The Gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4-31)

Big Idea: God has given every believer spiritual gifts to serve the body of Christ, allowing us to fulfill his ministry by using these gifts for the good of others.

Years ago, on a rainy morning, I walked to school and was fascinated by everything related to rain—worms, puddles, and more. Like other kids, I would not walk around puddles, but most of the time directly through them.

I remember reading that jumping over a puddle requires great coordination, which is why I vividly recall a moment from when I was about eight. I spotted a puddle about a foot wide, and as I approached, my legs instinctively jumped me over it. I landed exactly where I intended, and the whole thing happened almost without conscious thought. The leap required strong legs as well as good perception, balance, and muscle control, allowing me to walk normally afterward.

It may seem simple, but it clearly shows how all parts of the body depend on each other. My eyes spotted the target, my legs lifted me, my inner ear helped me balance, my arms steadied me, and my feet made the vital landing that propelled me forward.

Now, imagine for a moment that my eyes, legs, ears, arms, and feet all had personalities of their own. As I started to jump, my eyes said, "Land over there!" and my legs responded, "Mind your own business, I'll land wherever I want." Then my feet jump in and say, "Watch out! I'm about to get wet!" and then my ears respond: "Stop all the yelling! I won't get wet up here."

I would get all wet, lose my balance, possibly hurt myself, and especially hurt my ego. I probably couldn't walk or do practically anything without falling and being clumsy. If the members of my physical body acted independently, I would be in a terrible mess.

Interestingly, the Bible says that the church is one body. The Spirit-filled life, according to the Scriptures, is one of interdependency. Just as body parts depend on each other, we as members of the body of Christ must work together to accomplish God's will.

Two Truths

Let's read the passage in 1 Corinthians 12.

All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:11-13)

We learn two truths about us and spiritual gifts in this passage. Here's the first truth:

Everybody is needed in the body.

As Charles Stanley says, "Everybody is somebody in the body." You are part of a living organism called the body of Christ. You are just one part of a larger organism, like how each part of our body depends on the others. The same is true for the church. You are not independent; you are part of the body of Christ.

Many people feel that they are insignificant members of the body of Christ. They may feel that their gifts are inferior and unimportant. In some churches, some gifts are elevated above others. Preachers are given many strokes; in some churches, those who speak in tongues are put on a pedestal.

Paul addresses this in the next few verses:

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. (1 Corinthians 12:14-20)

There is absolutely no need for you to feel inferior in the body of Christ. You are an absolutely essential part, and without you the body of Christ would be missing something. If something ever stops functioning or encounters problems in your body, you don't wait very long before taking corrective action.

Let's take something small, like a tooth. I can guarantee that you don't wait long before fixing an abscessed tooth. If one lung collapses, you don't say, "Oh, well, I have another lung; everything will be okay." If your finger breaks, you don't just ignore it and get along with the other good fingers. And so it is in the body of Christ.

The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." (1 Corinthians 12:21)

Let's be honest: you are needed in the body of Christ. None of us could ever say, "I don't need you. I'll get along fine without you." The Spirit has given you an absolutely vital role in this church.

Can I tell you what this means? You are a somebody in the body. You bring a unique contribution to the body of Christ that no one else could bring. Bill says something I like. He says, "I'm not the chairman of the board – everyone is the chairman of the board." He's right.

Bill is important in this church and brings a valuable contribution to the church. You are just as important in the church and contribute equally to the body of Christ. "But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose" (1 Corinthians 12:18).

Another thing this means is that we need to make sure there is no division in the body.

But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. (1 Corinthians 12:24-27)

Instead of being divided, we need to show genuine concern for one another. When one Christian suffers, the entire body of Christ feels it. Think about a toothache—that one small tooth commands your whole body's attention. It doesn't matter that everything else functions fine; all you can focus on is that throbbing pain.

The same is true in the church. When one member hurts, we all hurt. We must support each other because when any part of the body fails, the whole body suffers.

That's the first truth: everybody is needed in the body. Now for the second:

All of us have been given a spiritual gift for the benefit of the body.

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. (1 Corinthians 12:7-11)

You have been given a spiritual gift. God has put us together and has ensured that each believer has a significant role in the body of Christ, and that when we work together, we accomplish his purposes.

You know, our spiritual gifts are simply the manifestation of the Spirit. We can't take credit for it. It's not simply a matter of possessing natural abilities or skills. The Spirit enables us to do things far beyond our natural abilities. Whatever gift you have, don't take credit for it! It's the Spirit.

The flip side of that is this: don't ever complain about your gifts. Your gift is significant, because it's the manifestation of the Spirit. Whatever your spiritual gift, it is valuable and no less important than any other spiritual gift.

According to verse 7, your spiritual gifts are for the benefit of the body. They're not for your own good. The primary purpose of your gift is to build up the body of Christ. Your eyes are completely useless apart from their service to the body. Ears can hear, but they are useless if they don't relay information to the body. And so it is with you: your spiritual gift is only of value as you use it for the benefit of the body of Christ.

