the time but in retrospect was nonsense. I bring this up because in the next portion of our study of Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth we learn that something similar was happening there. Leaders in that local body of Christ were teaching a great deal of “nonsense” on the subject of spiritual gifts. But their teaching contained just enough “sense” to make it appear authoritative which led many of the church members to buy into it. Here’s an example of the flawed teaching that was going on.
- Some leaders were saying that true gifts of the spirit that were always sensational or miraculous.
- They also taught that when a Christian was under the influence of the Holy Spirit he or she was out of control.
- They were spreading the nonsense that spiritual gifts were only bestowed on the favored few—the “mature” Christians who were closest to God.
- In fact, they taught that spiritual gifts carry with them authority and a guarantee of spiritual maturity.
Well, because of all this nonsense the local body of Christ in Corinth was in turmoil. I guess you could say it was going downhill backwards at a great rate of speed! In any case this is another problem issue that some members of the church had written to Paul about—asking for his guidance and in the next few chapters he gives it. Let me put it this way. In his response Paul gave the Biblical wisdom necessary to help them—and us—distinguish sense from nonsense when it comes to spiritual gifts. Take your Bibles and turn there with me—chapter 12 verse 4—and let’s see what he said.
4 – There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.
5 – There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.
6 – There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
7 – Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
8 – To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom,to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,
9 – to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,
10 – to another miraculous powers,to another prophecy,to another distinguishing between spirits,to another speaking in different kinds of tongues—and to still another the interpretation of tongues.
11 – All these are the work of one and the same Spirit,and He distributes them to each one, just as He determines.
Now—at the onset of our study to really understand what Paul is saying here we need to realize that there is a difference between the “GIFT” of the Holy Spirit—and the “GIFTS” of the Holy Spirit. The GIFT —singular— is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit whereby He comes to take up residence in the believer’s heart the moment that person accepts Christ as Savior. This GIFT is that which was promised by Jesus in John 14 when He said, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, Whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-18) Always loving and mindful of our needs, our Lord gave us the gift of His presence, His Holy Spirit living in us and we receive this gift when we become Christians—not later. This is what Jesus was talking about when He said, “I will be with you always even to the end of the world.” (Matthew 28) In Acts 2:38 Peter speaks of this as he addresses people who want to become Christians. He says, “Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” In Romans 8:9 Paul pointedly states, “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” The point I’m making here is that once you become a Christian, you never need MORE of that gift. We never need more of the Holy Spirit.
Now, all Christians struggle to give Christ control over more areas of their lives—to truly make Him LORD of all our thoughts, deeds, and actions—but it is not in line with Scripture to say that any Christian needs a “2nd blessing” sometimes called “receiving the Holy Spirit”—because when a person becomes a Christian he or she receives the GIFT of the Holy Spirit. W. A. Criswell once addressed this issue and said the Holy Spirit, “…is already a universal gift of God to all believers. We need not seek it, pray for it, try to achieve it, or receive it. We already have it. [We must] take possession of our possession and act upon the promises of God.” So, THE GIFT of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling an individual is something all Christians have the moment they repent of their sin and commit themselves to Christ. But the GIFTS —plural— of the Holy Spirit are something else. Here’s my favorite definition of spiritual gifts: They are, “skills or abilities that enable each Christian to perform a function in the body of Christ with ease and effectiveness.” They are not talents—everyone has those. Spiritual gifts are given to Christians to use in the church.
Okay, now that we have that out of the way, let’s proceed and look at five basic truths about spiritual gifts that Paul shares with us in our text—truths that help us distinguish between sense and nonsense when it comes to this issue.
(1) First, when it comes to spiritual gifts—we don’t DESERVE them.
In verse 4, Paul calls these gifts of the Spirit “the charismata” which means “grace gifts.” That is exactly what they are—GIFTS—and of course you don’t earn or somehow deserve a GIFT. Otherwise it would not be a gift. It would be more like a paycheck. Spiritual gifts aren’t that. They aren’t given by the church nor are they bestowed upon graduation from seminary or Bible college. They cannot be purchased. No–they are grace GIFTS from God. Dr. Jack MacGorman says: “Charismatic gifts (and all spiritual gifts are charismatic) are handed down by the Spirit of God…they are not worked up by men.”
(2) Second—we don’t SELECT THEM.
Verse 11 says that God’s Spirit distributes these gifts “to every man AS HE WILLS.”
