EQUIPPED WITH GOD S GIFTS

Transcription

1 SESSION 5 EQUIPPED WITH GOD S GIFTS What do you enjoy doing that other people consider difficult or unpleasant? QUESTION #1 #BSFLpriceless BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 45

2 THE POINT God has uniquely gifted us to serve Him. THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE Know any gifted people? When I hear that word, it takes me back to the third grade. I don t know how or why, but I was chosen to go to the school library once a week and work with a gifted teacher. When we met for the first time, the teacher challenged me to write using my imagination. I was happy to oblige but all I wanted to write about was Jesus. That previous summer I had given my life to Christ, and He was all I could talk about. Displeased, the gifted teacher told me if I didn t open up my mind to other subjects, I would have to go back to the not-so-gifted classroom. And that s how I got kicked out of the gifted class because my gift was talking about Jesus. As we ll see in today s session, the Bible talks about giftedness from a much different perspective. God gifts His followers in a way that is far different and far greater than any talent or giftedness typically celebrated in modern culture. 46 SESSION 5

3 WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY? 1 Corinthians 12: Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are different activities, but the same God activates each gift in each person. 7 A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial: 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 languages, to another, interpretation of languages. 11 But one and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as He wills. A demonstration of the Spirit (v. 7) As believers allow the Holy Spirit to guide and empower them, they reveal the working of the Spirit through their service to God and others. Implied is that the use of a spiritual gift is never to bring attention to the believer, but only to God. Distinguishing between spirits (v. 10) The Holy Spirit gives some believers the ability to determine if teachers, leaders, and other individuals are being led by God or by Satan. Satan works through false teachers to lead people away from God and His truth and to disrupt the unity of the church. If an individual is under Satan s control, those with this gift can warn others to avoid such a person. BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 47

4 THE POINT God has uniquely gifted us to serve Him. 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 Have you noticed how easily we make distinctions between people by slapping labels on them? Blue collar or white collar. Republican or Democrat. Cat people or dog people. The church in Corinth found another way to divide itself. The Corinthian believers had created faulty divisions around who they considered to be their leader (see 1 Cor. 1:10-13). This was faulty because the church, and every single believer within the church, is under the leadership of Christ. Catch the repeated emphasis Paul gave in verses 4-6: the same Spirit the same Lord the same God. The same Lord and Christ in your life is the same Lord and Christ in my life. Every follower of Christ knows Him and experiences Him in a personal and powerful way, because the Holy Spirit indwells all believers. Now, the fact that we have the same Leader and the same Spirit doesn t mean we re all the same as individuals. The Holy Spirit has taken up residence to work in and through us. Part of that work is empowering us to serve through our spiritual gifts. These spiritual gifts are not material gifts, nor are they natural abilities or talents. Instead, spiritual gifts are given to us by God when we are born again. In fact, the word translated as gifts in this passage literally means a gift involving grace. So, even though we share one Spirit, one Lord, and one God, we are still unique. God works in our lives in different ways. The same Spirit gives different gifts (v. 4). And all of those spiritual gifts can be used in different ministries. In other words, even believers who have the same spiritual gift can be used by God in a variety of ministry settings and opportunities. The result is different activities. The word activities is much richer than a list of actions on a to-do list. The Greek term carries the idea of working and getting something accomplished. In other words, it s effective. These activities accomplish the fruitful work that God desires. Now let s run all that together. The Holy Spirit works through you and me with a diversity of spiritual gifts, and He places us in different ministries and roles to use those various gifts. And these ministries of God will result in effective work for His kingdom. What have you heard or been taught about the definition and importance of spiritual gifts? QUESTION #2 48 SESSION 5

