One Body, Many Gifts - 1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Scripture Passage: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Outline:
1. Spiritual gifts are how Jesus continues his work in the world today.
2. Spiritual gifts come to the church in a huge variety.
3. Spiritual gifts are to be practiced in a posture of love and care for others.
◦ Interdependence NOT independence
◦ Diversity NOT Comparison
◦ Other-centered NOT self-centered
4. Pursue the gifts of the Spirit

Application Questions:
• Are you intentionally seeking for God to reveal and grow your spiritual gifts?
• Have you every truly considered the supernatural gift of God to give you spiritual life and fill you with his Spirit? Do you see that this gift comes with a responsibility also?
• Do you measure your life in the church based on how much you receive or how you can give?
• Is your joy being killed today by selfishness, pride or jealousy?
• What is the posture of your heart today? Is it open to the needs and lives of other?

Read text

"On the night of April 9, 1906, Seymour and seven men were waiting on God on Bonnie Brae Street, "when suddenly, as though hit by a bolt of lightning, they were knocked from their chairs to the floor," and the other seven men began to speak in tongues and shout out loud praising God. The news quickly spread; the city was stirred; crowds gathered; services were moved outside to accommodate the crowds who came from all around; people fell down as they approached, and attributed it to God; people were baptized in the Holy Spirit and the sick were said to be healed."

The topic of spiritual gifts has been a major concern for christians ever since - both in confusion and controversey.

The result is in two opposite directions - some poeple obsess over the topic of spiritual gifts too much, to the point that they neglect to formulate a healthy view of the christian life - thier life is built on spiritual highs and experiences.

On the other side, some people are afraid to talk about spiritual gifts at all - and neglect a very important aspect of the life of the church.

This week we continue our work through 1 Corinthians 12, and I want to build on what Pastor Vitaly has already said to lay down a practical framework for spiritual gifts for us today.

Book recommendation - Spiritual Gifts: What they are and why they matter by Thomas R. Schreiner

1. Spiritual gifts are how Jesus continues his work in the world today.

I stole this point from J. D. Greear in his work on this specific passage - and I want to start with the broadest possible statement here.

The topic of spiritual gifts is not relegated to some side aspect of the life of the church.

Paul speaks here in our text of the WHOLE christian community.

12 For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all given one Spirit to drink.

When Paul speaks of these gifts he is including the entire christian community - and he is including the whole life of the church.

When a person understands, receives and trusts in Jesus with their heart, makes a decision to renounce sin and to follow Jesus - there is a miraculous work that is also simultaneously taking place in their hearts.

The Holy Spirit fills their heart and life - and he empowers them for service to the kingdom of God.

what are the goals of the life of the church?
• to expose and destroy the work of sin in human hearts, and to enable them to become changed, to love God and love others, to walk in his ways.
This applies to the work of evangelism and discipleship.

Think about this. This is a supernatural work. This is a miraculous work. Where does the power come from for this?

The gifts and power of the Holy Spirit who lives inside all believers and enables them to be agents of his eternal grace.

We have to acknowledge this.

Christianity is not just social community, its not just behavior modification, its not just cultural transformation.

The whole life of being a christian is a life that depends and works towards supernatural ends.

The ordinary work of discipleship and ministry and life in the body - its not ordinary. Its miraculous and requires supernatrual power because poeple have no power at the end of the day to transform themselves.

2. Spiritual gifts are how Jesus continues his work in the world today. The Holy Spirit is at all times present in the lives of all believers to use their bodies, brains, abilities - to do his work.

Note - this goes against the idea in many charismatic and pentecostal movements that say that the "baptism of the Spirit" is a second experience after conversion.

That is not what Paul says here:
13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all given one Spirit to drink.

ALL of us who are in Jesus, are entrusted with this privilege and power.

Leaders, teachers and pastors are NOT the whole ministry of the church.

The only was Christians can live their lives on the sidelines of church life, not really caring to devote energy and time to pursuing their specific callings in the church - is they don't really believe that they have been given this great responsibility.

"I'm not that important here." What makes you say that? is it pride that doesn't want to admit jealousy? Is it selfishness, that wants to stay in the realm of our personal comfort?

Do you understand your own personal significance and belonging in the church?

Spiritual gifts come to the church in a huge variety.

8 to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit, 9 to another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another, the performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to another, different kinds of tongues, to another, interpretation of tongues.
14 Indeed, the body is not one part but many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted.

The reason that spiritual gifts create a lot of drama in the church is that we have a tendency to isolate a few important ones that we see as superior to the others.

In the Corinthians church, people were divided over their gifts because poeple who had certain gifts felt superior, and those who didn't have those same gifts felt jealous.

Paul pushes back by saying, "it is the massive VARIETY of gifts that makes the body of Christ a body!"

Without the variety, there is no body. The body is composed of a great number of different parts working together!

What are the gifts? Can we get a precise list? Can we do a precise personality test and identify our gift

There are three pain passages in the New Testament that address this question:
1 Corinthians 12–14 but Romans 12:3–8 and Ephesians 4:7–13
All these passages contain lists. However, what we see here is that none of these lists is identical.

Conclusion - the lists are more like samplings, not comprehensive.

But it is helpful to look at the lists because it gives us a glimpse of the great diversity of the body of Christ.

The gifts can generally be divided into gifts of speaking and gifts of service
• apostle - personally saw the risen Lord and commissioned by him. (no more)
Have some gifts ceased? I think yes. We can see it in the purpose these gifts served and in the practice of the early church.
• prophet - a person who receives a spontaneous revelation from God (no more)
• teacher
• miracles
• healings
• helping
• administration
• speaking in languages/tongues
• the interpretation of tongues
• word of wisdom
• word of knowledge
• faith - a strong sense from God regarding what he wants to do, compells to action and prayer.
• distinguishing between spirits - discerning truth from error
• evangelist
• pastor-teacher
• serving
• encouraging
• generosity
• leadership - ability to organize, inspire and direct church life effectively for its growth
• mercy

Some of these may come in a certain time or season - some last for a lifetime.

