Aug 16, 2011
Spiritual Gifts
During our August 14th worship service, I tried in my message to illuminate God’s vision for the use of spiritual gifts within the church. Using the metaphor of music, two main points emerged: (1) The Divine Composer has placed a song in your heart, and (2) The Divine Composer doesn't want you to play alone. The first point was a reminder that, in God’s economy, everyone who has the Spirit of God also has a spiritual gift from God. The second point was meant to reinforce the idea that our gifts should be used harmoniously in and for the community. But, with the limited amount of time we had during that service for such a vast topic, two big questions went unaddressed: What are the spiritual gifts? How can a person know what spiritual gifts she or he has? Those two questions, when answered appropriately, can set a person free to make music for the glory of God and the common good. As a disclaimer, I have to tell you that many issues concerning spiritual gifts are disagreed upon and so I am going to offer you my take on scripture. I encourage you to further explore this topic on your own.
What Are the Spiritual Gifts? Let’s turn first to a few scriptures that offer listings of spiritual gifts (all from New International Version).
Romans 12:6-8
6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 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.
GIFTS LISTED: Prophecy, service, teaching, encouragement, giving, leadership, and mercy.
1 Corinthians 12:8-10
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.
GIFTS LISTED: Wisdom, special knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, tongues, and interpreting tongues.
1 Corinthians 12:28
28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.
GIFTS LISTED: Apostle, prophecy, teaching, miracles, healing, helping, guidance, and tongues.
Ephesians 4:11-12
11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
GIFTS LISTED: Apostle, prophecy, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.
What Can We Learn from These Scriptures?(1) Apparently, there is not an exhaustive list of spiritual gifts. Paul authored all four of the lists above and they all have similarities but some offer more gifts and some offer less. (2) We can look to these lists for guidance on some common gifts that God gives out, but we should not be disappointed or feel left out if we do not have a gift from the lists above because it is possible that we have a gift that isn't mentioned by Paul.
So, if there is not an exhaustive list, what else can be called a spiritual gift? I think two ideas can help us solve this. (1) The Greek word for spiritual gift is charismata.This word essentially means a “manifestation of grace.” If we use the definition of purpose for spiritual gifts found in 1 Corinthians 12:7, then anything that helps to graciously build up the Church can be a spiritual gift. (2) In Exodus 35:30-33, a man named Bezalel has been chosen to work on the temple and he is described as being full of the Spirit of God with the gift of craftsmanship. I think this shows the open-ended nature of spiritual gifts.
Conclusion. While we are offered a very thorough list of spiritual gifts from the scriptures above, it is not exhaustive. I think, like Bezalel, some peoples’ gifts are artistic in nature. Whether it is music, writing, painting, dance, etc., I think God has given us artists as a manifestation of His grace. I also think he gives certain people great business acumen that allows them to earn money so they can give to the church. But, such people can also give wisdom to the church on how it should handle its resources. I could keep naming gifts that are not listed but I hope you get the idea. Whatever talents and training you have that energize you and make you tick, should be viewed as gifts from God that you should use for His glory and the common good. We are often misled when we think of anything in life as spiritual or non-spiritual, which leads us to view some gifts as spiritually-geared while others are just for work, home, etc. All of life is spiritual and so all gifts can be used to accomplish spiritual things.
How Can I Know What Spiritual Gifts I Have? While there are some great resources that I will point you to in a moment, I want to give you the opportunity for a self-assessment. Below, you will find a list of the gifts from the scriptures above. For each gift, I will provide a definition and then some adjectives that describe these gifts. Read through them and try to find yourself in the gifts below.
Apostle - entrepreneurial leaders that start new God-movements. Self starters, risk takers, strong leaders, inspirational.
Prophecy - not necessarily foretelling. Usually truth-telling. Passionate about obedience, unafraid of conflict, strong-willed.
Evangelist - wholeheartedly focused on preaching towards conversion. Obsessed with lost people, passionate about preaching truth.
Pastor - someone who loves to care for and shepherd the community. Compassionate, extroverted, loves community groups.
Teacher - equipping the Church towards Biblical and theological literacy. Loves to study, loves God’s word, driven to go deeper.
Service - willing to do often behind-the-scenes, tedious work to get things done. Humble, compassionate, willing to work behind the scenes.
Giving - someone who is very generous with all of their resources. Hold resources loosely, empathetic towards the needs of others.
Exhortation - passionate about motivating Christians towards Holy living. Willing to speak up, passionate about true discipleship.
Leading - someone who loves to take charge and ownership. Willing to take responsibility, leans towards taking action.
Mercy/Helps - focused upon justice and hope for the needy, sick and poor. Great compassion and empathy, hates to see suffering.
Wisdom - capable of applying Biblical truth to everyday problems. Thoughtful, vulnerability in sharing, a great deal of experience.
Knowledge - ability to hear God’s solutions for specific issues. Like a teacher, constantly seeking answers, able to contextualize.
Faith - inclined towards extreme resolve in the face of life’s issues. Not easily swayed, not emotionally motivated, steadfast.
Healing/Miracles - rare gift that allows the person supernatural abilities. The evidence of this ability is obvious.
Discernment of Spirits - the ability to detect true heart motivations and intentions. Wise, able to look past pervading sentiment, very clear vision.
Administration - able to govern and oversee systems and people. Detail-oriented, strong organizational skills, system builder.
Tongues - divine and seemingly unintelligible language that glorifies God. Love of worship, prone to unknown utterances during worship.*
Interpretation of Tongues - able to translate the unknown utterances. God speaks to you through others, able to find divine meaning.*
* These last two gifts can be especially controversial because of differing theological understandings of the Biblical passages dealing with them. With that in mind, it is important to remember that with these two gifts, as is the case with all of the spiritual gifts, edifying the Church and its individual members is the primary objective and the ultimate test for whether they are being manifested according to scripture.
Conclusion. Did you see yourself in any of these descriptions? Maybe you haven’t noticed this gift or developed it but the definitions and characteristics sounded familiar. If none of these gifts seemed to be evident in your life, you need to look at how God has wired and gifted you. Can your art be used for Him? Can your ability of design be used for Him? Athletics? Business? Accounting? Whatever it is, you need to view all of your abilities as gifts from God and see how you can use them for His glory and our good. If you think you posses a certain gift then ask people who know you to confirm this gift. From there, you should intently seek to develop and use your gift often.
If you would like to take an online spiritual gifts:
http://elmertowns.com/spiritual_gifts_test/index.cfm?action=SPQ_instructions
http://www.churchgrowth.org/cgi-cg/gifts.cgi
My hope and prayer for everyone in the body of Christ at Fellowship Dallas (and Fellowship White Rock and Mission Church Forney) will discover and be released and empowered in their spiritual giftedness—for the glory of God and the sake of the Gospel.
Gabe Gilliam, Teaching Pastor and Fellowship White Rock Lead Pastor