5 1 Corinthians 12:7-10 Paul offered a list of spiritual gifts in these verses, but it wasn t intended to be exhaustive. He listed other spiritual gifts in Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:8-10,27-30; and Ephesians 4:11. Peter also discussed spiritual gifts in 1 Peter 4:9-11. People have attempted to group these gifts in various ways, but perhaps the simplest way is to put them in four broad categories: 1 Gifts that support. Gifts such as helping and managing (see 1 Cor. 12:28) guide the work of the church. Gifts that share. Gifts such as showing mercy (see Rom. 12:8) and hospitality (see 1 Pet. 4:9) are tangible ways of communicating God s love. Gifts that speak. Gifts such as teaching (see Rom. 12:8) and prophecy ground the church in God s Word. Gifts that supplement. Gifts such as wisdom, knowledge, and faith support the other gifts. The wonderful thing about the list of spiritual gifts is their variety. They are diverse, and their many combinations create more and more ways we can serve Christ and His church. Remember, however, that Paul s goal wasn t to categorize spiritual gifts. Rather, Paul focused on the purpose of those gifts: A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial (v. 7). Your gift is not for your personal benefit. In fact, any use of a spiritual gift to direct attention and glory to an individual is a misuse of that gift. God has given us these gifts so that we might build up, strengthen, and encourage the church; reveal Christ; and glorify Him. Properly using your gift accomplishes all three! What s one of your spiritual gifts? QUESTION #3 When have you benefited personally from the spiritual gift of another person? QUESTION #4 BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 49

6 THE POINT God has uniquely gifted us to serve Him. 1 Corinthians 12:11 God knows you very well far better than you know yourself, in fact. God also knows what His church needs. Therefore, the spiritual gifts He desires to work through you are just right for His will. He distributes His gifts to each person as He wills (v. 11). That does raise some interesting questions. What if you have a gift you don t want? I heard that question one night when I was teaching a class on spiritual gifts to young adults. The man who asked it looked mad and miserable. I prayed a quick prayer for wisdom, and immediately God put the answer in my mind. I said, God will change your wanter! A few days later, that young man came to my office. God had called him to preach, but he d been running from God. Since that class, God indeed had changed his heart and his wanter. God put a desire in him to use his gift in the local church, and he s been faithfully doing that now for over 25 years! It bears repeating: God knows you better than you know yourself. Trust Him. The gift you have is the gift you need. Why doesn t the Holy Spirit give every believer every gift? A healthy body needs every member working in harmony together. Accordingly, God has orchestrated His church so that no one has everything he needs without the involvement of others in his life. We were designed to live in relationship; therefore, through God s distribution of the gifts, we are interdependent of each other even as we depend on Christ. Life in Christ fundamentally requires cooperation and partnership. How has God uniquely gifted our group to serve Him and others? QUESTION #5 50 SESSION 5

7 GIFTS TODAY How do spiritual gifts benefit churches today? Select two of the spiritual-gifts categories listed below. Use the space to the right of those categories to record different ways spiritual gifts can impact and influence the modern church. Gifts Categories Modern Applications Gifts that support Gifts that share Gifts that speak Gifts that supplement "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." FREDERICK BUECHNER BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 51

8 THE POINT God has uniquely gifted us to serve Him. LIVE IT OUT God has uniquely gifted you to serve Him and contribute to His church. How will you respond to those realities this week? Consider the following options: Worship. Praise God that He has a divine purpose for your life. Set aside a specific block of time to thank Him and praise Him for the ways He has uniquely gifted you to accomplish that purpose. Discover. If you don t know your spiritual gifts, take an assessment to help you discover how God has blessed you and how your gifts can be used in and through your church. Train. Make it a priority to mentor other believers who are unsure about their spiritual gifts. Help them discover ways they are gifted and able to serve. As a follower of Christ, you re part of the gifted class. But remember that your desire should always be to glorify God by using the gifts He s given you. Those gifts are for the benefit and good of the whole church, so use what you ve been given as an act of love. My thoughts 1. Adapted from Spiritual Gifts by David Francis (LifeWay Press, 2003). 52 SESSION 5