Your gifts are God's way of administering his grace to others. We become channels through which Christ's ministry flows. In Mother Teresa's book A Gift from God, she wrote,

We all long for heaven where God is, but we have it in our power to be in heaven with him right now. To be happy with him at this very moment. But being happy in his presence means loving as he loves, helping as he helps, giving as he gives, serving as he serves, rescuing as he rescues, and being with him for all the 24 hours. Because we touch him when we touch others.

When a pastor exhorts believers, he channels God's grace to the people. A nursery worker brings that same grace to children and parents. The member who cleans the church exercises the gift of service, extending grace to the entire body. The believer visiting the sick demonstrates mercy, delivering God's grace to someone in need.

The way God works is through you and me. Charles Stanley tells the story of a painter who fell off the roof. As he fell, he cried out, "God, help me!" Just as he prayed this, his overalls caught on a nail, and he found himself hanging just below the gutter. He reached up and pulled himself onto the roof, and said, "Never mind, God, this nail caught me."

Like the painter, we risk missing what God is actually doing. We see things as purely human when they're divine acts. When someone ministers to you through their spiritual gifts, it's not really them—it's the Spirit.

Don't ever make the mistake of thinking it's all the pastor's job. If you look at Ephesians 4:11-12, the pastor's job is not to do the work but to get the people to do the work – to equip you to use your spiritual gifts. Some churches hire one or more pastors and expect them to do all the work. When they aren't proficient in all the spiritual gifts, the church trades the pastor in for a new model. And a few years later finds out that he lacks some gifts, and trades him in, and so on.

God did not intend for pastors to do all the work in the church, as they do not possess all the spiritual gifts. Paul teaches very clearly that pastors are to equip you to do the work of the ministry. One of the greatest joys in a pastor's life is when he realizes that you pay me to get you to work. Now that's a great job.

Another thing we notice is that spiritual gifts are distributed as the Holy Spirit wills.

All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. (1 Corinthians 12:11)

But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. (1 Corinthians 12:18)

You don't get to choose your spiritual gifts. The Holy Spirit gives them to you as he wills.

Let's wrap up by looking at one more passage.

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:10-11)

It's absolutely essential that you begin using whatever spiritual gift you have been given to serve others. I don't know what your spiritual gift is. Maybe you don't know. But you can find out. How? I'll give you a simple answer: just get out there and get busy.

Start working on something that captures your interest, that you feel passionate about. It might take a while, but usually we only discover our gifts as we get busy. It might take a while of trying one thing and another, but what you're doing is looking for something in which you have been gifted and to which you can commit for the long haul.

I know you're busy. In fact, if anyone ever came up to me and told me they weren't busy, I think I would die of a heart attack. Charles Stanley emphasizes that not using your spiritual gifts harms the body of Christ, burdens others, weighs down the community, and disconnects you from the Spirit of God.

But if you make using your spiritual gift a priority, you'll stop cheating the rest of us. You'll bring your unique talents, skills, and gifts to the body of Christ and show God's grace to us.

Let me ask you a concluding question: What are you doing with the gift or the gifts that the Holy Spirit has given you? Are you using them for the benefit of the body, or are you neglecting them? Are you taking them for granted? What will you say when the Master returns and asks how you have used this gift?

God has chosen to work through people. In ministry, he works through us. He chooses to use us.

In World War II, a little French town had a statue of Christ in its town square. And when the bombing came, the bomb hit the statue, and pieces were broken off. They stored the pieces, and after the war began to rebuild the statue of Jesus. It had cracks now, but they appreciated it even more.

To their dismay, the only pieces they couldn't find were the hands of Jesus. And that was tough on them, because the hands had the nail prints, and that was significant to them. They thought they would have to take the statue down until one person slipped a gold plaque at the bottom of the statue that said, "He has no hands but ours."

All of a sudden, the community began to understand something. We are his hands and the extensions of his ministry.

The gospel teaches that Jesus, the head of the body, gave himself for our unity, forgiveness, and empowerment by the Spirit to serve one another. His death and resurrection reconciled us to God and made us part of the church, where every member is essential. Using our gifts to serve reflects his grace and spreads his love, fulfilling the mission of bringing hope, healing, and salvation to everyone. May we embrace this calling with joy, knowing that we are his hands and feet, working together for his glory.

Father, we thank you for this day, and we thank you for giving us all spiritual gifts. Each of our gifts is valuable, and every member is important in this church. And they need to use their spiritual gifts to minister to the body.

And now, Lord, we come and submit ourselves to you. Every man and every woman. We consecrate our gifts to you. Please bless these gifts. We ask your Spirit would take and use them for your glory.

They might appear unimportant. There may be some who tried and have failed. Lord, please grant them encouragement and strength. There may be some with great gifts who have had to learn to submit those gifts to the body so that the body could prosper. Encourage them, Lord.

We surrender and give you and consecrate this day and every gift we have. And as the church body leaves, may there be a sense within us that we are part of the team. Help us to learn that we become greater by becoming servants of others.

Take our gifts, mesh them together as a team at Park Lawn, for your glory. Amen.