Ralph Neighbor tells about visiting in a church member’s home one day. The mother left him alone for a few minutes with her four-year-old son, Jonathan. Wondering if Jonathan knew the O.T. history of his name, Dr. Neighbor asked: “Son, do you know WHY you were named ‘Jonathan’?” Well little Jonathan gave Dr. Neighbor that “I-think-all-adults-are-stupid” look and marched out of the room with the comment, “Sure, I was borned that way.” Well, spiritual gifts are given in the same way that Jonathan’s name was given. His parents—perhaps before He was born—decided what he would be called. He was not given the right to approach them at age 16 and say, “Folks, I’d like to be named ‘Jeremiah.’” No—his parents used their parental rights to choose his name. In the same way, it is God who bestows spiritual gifts upon you and me. His children “AS HE WILLS—as HE CHOOSES.”
This means that when it comes to Spiritual gifts envy and boasting and feelings of superiority, etc. are so out of place in all churches. We have nothing to boast about. All that we have is GIVEN us by our gracious Lord. We didn’t receive our spiritual gifts as REWARDS for our deeds. They are not MERIT badges. They are not indications of spiritual excellence or superiority. They simply are given out to us “AS THE SPIRIT WILLS”
So when I see LINDA ROWE using her gifts of service behind the scenes to organize the decorating of the church for Christmas or to prepare the communion table—when I see CHERYL BURBA and her team serving us a hot meal on Wednesday nights…or JAY MEGARY doing the same with the youth at FUEL—when I listen to a sermon CD and hear ROGER PRICE demonstrating his amazing gift of spiritual wisdom by teaching what God’s Word says about Biblical Hope—when I see JIM MITCHAM leading a KAIROS weekend in the prison showing his gift of mercy and encouragement—when I see DAVID AND CONNY HOUSER using her spiritual gift of hospitality by leading our ministry at the soup kitchen in Gaithersburg—when I hear MIKE SMITH talking of the joy he experiences when he uses his gifts of teaching and evangelism to lead an ESL class—when I read about all our GRACE IN-STORE team members using the spiritual gift of helps to serve the under-resourced in our community—Well—when I see all these things—what I am actually witnessing is the work of the Spirit of God.
So you see there really is no room for pride in the body of Christ—for when we see people using their gifts effectively—as these and so many other faithful people do around here—what we are really seeing is God at work in and through us—and rather than envy or pride we should be led to praise and thanksgiving. You know, most Christians either don’t think highly ENOUGH of themselves to have confidence in carrying out the ministry God gives them to do—or they think TOO highly of themselves, forgetting that the Spirit of God is the source of their gifts—not themselves. Properly viewed, spiritual gifts fix both of these problems because they elevate our confidence level AND keep us humble at the same time. By the way—since all spiritual gifts are from God—-we never have a right to look down on someone who does not have a particular gift.
For example, the Bible tells us that John the Baptist did no miracle throughout the course of his ministry. Yet he was a mighty prophet of God and Matthew 11 records that Jesus said of him, “there is no man born of woman who is greater than he.” Some immature Christians both in Corinth and even today spread the nonsense that if we cannot do miracles it is a sign of weakness in faith and of little spiritual power. But John did no miracles—or at least no miracles as we define them—because whenever God works through someone—even if it’s to empower that person to help others in a tangible way—or to teach the Bible—that my friends is INDEED a miracle.
(3) Here’s a third thing about spiritual gifts. There are lots of DIFFERENT kinds.
You see, just because one SPIRIT is doing the giving doesn’t mean that He has only one gift to give. No, God’s resources are limitless and His creativity infinite so there are several different kinds of spiritual gifts. In this 12th chapter of 1st Corinthians, 13 different spiritual gifts are listed. In Romans 12, seven gifts are mentioned. There are other lists of spiritual gifts found in the Bible, and other individual gifts are mentioned in various texts scattered throughout God’s Word—like the gift of celibacy in 1st Corinthians 7:7 and the gift of craftsmanship in the book of Exodus—which was used in building the Tabernacle.
Other gifts include: faith, wisdom, knowledge, ministry, miracles, healing, tongues, administration, exhortation, and much more. And—since there are several lists, and since they are all different—well then, I think they are intended to be only illustrative of the KINDS of gifts God bestows. The point Paul was making is that God gives whatever “gift” is needed in each unique situation so that the body—the local church—can fulfill its unique ministry. For example, I think that God might give some of you here at Redland the spiritual gift of “welcoming new military transfers to Montgomery County—”—or the ability to lead an outreach Bible Study discussion in your car pool—or the insights to reach out to busy young moms through something like RUMPUS—-because those are the kinds of gifts that we need to be able to tell the people in our area about Jesus.
(4) And then, a FOURTH thing we must understand about Spiritual Gifts is this: every Christian has AT LEAST one.
