We got a new stove last weekend. It’s great. The levelling feet on this one actually work. Our old one was so old that you had to try and level it with shims under the feet. But we never got it quite right, so all Marilyn’s cakes were thicker at one side than the other, and omelettes turned out lopsided because the eggs all ran to one side.
When I opened up the installation instructions the first thing they had was a list of tools, including pictures, which is just as well since I wouldn’t have recognised a ½ inch flare union if I had found one in my breakfast cereal. (It’s a gas stove.) So I had to go down the end of the street to the hardware store, to buy a union and a pipe wrench so I could connect the stove to the gas line. I told the store owner that if he heard a big bang he would know that I had done something wrong.
It wasn’t a big job, and it didn’t take very long. Or at least it wouldn’t have taken very long if I hadn’t had to make two trips to the hardware store because I didn’t get the right thing the first time. And yet, if we were going to have dinner that night, I had to have a pipe wrench, a crescent wrench, and various screwdrivers to do the job.
Before Jesus ascended to heaven, he left the church (that’s us) a job to do. Unlike installing our stove it is a big job and it has already taken quite a long time. Matt 28:16-20 says:
16 Then the eleven disciples went to
The job Jesus has given us is to go and make disciples of all nations and each one of us has a part to play in that.
Last week we talked about being transformed by the renewing of our minds. That’s a good thing, but it isn’t an end in itself. God isn’t transforming us just for our own benefit. Each one of us has a part to play in his plan, and he is equipping us to do that. God’s church is a community of people with a purpose. We don’t exist for ourselves. We’re not like a club that exists for the benefit of its members. We exist to serve God and serve his world, to make disciples of all nations. And each one of us in our own way, no matter what our background or history, can be useful to God, to his people and to his world.
This is the second message in a series called “Unpacking Spiritual Gifts.” Last week we laid some groundwork about how we need to be open to God through his Word and Spirit to transform us, so that he can use us in his service. This week we begin looking at the gifts he gives to his church for service; if you like, the tools that he has at his disposal to get the job done.
Depending on how you define the gifts listed in the New Testament there are somewhere between 15 and 24 listed. None of the lists are exhaustive, they don’t list all the gifts, they’re meant more as examples of the kinds of things God can do in and through our lives.
There are also a number of ways of dividing up the gifts into different categories; for instance some people divide them down the middle into speaking gifts and service gifts, based on 1 Peter 4. We’ll be looking at the gifts mainly by studying passages from three of Paul’s letters, Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12 and 14, and Ephesians 4, and that makes it relatively easy to divide the gifts under three headings; motivational gifts, manifestation gifts and leadership gifts.
This morning we’ll be talking about what I’m going to call “motivational gifts.” They’re called that because they have a lot to do with who you are as a person, what moves you or motivates you. If you’ve ever taken one of those gift inventory questionnaires that churches sometimes use then these are the kinds of gifts that those are good at recognising. If you’ve ever taken a personality profile, like Myers-Briggs or Keirsey, at work or through a career class at school, then that’s a secular tool for measuring the same reality that Paul talks about in terms of gifts. What we’re talking about here is something that is a part of who you are, even before you came to faith. They are part of the shape of your God-given personality.
Because these gifts are part of your
created personality it’s important that you know yourself, and that’s where
Paul begins. 3 Because of the privilege and authority God has given me,
I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really
are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the
faith God has given. (there is no
“you” or “us”)
“Don’t think you are better than you really are.” I don’t think that
somebody had told Paul that the people in
Applying for a job is
the worst. Scripture tells me not to think of myself as better than I really
am, but the marketplace tells me to write my résumé in such a way that I really
sell myself. So, sweeping the floors at a factory can become “management of
waste disposal from engineering processes,” and being a gopher in a small
office becomes “Assistant to the Manager.”
But if we’re going to
know ourselves, then we have to be honest
in [our] evaluation of [ourselves.] This is what true humility is. Humility
is not an attitude that says “Oh, I’m really nothing. I’m no use for anything.”
True humility is having “an honest evaluation of yourself” before God.
Paul doesn’t say “don’t
evaluate yourself.” He’s not like some people in the education system who seem
to think that any form of evaluation of children will somehow stunt their
growth. We all measure ourselves, and others, whether we admit it or not. Paul
takes that for granted and says that instead of measuring ourselves against
other people, we need to assess what we are doing with the faith God has given us.
In other words the measure that we use isn’t what people say, or what they expect
of us, but what God has said about us, how he has made us. I have to seek to be
the best “me” I can be, and I can only do that as I put my faith in God and
allow him to shape me and use me. But to get there I also have to have an
honest evaluation of who “I” am, of who God has made me to be.
If we have an honest evaluation of ourselves then we won’t envy someone else’s gift. We won’t complain and regret that some other gift hasn’t been given to us. We’ll be able to accept ourselves as we are, and to use the gifts that we do have. And for most of us that means that we will have to accept the fact that our service for God and for others won’t change the world. Most of us aren’t stars in God’s drama. We’re more like bit players, with some almost unseen part to play. But that doesn’t make it unimportant.
[For much of my adult life I’ve been
involved in one way or another in working with sound equipment. I started off
running sound and lights for a small theatre in
If we’re going to be effective in serving God and others then we need to accept ourselves, and the gifts he has given us. Even if the contribution we make is unseen and unknown, even if people don’t notice or mention what we do, it’s still essential, because, without each of us doing our part, life – especially the life of the church – just won’t be what they were meant to be.
