“DIFFERENT GIFTS, ONE GOAL”

“Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching;” 

Romans 12:6-7

I was watching this show on BBC which documented the system of building a foldable bike. There were about 25 stations, each with a specific process operated by at least one employee. There’s someone assigned to make the body; another works on the paint, while somebody else takes care of the brake system, and so on. Every worker is a master of his craft, making sure that his job is flawless. Working together as a singular unit, each one is differently skilled but knows exactly what he should do. Every crew member does his best to ensure the project is done properly. The team makes sure there are no quality control issues, and that the foldable bike is delivered on time.

That’s a good example of how the church was designed to function—each member uses his spiritual gift/s to help build up the church. The Bible teaches that each believer has at least one spiritual gift intended to be used. We all have different gifts, and God bestows such gifts according to His grace.

There are three other places in the Bible where lists of spiritual gifts are presented, namely, (1 Corinthians 12:8-10; 1 Corinthians 12:28-30; 1 Peter 4:11, and Ephesians 4:11).

In Romans 12:6, the first spiritual gift is prophecy. For centuries, scholars have been debating over the nature and duration of this gift. Some believe that the gift of prophecy is intelligible communication and spontaneous divine revelation. In contrast, others are convinced that prophecy is a non-revelatory gift that describes the ability to proclaim the Word of God in public.

In terms of the duration of the gift—whether it still applies today or not, there are two main schools of thought: one group says that this gift remains active throughout the church age (the present age) while the other group believes that prophecy ceased to exist after the completion of Scripture.

Regardless of your personal conviction, the Bible does say that this gift will be rendered ineffective at some point (1 Corinthians 13:8). Whether it ceased during the first century or it will cease when the Lord returns, it’s a matter of persuasion—we should agree to disagree. Don’t forget that these gifts were given to unite the church, not divide it.

Though the nature and duration of the gift aren’t explicit in the Bible, Paul is positive that the exercise of prophecy must be done according to one’s faith. What this means is that the word of prophecy should be aligned with the divinely inspired Word of God already revealed in Scripture (1 John 4:1).

It would be unwise to take the word of anyone who comes to you and says, “God spoke to me about you and you have to do this...” It’s best to be like a Berean and see whether what’s spoken of is true or false. One should also be careful when claiming that God speaks to him or her directly (Deuteronomy 18:20-22; Jeremiah 23:16, 2 Peter 2:1). No one’s word should be treated as equal to God’s authoritative Word.

The gift of service or helps is the ability to voluntarily meet the needs of an individual or the church as a whole. Sometimes, Christians with this gift don’t even realize they have it but make themselves always ready to help. Serving in itself is already a source of satisfaction for them.

Our last gift for this blog is the gift of teaching. It is the God-given ability to speak the truth of Scripture that is clearly understandable to the whole church. This gift is a requirement to becoming a pastor, but mature believers holding positions in the church should also have the ability to effectively explain and apply Scripture.

We may be differently gifted, but our goal is similar: to strengthen the church and bring glory to God, who is the Giver of all spiritual gifts.

Have a great weekend!

Pursue the Savior today!