So, to borrow from Oprah, “You get a gift and you get a gift and you get a gift…”
This fact is repeatedly stated in our text from 1st Corinthians 12. For example:
- In verse 7 Paul said that spiritual gifts are given “to each one!”
- In verse 11 he writes, “the same Spirit distributes to EACH ONE individually.”
- In verse 18 he says it again, “God has placed the members, EACH ONE of them in the body.”
Do you see the implication here? It would be NONSENSE for a believer to say, “I can’t serve God because I don’t have any capacity or ability to serve Him.” You may not have discovered your spiritual gift but it is there waiting to be used. As authentic followers of Christ we have all been gifted with a “grace” gift of the Holy Spirit.
And each and every one of these gifts is vitally important. You know I don’t want to brag or be prideful—but I have a very special ability. Some of you know this but visitors and new members probably don’t because I tend to keep it to myself but have a special power—I can wiggle my ears—both of them—independently! See! First both—then my right ear—and now my left. Don’t be overly impressed because ALL OF US have the ability to move our ears because all humans have very important muscles behind their ears. Some of us can do this voluntarily, like me, but the rest of us still have ears that move; they just do so involuntarily—perhaps while you sleep. Now—you might wonder why God put those muscles there. Here’s why: moving the muscles of the ear—either voluntarily or involuntarily—is the only way old blood could be removed from the ear and fresh blood inserted into the cartilage area. If the muscles would be removed your ears would turn black and fall off. So God was up to something when He put muscles in your ears. And when the Holy Spirit gave you spiritual gifts He was up to something too. Each member of the Body of Christ has at least one gift that is ESSENTIAL to the well-being and effectiveness of the entire church. While we are not the same, each of us is important to the whole. I mean, the church has a lot of “ear muscles” that are just as taken for granted as the real thing. We must be careful lest we forget how important they really are to the church If you are not here, exercising the spiritual gift God gave you, then we’ll have ears and other body parts turning black and dropping off all over the place! So—each of us is important. The church is the place where each of us is needed—and each of us brings needs. Now—like any talent or ability, spiritual gifts need to be developed if they are to be of any value. In 1st Timothy 4:14 Paul addressed this issue when he wrote to young Timothy and said, “Do not neglect your gift.” Then at the beginning of his next letter to him, he writes, “Fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you!” Paul knew that having a spiritual gift does not mean we automatically use it well.
- The more you use your gift of teaching—the better teacher you will be.
- The more you use your gifts of helps or mercy they better you will be at helping the needy.
- The more you use your gift of evangelism—the better you will be at leading people to faith in Jesus.
In order for our spiritual gifts to be effective—we need to use them—so find yours and develop it! Fan it into flame! How many of you have ever given a GIFT CARD to a friend or family member? Well, you’re not alone because nearly forty percent of shoppers do that. They’re easy to wrap—you can send them in the mail with no extra postage—plus the receiver can pick out his or her own gift—-which means you don’t have to walk endless aisles of endless malls looking for the perfect gift.
Sadly, according to estimates, the typical American home has an average of $300 in unused or “unredeemed” gift cards just laying around. These cards are often misplaced, accidentally thrown out, or only partially redeemed. Between 2005 and 2011, $41 billion in gift cards went unused. Pawn Stores now have a market in buying and selling these unused cards. Now—if that astounds you—think of all the SPIRITUAL gifts that go unredeemed? Think of the churches who don’t do things they could because Christians don’t exercise their gifts! And we know this happens—not only because nominating committees struggle to fill all the jobs that need doing—but also because stats show that many Christians don’t even know what their spiritual gifts are. According to a nationwide survey by the Barna Research Group, although 88% of born-again Christians have heard of spiritual gifts, only 39% can identify which gift they possess. And an even smaller portion are actively seeking to minister in ways that capitalize on their particular gifted-ness.
So—how do you discover your spiritual gifts? Well, a number of ways. You can take a spiritual gifts test—I’d be glad to supply one. You can ask your spouse or another family member. They know us well—they can usually spot spiritual gifts in us. Or—you can just try things out that you have a passion for. Try teaching—go on a mission trip—serve on the Soup Kitchen team. Just try it out or as we put it a few years back—just jump in.
(5) This leads me to emphasize one last thing. Your spiritual gifts were not given TO you for YOU.