How do we know our gift?

One mistake is to focus on yourself exclusively - what I like, what I thnk i am called to do - what I am good at.

The gifts are lived out in the life of the body. That means you can't know what your gifts are if you are not actively serving the church. Also, you can't have clarity about your gifts if you have not received feedback from other christians regarding your giftedness and your ministry.

Second of all - clarity on the spiritual gifts grows as we are walking in the Lord, filling our lives with his Word and his presence. The deeper our life of prayer and Scripture is, the clearer we will see how he is calling us in life.

Putting those things together, heres a diagram I think its helpful:

Affinity - Affirmation - Ability - your gifts fall somewhere in the area those three converge.

God himself has soverignly arranged the church as a combination of very DIFFERENT people.

Rather than comparing ourselves to others and trying to be like them only, we need to celebrate and joyfully grow in the things that he has given US.

Example - Avengers - their strength is their difference.

temporary, lifelong, ordinary, miraculous

3. Spiritual gifts are to be practiced in a posture of love and care for others.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that are weaker are indispensable. 23 And those parts of the body that we consider less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unrespectable parts are treated with greater respect, 24 which our respectable parts do not need.
Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable, 25 so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other. 26 So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

I use the word "posture" here because it describes the inner disposition of the heart.

The question is not even HOW much you do things in the church. The question is your inner attitude towards what you do and the PEOPLE that surround you.
• Interdependence NOT independence
Paul says that the proper attitude towards the life of the church is not independence but INTERDEPENDENCE.

It is not "Here i am and heres what I do" it is "here is my spiritual family, these are the people i can't live without, and the people that I live for.."

sometimes we get really focused on our ministry and our service to the church in a very technical sense and we forget that the whole purpose of all that we do is for the building up of others.
• we find doing things easier than connecting with people
• we find people frustrating because they get in the way or slow down our ministry
• does your ministry and your participation in the church cultivate your sense of personal connection and love for the people?

• Diversity NOT Comparison
Comparison and competition kill love, kill unity and kill fruitfulness in ministry.

When we understand the beauty of God's design we celebrate the diversity of gifts in the church and we see others growth as a DEEP ENCOURAGEMENT rather than a challenge to our identity.

Our identity is rooted, not in our performance in the church - it is rooted in JESUS who has saved us all and has given ALL of us the supernatural work of the Spirit burning in our hearts!

Often times we get very annoyed or uncomfortable when things are not done OUR way. Especially those of us who are more perfectionistic and controlling

(hand raise- I am guilty here! I always have to work against my own thoughts saying - your way is NOT always the best! Learn to rest and delight in the work of others!)

• Other-centered NOT self-centered
"Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable, 25 so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other. 26 So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it."

One thing we can never over do is to emphasize how our current cultural moment so COMPLETELY soaks us in the mindset of individualism.

so many christians feel a lack of purpose, connectedness and gifting because their approach to church is about what THEY get out of it, not about being intimately connected and serving the blessing of others.

Our joy is unleashed when we allow our hearts to be more concerned with the burdens and needs of others rather than our own.

Selfcenteredness, Pride and jealousy kill joy.

Why does God allow such suffering and pain in his church?
• one big reason - for the church of Jesus to seize on that pain together - with the power of prayer, with the power of encouragement, with the power of service, with the power of faith, with the power of healing.
• We pull together in pain, we show the darkness that surrounds us that the church is the church and no matter what kind of challenges you throw at it, the supernatural power of the Spirit in our hearts comes through even more powerfully as we suffer and love together as one community.
if you are a christian, you are part of the body of Christ, you are gifted uniquely for it - you have no choice in the matter. The one thing you can do is to have a bad attitude of Judge mentalism comparison or isolation. When you do that you’re depriving people of unique and abilities they God has given you

4. Pursue the gifts of the Spirit

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it. 28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, next miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, leading, various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all do miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But desire the greater gifts. And I will show you an even better way.

Paul finishes with another list which seems to include a sense of heirarchy - the apostles and prophets were foundational to the life of the NT church.

Amazing!

God gives pastors and teachers that help the whole church unlock the power of his Word in their lives.

Amazing!

But are all called to these? No!

To each their own. So pursue YOUR calling.

"desire the greater gifts..."

Paul is encouraging that we pursue the greater gifts, a greater fruitfulness in our gifts...
Notice - this takes intentionality in your life.
• Are you intentionally seeking for God to reveal and grow your spiritual gifts?
Our growth takes time.

Maybe we are discouraged when we see others so strong, so fruitful - got it all together.
We don't see the background work God has done in their lives to humble them, to teach them, we don't see the background energy and devotion they put - how they lay their lives down for others.

Let yourself be inspired and encouraged by the examples of others and devote yourself to intentionally pursuing your spiritual gifts in the church.

Example - wife seeing how other women can serve so well and being overwhelmed and a little discouraged.

But over time, humbly workin and growing - her abilities have grown so much.
Another example - teens ministry - so fruitful today, but it had very humble and small beginnings.

More questions:
• Have you every truly considered the supernatural gift of God to give you spiritual life and fill you with his Spirit? Do you see that this gift comes with a responsibility also?
• Do you measure your life in the church based on how much you receive or how you can give?
• Is your joy being killed today by selfishness, pride or jealousy?
• What is the posture of your heart today? Is it open to the needs and lives of other?