The Word says that we are the very Body of Christ. We also are to understand that we are all
individual parts who make up this Body (Romans 12:4). Christ is the head over the Body, just as our
head is in charge of our body. Our body
does what the head decides to do – that is why our mind needs daily renewal. Our thoughts need to be yielded to the Holy
Spirit.
Let’s take a look at Romans 12:4-8: “For just as we have
many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so
we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of
another. And since we have gifts that
differ according to the grace given to us, let each exercise them accordingly.”
Picture the Body of Christ as a toolbox and the tools within
the toolbox as the members of the Body of Christ. God is the Owner of the “Fix and Repair
Shop,” Jesus is the manager, and the Holy Spirit is the mechanic. Individual members of the Body of Christ are
the tools the Holy Spirit uses. The
Owner determines the project and all those who work for the Owner use all of
their very being to carry out the commands and desires of the One who owns all
things.
I would think it would be critical for the Holy Spirit to
know everything there is to know about the tools within the toolbox. The Holy Spirit does know the design and
function of each tool in order to carry out the will of the Owner (Heavenly
Father). Therefore, it now becomes quite
important for the tools to be who they are and not attempt to be anything other
than themselves.
Imagine one or more of the tools trying to be another tool
instead of being who they are, i.e. a screwdriver tries to do the job of a pair
of pliers. Sounds silly, huh? Not really!
This is exactly what the Body of Christ has the tendency to do; tools
trying to be like the tools they admire.
Tools want to be like tools that seem to have greater importance and
rewards. Tools want to be in the hands
of the mechanic more than not. If I were
a tool, I certainly would want to be in the hands of the mechanic as much as
possible. In fact, it would be fun to be
the mechanic’s favorite tool!
Also, imagine these tools having legs, arms, mouths, and
minds of their own. Now we have some
potential problems. When the mechanic
reaches into the toolbox to get the right tool to do the Owner’s will, one or
more of these tools is running around the shop doing its own thing, making it
challenging to get anything done. What
is the mechanic to do? Well, He will use
the tools that are willing and waiting, for the waiting tools are secure in
their design. They will wait on the
mechanic as long as it takes to do the part of the job they were designed to
do.
Think of the work the mechanic could get done if every tool
accepted who he was, understood his purpose, and was willing and ready to be
used by the mechanic. Wow! We could have the world “fixed” in no time.
I certainly hope you are seeing the parallel. God has many members to His Son’s Body. Within each of these members, God has
carefully and methodically placed His gifts to accomplish the work assigned to
His Son and the Holy Spirit. Having each
member exercise his gifting when the Holy Spirit calls upon him would pull the
Body of Christ together, unifying the Church in such a way that the world, the
flesh, and the devil would be in serious trouble.
Don’t get me wrong; God is in control and He is
accomplishing all of what needs to be done, fully knowing He doesn’t have full
cooperation with His Son’s own Body.
However, God certainly is calling us to join Him where He is at
work. The Body members joining Him where
He is at work will add to the proving of the will of the Father to the world, all
of flesh, and even to the enemy, Satan.
WHO GETS THESE GIFT INVESTMENTS?
The Lord has not given everyone a gift(s), only those who
have accepted the Lord into their lives.
Once a person has accepted Christ, the Holy Spirit delivers the gift, so
to speak. 1 Peter 4:10 tells us: “As
each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good
stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
The Holy Spirit also gives a manifestation. Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 12:7: “But to
each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” It is for the good of building up the Body of
Christ.
The Church’s growth is dependent upon God causing the growth
(1 Corinthians 3:6). However, the Lord
is also clear that we are to plant and water.
The planting and watering is done through the very gifting He has placed
within each Body member.
GOD NOT ONLY GIVES GIFTS, BUT THE HOW-TO IN SPENDING
Once a person gains an understanding regarding his gifting,
he needs to have a ministry of “a calling” to have the gift to function
within. When a person functions in a
gift that is not his, he ends up laboring to do the work. He seems to “run out of energy” in doing
good. If a person is using his gift but
it is being used within the wrong “calling,” it usually causes more work for
the people he is working alongside. He
ends up giving the appearance of “doing his own thing.” Therefore, understanding the calling can be
equally as important as understanding the gifting.
There is a general calling and a specific calling. General calling is the Body of Christ, as a
whole – being called to serve one another.
Specific calling is like an occupation or a job. Specific calling determines a particular way
or a particular setting in which the person uses his gift, i.e. Sunday school
teacher, worship team, clean up duty, secretarial work, or preaching from the
pulpit.
IMPORTANT POINT: God does not give a gift without giving a
calling. If the person does not have a
calling with the gifting, the person will spend the gifting on himself/herself,
which is self-abasement. More like self
in the basement!
WHAT IS A SPIRITUAL GIFT INVESTMENT?
A spiritual gift is a God given ability planted within our
soul by the Holy Spirit, given upon the day of our Salvation. Every member of the Body of Christ receives
at least one.
The Greek word used for spiritual gift is “charisma,” which
means “grace.” Each member of the Body
is given a special measure of grace – unmerited favor (Ephesians 4:7). In this unmerited favor, God moves through
this measurement to accomplish His will.
Grace means God does the work and law means man does the work
for God. When grace is motivating us, we
know that God is doing the work through us.
When the law motivates us, we can be certain that it is self who is
doing the work, which means we are using our gifting to do what we want. Understand this: grace and gifting have the
same meaning. God is the One using the
gifts.
In conclusion: spiritual gifts are supernatural or God
breathed abilities to empower believers to do His work for the common good of
the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:7).
GIVING MANIFESTING AS WE COME TOGETHER
The time God moves the most significantly is when the Body
is gathered together. When two or more
gather together in His name, He will be there ready to move within the
Body. It could happen in a one-on-one
discipleship setting or in a group dynamic.
The fact that we are looking to a God who is alive and ready to reveal
Himself to us, puts us in a position of expecting God to do a work.
First, we need to come empty-handed. If you have any thing(s) you need to hand
over to the Lord (acts of rebellion), now is the time to drop those before the
feet of Jesus. God, most likely, will
not fully use us if we are struggling with present acts of rebellion. If we do decide to use our gifting with
rebellion in our hearts, the gifting will promote self, mixed with flesh. That spells PROBLEMS. We certainly will end up hurting someone
and/or ourselves.
Secondly, when we gather, come to listen. Watch your leader! God moves through leaders. Be listening inside for the Lord’s prompting
and be watching in the group as to what might be going on in the lives of the
people. God will often prompt one Body
member to help another member to use his gifting. For example: “I am noticing, Jim, that you
might have something to say; would you like to share with the group? Are you receiving a Word from the Lord?”
Be watching for pain.
The eyes never lie. Constantly be
on the alert for people’s facial responses.
Many times, newcomers do not feel comfortable sharing unless they are
prompted to do so.
Thirdly, it is important to be transparent when coming
together. We need to be willing to share
our life openly with everyone in the gathering.
Transparency is what communicates trust.
If we are willing to be open and transparent, then the person(s) God
wants to minister to will be more apt to receive the help God has for them.
Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, ©
Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The
Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