Verse 7 says, “They are given to every man for the good of all.” And in 1st Peter 4:10 we read, “Whatever gift each of you may have received, use it in service to one another, like good stewards dispensing the grace of God.” Our gifts are not our property to use as we please. They are a trust committed to us by God to use for others and for His glory as He directs. And, as I have said, the place they are meant to be used is in a local church. Our gifts are designed to be pooled with the spiritual gifts of other Christians. When Christians do that—amazing things happen. As Kevin will point out next week, when a church is full of Christians pooling their spiritual gifts—that church becomes a powerful body for Christ to use. Tim Peck puts it this way, “The spiritual health of any church is determined not by how powerful the worship service is, how effective the speaker is or how great the facility is. The spiritual health of any church is determined by how many individual members are using their spiritual gifts in ministry.” The reverse is also true—a church where Christians aren’t involved—aren’t using their spiritual gifts—is a weak church.
This is why every week I invite Christians to make it official and join our church—to publicly commit to using their spiritual gifts here at Redland. That’s the way gifts are supposed to work. To the extent that you pursue the discovery and use of your gifts in a local church you will be a blessing. To the extent that you don’t you rob the body of Christ. Referring to this Claude Alexander writes: “[In the local church] there are gaps to be filled, and the challenge is for you to fill them. There is a purpose for your being here. You are meant to answer something, solve something, provide something, lead something, discover something, compose something, write something, say something, translate something—interpret something, sing something, create something, teach something, preach something, bear something, overcome something—and in doing so, you improve the lives of others under the power of God, for the glory of God.”
This week I read about a team of Lego lovers who built the largest Lego Model ever—a life-sized model of an X-wing fighter right out of Star Wars. It was unveiled in New York City in 2013. It has a wingspan of 44 feet and comes complete with R2-D2 and a full range of sound effects. It was made with 5,335,200 Lego bricks. The X-Wing was built at the Lego Model Shop at the company’s facility in Kladno, Czech Republic. It took 32 “master builders” and 17,336 man-hours to construct the X-Wing. Plans for the model were created using Lego’s proprietary 3-D design software—and the construction team had to work with a team of structural engineers to ensure that the model was safe. Once completed, the model—which weighs 45,980 pounds—was eventually shipped to Legoland California.
As cool as this is—and it is COOL—this huge TOY assembled by a team of very talented people—well, it is NOTHING compared to what a local church filled with members working together by using their spiritual gifts can do. Now—just to give you an idea of what we’re talking about let’s look back at THIS church’s 50 years. This graphic was designed by our own Whitney Swain and we’ll use at our anniversary celebration in THREE weeks—but you get to glimpse it early because it gives us a picture of all that the body of Christ here at Redland has been able to do over the years—as members of this church pooled their spiritual gifts. Thanks to Christians who have obeyed the Great Commission—many of whom used their spiritual gift of evangelism, we’ve celebrated at least 1500 professions of faith. We’ve held 95 Vacation Bible Schools—50 on this campus and the rest all over the world. THOUSANDS of children have heard about Jesus through those schools—thanks to Christians who used their gifts of teaching and wisdom. We have sent 40 adult mission trip teams to seven countries—leading some of those Bible Schools, building homes for the poor, rebuilding after hurricanes, ministering to orphans—and leading sports clinics. These trips would not have happened if it weren’t for believers who pooled their spiritual gifts of craftsmanship and mercy and helps and encouragement. Year after year Redlanders have used their spiritual gifts of mercy to feed the hungry in our area at the St. Martin’s Soup Kitchen and the Manna Food bank. Hundreds of Redlanders have used their spiritual gift of teaching to rightly divide God’s Word of Truth for thousands upon thousands who have attended Sunday School—or our Tuesday Ladies’ Bible Studies—that are now in their 20th year. Thanks to the faithfulness of believers, we’ve sent nearly two million dollars to make it possible for missionaries to go all over the world. Because members used their gifts of hospitality we’ve provided a home for many of those missionaries during their furloughs. Thanks to members with the gift of faith and giving we’ve built a multi-million-dollar facility and started 12 new churches. With the help of members who have the spiritual gift of teaching and helps our ESL classes have shared God’s love with people all over the world. I could go on and on—and we are just one church! There are 300,000 churches in the US alone!
The point I am making is that a group of Christians—pooling their spiritual gifts in the way they were meant to be pooled—can do amazing things—MIRACULOUS things—things individual believers could never hope to do.
This morning you may be a Christian who feels that God is telling you that you belong in this family—that your spiritual gifts are needed here. If that is true, I urge you to join this church—come be a part of this body of Christ whose members are pooling their spiritual gifts to do the Lord’s work. Or maybe you are here and all our talk about the Giver of these spiritual gifts has helped you to recognize your need to become a Christian. You want the GIFT of the Holy Spirit—you see your need for God’s presence in your life. If that is true then I encourage you to bow your head and pray asking God to forgive you of your sin as you commit to give Him your life. Whatever decision you make I invite you to make it public by walking forward as we sing and sharing that decision with me or Kevin.