Sunday, October 5, 2014

Spiritual Gifts in the Bible and the Church


Introduction
What are spiritual gifts? Do I have them? These are some of the questions that I started asking myself a few years ago during my sophomore year of college. Since then I’ve taken multiple tests to understand how and in what ways I’m most useful in God’s kingdom. I believe God has many places where we could be useful in the kingdom, but it's up to us to discern where it’s best for us to be. There are four primary proof texts in the N.T. that many use to discuss to topic of spiritual gifts: 1 Cor. 12-14; Rom. 12:3-8; Eph. 4:11-16; 1 Pet. 4:10-11. Hopefully, this paper will help you answer some of the questions that I had, that I mentioned in the beginning.
Gifts for All Decided By God
Scripture is pretty clear that we all have been given “the gift” of being one with Christ through Christ’s death on the cross; However, we all “each have received a gift” (1 Pet. 4:10-11) and individually been given gifts or talents that we can use as ministry minded Christians in the kingdom. Note the word all. Some think they have been excluded - that is a false assumption. These gifts were also given according to “the measure of grace” that God has allowed to work in our lives (Rom. 12:3-8). All of these gifts will have the honor that he wants and deems best (1 Cor. 12:22-24). In 1 Cor. 12:13 we even find that some gifts are more important than others such as love being more important than faith and hope.
Definition and Goals of a Gift
What is a spiritual gift? It’s a talent that God has given us for the benefit of the local body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:7; 14:12), and for preventing division amongst other things. These gifts that God gives us are the “supernatural graces which we as Christians need to fulfill the mission of the church.” (Spiritual gift, Wikipedia.) What is the end goal of a specific gift or ability given to us by God? It’s so that the body of Christ would be strengthened and benefited. And, remember if a gift is used in such a way that isn’t loving - it’s useless and worthless (1 Cor. 13:13).
The Gifts Differ
As I said before there are four primary places where gifts are mentioned. In these passages they all overlap which suggests that none of the four lists that you’ll find in the texts are intended to be comprehensive; however, these are the gifts that the text outlines so they are the ones we will review in this paper. Some of the gifts focus on leadership (i.e. - apostles, administrators, teachers, pastors, and evangelists), others “require divine intervention or divine revelation” (i.e. - prophecy, healings, miracles, tongues and their interpretation), some are general gifts that all Christians are commanded to have that involve an extra measure of virtue (i.e - faith, service, giving, mercy, or evangelizing), and others speak to only a select few Christians (i.e. - miracles, tongues, or administration). (Elwell, Walter)  These gifts truly differ. Here is an overview of the gifts in 1 Cor. 12-14… The gift of wisdom refers to the “ability to make skillful and practical application of the truth to life 
situations”(MacArthur, p. 298); The gift of knowledge refers to, “the capability of grasping the meaning of God’s revelation, which is mystery to the natural mind”. (McArthur, p. 299) The gift of faith refers to a special ability to lay claim on the promises of God. The gift of healings refers to giving spiritual healing and (in a lesser way) physical healing. The gift of miracles refers to the special ability to do miracles, wonders, and signs that glorify God. The gift of prophecy although it has some controversy surrounding it contextually, refers to someone who has the ability to speak forth or proclaim the word. The gift of discernment refers to, “the ability to examining and judging in order to determine what is genuine and what is spurious.” (MacArthur, p. 304) Finally, the gift of tongues and of interpretation of tongues refers to having the ability to speak in foreign languages easily and aptly through the Power of the Holy Spirit - this one is not used often today.
Here is an overview of new gifts outline for us in Rom. 12:3-8 that weren’t mentioned previously in the above text. The gift of service is much like the gift of “helps” or being useful wherever needed. The gift of teaching refers to the act of teaching and would apply to pastors, teachers, s.s. teacher, and all who disciple (which includes all Christians). The gift of exhortation (12:8a) is one who “is called to one's side” who comforts and helps another. The gift of giving (12:8b) refers to just what it says - that of “sharing or imparting that which is one’s own.” (MacArthur, p. 175) The gift of leadership (12:8c) refers to one who “stands before others” and “administrates, guides, or pilots” a team, individual, or organization, or church. The gift of mercy refers to one who “actively demonstrates sympathy for someone else and who has the necessary resources to successfully comfort and strengthen”. (MacArthur, p. 177). Here is an overview of the gifts in Eph. 4:11-16… There is the gift of Apostles and Prophets which refers to one who the original apostles and prophets and in our day refers to those who are messengers of the gospel who were tasked with equipping and strengthening the local church. Evangelists refers to who's who proclaim the good news. Pastors and teachers refers to one who “shepherds a flock” and “teachers” can include deacons, overseers, one who rules in the church, and elders. Then in  1 Pet. 4:10-11 there are more gifts mentioned but I already covered them in the above paragraphs.
Discerning Our Own Gifts
There are a few key ways we can try and figure out what we are good at or should be doing in the kingdom. First, I believe there are internal ways. Do you have the ability to see a need in the body? Do you have the capacity to meet the need well? Do you experience satisfaction when you meet the need? Second, I think there are external ways such as: confirmation from the body of Christ that your contribution was helpful, and recommendation from the body that you are able to meet a need well. Finally, There are helpful spiritual gifts tests online that one can take. Some to take might be: www.spiritualgiftstest.com/test/adult and gifts.churchgrowth.org/cgi-cg/gifts.cgi?intro=1.
Reflection on My Own Spiritual Gifts Test
I have already take quite a few of my own spiritual gifts tests but taking some more (those above) were also helpful. Yet again, I scored high on Pastor, Leadership, and Administration. To be honest though these tests I thought weren't as good as some others I've taken. They did help me in that they verified what I already knew and probed me to think deeper about some things that I may or may not be strong or weak in.

Please Note: This paper isn't finished - in fact nothing I do is finished. You could consider this draft #1 so bear with the errors. I hope this is of some help to you or at least helps you begin the journey of understanding spiritual gifts better, and understanding the spiritual gifts you do have.
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