That’s because your contribution and mine, small or large, is part of something much bigger. I started off talking about us as tools in God’s toolbox, but Paul’s favourite picture of the church was a body with many parts.
4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function,
5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body,
and we all belong to each other. 6 In his grace, God has given
us different gifts for doing certain things well.
The word in Greek for “grace” is charis, and the word used here for “gifts” is charismata. It’s where we get the English word “charismatic.” The gifts God gives us are “grace gifts.” They aren’t connected to anything we have done, or will do. They are simply gifts that he graciously chooses to give to each one of us. And, just like the way our bodies work, some members of the body of Christ are better at doing one thing than another.
I know that some people can walk on their hands, but usually feet are better for that. On the other hand, if you want to grab something you might be able to do it with your toes, but hands and fingers are much better at holding things. Eyes see. Ears hear. Noses smell. (Although sometimes our noses run and our feet smell, but that’s another issue.) Each part is good at doing something in particular, because it was made that way. Feet don’t have to work at being feet. They just are… feet!
A grace gift, a charisma, is a personal, individual gift given by God that you didn’t have to work for. We see that principle at work all the time around us. You can achieve a certain level in a sport simply by learning the moves and practising, then someone like Wayne Gretzky comes along and we realise that he’s different. We even say, “he has a gift.” Absolutely! That’s what Paul means by a charisma, a gift of God.
Some people can work in wood or metal with so
much skill that the tools become an extension of themselves. In Exodus 31
there’s a man by the name of Bezalel , who was “filled… with the
Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in… all kinds of
craftsmanship.” Because of his
gift, he was put in charge of the design and construction of the tabernacle in
the desert.
Paul’s point is that
each of us is an individual with a different function in the body of Christ
based on the way that God has gifted us with certain abilities.
Although some people seem to have an over-spiritualised view of gifts that says they can do anything, that’s clearly not what scripture says. To go back to the idea of a tool box, you’re not some kind of spiritual Swiss army knife, with a tool for every possible need. Even less are we like those combination hammer/wrench things that you get from Canadian Tire. I used to think I was saving money when I bought multi-tools (OK, I’m a gadget-aholic. If it’s small and black and has little things that pop out and do stuff I just can’t resist.) But in the end they either broke the first time I used them or they just plain didn’t work. I’ve found that life goes much better when, rather than using a wrench as a hammer or a screwdriver as a prybar, you use the right tool for the right job.
But how do you know what your gift is? Here are some pointers.
1. What excites you? What energises you? Some people love to study and teach. Other people love to spend time with people and share their lives. Others just want to serve and do practical stuff. Others seek out the hurting and comfort them. Others can’t help from talking about Jesus and leading people to faith. What energises you? If something energises you, it’s probably because it harmonises with the way God made you. That’s a good pointer to what your gifts might be.
2. Another pointer is; What do others see in you? God calls us into community, not isolation. One reason is that we need each other to so we can learn who God is, and to be shaped into the persons he intends us to be. That means that we have the responsibility to affirm the gifts we see in the lives of our brothers and sisters.
3. Then, just give it a try. When I was levelling the stove, I took a bunch of sockets that looked like they might be the right size for the adjuster then tried them until I found the right one. We can use the same approach for discovering our gifts, but it means being willing to make mistakes and sometimes fail. And that, in turn, means that as a church we have to allow people to do that. Just because someone tries on a ministry or position for size doesn’t mean they are gifted at it. Part of the discernment process is to give it a try and see if it fits. If it doesn’t, then we need to allow people the freedom to move on to something else without recriminations and blaming.
But once you have found your gifts, you
have a responsibility to develop them and use them for the good of the church
and the world. So Paul ends with a list of examples of what that looks like. … if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much
faith as God has given you. Prophecy in the Bible is not so much about foretelling
the future as it is about speaking the words God puts on your heart. That takes
faith, whether you’re preaching and teaching to a crowd or whether you’re
simply speaking to one person.
7 If your gift is serving others, serve them well.
Any form of ministry in the church is service – it’s the same word – and
we need to do it well. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, (Ecc 9:10)
If you are a
teacher, teach well. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, be
encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership
ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing
kindness to others, do it gladly.
I won’t go into the
details of all these gifts this morning, but I will give a warning.
We tend to view the world through our gifts. It’s like the old saying, “When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” I’m a teacher, so my automatic response to any given situation is to teach. That isn’t always the right thing to do. Sometimes people need to be listened to, rather than listening to me spout off.
Someone else might have the gift of mercy (this translation calls it showing kindness) which almost always puts them in conflict with someone with the gift of prophecy, because prophets just say what’s on their heart and let the chips fall where they may.
If the church is going to be all it can be, then:
1. we need to know ourselves and recognise and affirm how God has made us as individuals
2. we need to know that we’re part of something bigger called the church, the body of Christ, and that our gifts are to be used for the benefit of the community
3. and we need to know our gifts, by reflecting on what it is that energises us, what others see in us, and what we’ve found we’re good at
As we do that we need to make the church a safe place where people can take risks and try out their gifts without fear of being criticized.
Because in the end they’re not really our gifts. They’re God’s gifts of grace, given to us so that through us he can bless others and see his kingdom built on the Earth.