Romans 12:3-8: Spiritual Gifts

Romans 12:6a.. "Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them..."

The topic of spiritual gifts is one that, I believe, is either emphasized too much or too little in today's church culture. Either we make spiritual gifts everything, or we don't talk about them at all. However, neither of these postures are biblical. Spiritual gifts are not everything, and we ought not to boast about them or focus on them above all else. On the other hand, spiritual gifts are important, and they should certainly be highlighted.

In Romans 12:3-8, Paul gives us three practical commands about spiritual gifts. Let us look at them today, and then discuss some common questions concerning spiritual gifts.

Firstly, be humble. In regard to our spiritual gifts, we ought to be humble by not thinking of ourselves "more highly than we ought to think, but to think it sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith God assigned." (v. 3). In other words, realize that God has given you a gift and take that to heart, but don't boast higher than you ought. Be glad that God has gifted you, and give him all of the glory, but don't boast as if it is something that God has given you because you deserved it. Don't be haughty an claim that you are so great because of your gift, because you aren't. The only reason why you have a spiritual gift is because the Spirit has given it to you, remember that.

Secondly, remember the body. As we looked at yesterday, the body of the church cannot function unless each member does its function, just as your body cannot function unless your members do their job. If the eye wishes to hear, it won't contribute to the body because it wasn't meant to hear. If the ear wishes to taste, it won't contribute to the body because is wasn't meant to taste. Likewise, our spiritual gifts act in the same manner. If the one who teaches gets burned out and wishes not to teach and tries to serve in other ways in which he was not called, the body of the church as a whole will be negatively affected. Likewise, if those with the gift of serving seek to teach, they will only be wrapped into unmotivated service and bring down the body. Each person ought to serve the church in the way he was gifted, not being jealous of others' gifts. For God has gifted each of us with a specific gift, and he does not make mistakes. You are a certain shade of color in God's grand masterpiece, the church, and if you aren't serving where you ought that color is missing, and the masterpiece is not as beautiful as it could be. So, don't wreck God's masterpiece by being jealous of others' gifts.

Thirdly, use your gift! Spiritual gifts don't stop after you discover them--you need to use them! If you have the gift of preaching, then get up there and give a sermon [maybe after you've been trained, though...]! If you have the gift of service, then ask where you can serve! If you have the gift of helps, then help! If you have the gift of giving, then joyfully dump your wallet into the offering plate! If you have the gift of encouragement, then have dinner with your pastor and encourage him! Fellow blog readers, this isn't as hard as we often make it. Using our spiritual gifts is quite simple. The reason why we make it so complicated is because we are nit-picky. We like to only use our spiritual gift in places where we are comfortable. We need to stop this. If you know your gift, you should be using it in any way you possibly can, even if it isn't how you would choose to use it.

However, there are many questions concerning spiritual gifts. Let us address some of the common ones:

What if I don't know what my spiritual gift is? That's okay. It takes time to find our what your spiritual gift is, but it also takes diligence. Perhaps the reason you don't know what it is is because you aren't diligently trying to find it. But how do you find it? I suggest serving in different areas in the church. Stop taking spiritual gifts tests online, and get up and do something. Don't get me wrong, I think spiritual gifts tests are helpful,* but they aren't the Holy Spirit. They can help your determine what you spiritual gifts are, but you won't truly know them until you get up and serve. However, through serving in different areas in the church, you can find out what you're passionate about and where you're gifted. Once you find an area in the church that you are passionate about (this can be something formal like serving in children's ministry or counseling others, or something less formal like giving encouraging words to others at church or praying for others), continue serving there. Trust me, it may take time to find your spiritual gift, but once you find it and entertain it for a while, you'll know what it is, and you won't be able to contain yourself because you have found where you have a great joy in serving the church. Trust me, its a glorious thing. So, go out and serve in order that you might find where God has gifted you.

What if the Bible doesn't list my spiritual gift? That's also okay. I don't think that the biblical writers wanted to give a full list of spiritual gifts, at least certainly not in Romans 12:6-8. Nevertheless, search the scriptures to find the lists of spiritual gifts so that you know what they are. I believe that every person has at least part of a gift listed in scripture, but it perhaps may be a combination of a few different gifts that might not make it easily prescriptable. Don't be discouraged if you can't put a direct label on your gift. Just find how God has gifted you and what you're passionate about, and go and do it.

So, do you know how you are gifted spiritually? If so, then go and serve according to the grace given to you. If not, then diligently seek to find where you are gifted through various ways of service. Don't just sit on your couch praying that God might reveal it to you--do the work. Nothing in Christianity yields itself to laziness.

A Personal Note: Spiritual gifts are the biggest evidence that I have for a living God. When I teach (which is my spiritual gift, if you haven't noticed), I quite literall get transcendentally passionate. When I teach, I experience something within me that is not of this world. This is one of the great beauties of spiritual gifts as they motivate us to serve the church by proving to us that there is a living God.

*To be clear, I'm not against spiritual gifts tests. I'm also not entirely for them. I think they can be helpful, I also think they can lead you to laziness. If you use them in the right way, they're great. But if you use them to slap a label on yourself without actuall going out and trying to serve in different areas in the church, they're a stumbling block.