START WITH SCRIPTURE:
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
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OBSERVE:
Paul is writing to the church in Corinth, which is presumably composed of a diverse group of folks — Gentiles (Greeks, Romans and citizens from around the Empire in this cosmopolitan city), former slaves, former prostitutes, and former pagans.
In the letters to the Corinthians, he appears to be answering written questions sent from this new church as the Corinthian Christians seek guidance about Christian doctrine and lifestyle.
In this passage, Paul is addressing the phenomena of spiritual gifts that have manifested themselves in the lives of these new Christians.
First, Paul draws a distinction between the secretive, esoteric “mysteries” of pagan worship and the full-disclosure and transparency of Christian worship:
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak.
He makes it clear that if a person claims to be inspired by the Holy Spirit, they will not contradict the bedrock of the faith of Christians in any way, which is the Lordship of Jesus Christ:
Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says, “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.
Second, Paul establishes the source of the spiritual gifts that he will describe. The gifts derive from God, not from human talent or ability:
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.
We notice that there is a Trinitarian reference here, but not in the order to which we are accustomed — first the gifts of the Spirit, then the services of the Lord Jesus, and God the Father.
Paul is pointing out the essential unity of the Godhead. And from this divine unity comes the unity of the church.
And yet there is a paradox, because though the church members are united in God, there are different gifts, services and activities. Not everyone is expected to be all things and do all things. There is diversity of function within the unity of faith.
And the purpose of the gifts of God is not individual glory or gain, but for the good of the church:
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
Paul then provides a breakdown of some of the various gifts that the church at Corinth may expect to experience.
The application of these gifts is somewhat technical, and requires more explanation than I can devote to them in this space. But without exception, the gifts exist for the good of the whole church.
He mentions wisdom and knowledge, that serve to provide guidance and instruction in doctrinal truth and practical Christian living.
The gift of faith appears to be distinct from the justifying or saving faith common to all Christians, but is perhaps a visionary faith that inspires the rest of the church to greater faith.
Gifts of healing and working of miracles suggest a feature of the early church that was taken for granted at that time, i.e., the same healing powers that Jesus had imparted to his disciples also were available in the church.
Prophecy doesn’t necessarily mean soothsaying or predicting the future, but proclamation to the church. This is explained in 1 Corinthians 14:3:
. . . those who prophesy speak to other people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation.
The discernment of spirits presupposes a supernatural worldview, that there is a spiritual realm inhabited by spiritual beings. Some of those spiritual beings may be good, some evil. Hence the need for discernment. This discernment of spirits may be a further elaboration of what Paul has said earlier:
Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says, “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.
Tongues are the ecstatic prayers of the people of God as they speak the language of heaven. It may be that Romans 8:26-27 provides some insight into the intercessory purpose of this language of the Spirit:
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Tongues may be personally edifying to the person praying in tongues, but they are the Lord speaking to as well as through the gift of tongues.
But because the tongues are unintelligible to others, it is made clear in 1 Corinthians 14 that an even more significant gift is the ability to interpret tongues so that others may be edified:
Now I would like all of you to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. One who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up (1 Corinthians 14:5).
The bottom line for all of these gifts is that they derive from the same divine source:
All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
APPLY:
There are as many approaches to the spiritual gifts in the church today as there are denominations.
Some believers argue that these spiritual gifts were only intended for the early church, but not for today.
Others would argue that the spiritual gifts are very much a part of the life of the church today, and in fact are the true mark of a Christian.
And there are any number of interpretations and applications in between.
We need not fear these extraordinary gifts. The gifts are intended for the unity and the edification of the church. As a preacher once said when addressing some of the controversies about the spiritual gifts, “The gifts of God will never divide the people of God.”
These gifts that are listed in 1 Corinthians 12 are not exhaustive. There are other gifts that are mentioned in Romans 12 and Ephesians 4. The point is that the best way to discern whether a gift is from God is to ask whether it builds up the church or tears it down.
RESPOND:
When I was in high school, I played football. Football is definitely a team sport. Each athlete in each position has a unique role to play.
My position wasn’t very glamorous. I wasn’t the quarterback, so I didn’t throw the ball. I wasn’t the wide receiver, so I didn’t catch the ball. I wasn’t the running back, so I didn’t run with the ball.
I wasn’t even the center, who hikes the ball to the quarterback to get a play started.
I was a lineman, which meant my job was basically just to try to push people away from the quarterback or the running back. Not the kind of player that most people would notice.
But if the lineman doesn’t block, the quarterback gets sacked. Or the running back gets tackled for a loss. So, ask a quarterback or a running back how important a lineman is!
Each athlete must act in harmony for the good of the whole team.
Likewise, every Christian has received a spiritual gift; and each spiritual gift must be employed for the good of the whole church.
Our Lord, sometimes I feel that my gifts are pretty meager. But I know that every Christian’s gift is of value for the good of the whole church. May your church work in harmony so that all the spiritual gifts may be employed for the good of all. Amen.
PHOTO:
“1 Corinthians 12:4-6” by Cary Bass-Deschenes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.
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