Another part of re-simplifying our views of spiritual gifts (back to the original simplicity of Scripture) is recognizing the categories. 1 Corinthians 12 explicitly presents spiritual gifts as pieces of a larger whole (the members are pieces of the larger body). Yet, we usually consider spiritual gifts as a collection of neat idiosyncrasies (recognizing that our gifts make us special and different) but we don’t connect them to a larger whole to show how each piece relates to the others.
Perhaps this is because we don’t know how to understand the body metaphor or what it points to. But there is good news. There is a biblical church structure to be found. All the teachings about various spiritual gifts and all specific instructions to church officers should be understood in relationship to this biblical church structure. It emerges from the story of the early church as told in the book of Acts. The early church was driven to accomplish a simple but earthshaking mission so they structured their church around that goal. The mission was to take the gospel to the world (Acts 1:8) and the resulting structure was as follows:
- Fellowship: Some are called to oversee the social needs of the church (the biblical deacons; Acts 6:1-7).
- Guidance: Some are called to oversee the spiritual direction of the church (the biblical elders; Acts 14:23-15:1-6).
- Outreach: Some are called to expand the mission by reaching new areas (the biblical apostles; Acts 13:1-3)
Of course the references given above are only meant as samples of the larger picture (which can be easily deduced from a careful reading of Acts). But, the mission structure of the early church centers around the mission and is comprised of these three ministry areas: fellowship, guidance, and outreach. Those who are not called to lead in these areas are, apparently, called to help in one of them.
Let me suggest that the first task in identifying your spiritual gifts or how they relate to the church is identifying which of these three areas of ministry God had made you most passionate about.
Another significant idea emerges from 1 Corinthians 12. There, it describes the church body as Christ’s body on earth. In it, Paul explains that each member of the church is a member of Christ’s body (v. 12-14). He rebukes those who minimize the importance of another member (v. 14-19) and he rebukes those who minimize the importance of their own role (v. 20-21). And, in all of this, he never allows for anyone to be a member of the body/church and not be active in some part of its ministry.
Church leaders often forget that everyone is not given the same role, and so they implore people to join the latest initiative by appealing to their sense of Christian duty. This practice is so strong that, even when I relentlessly communicate that my own pastoral appeals for ministry involvement are not to a specific task but to the task God calls each person to, people hear them that way anyway. But, more tragic is that members often forget that being a minister for Christ is the only way to be a follower of Christ and a member of his body/church.
When we allow this mindset to remain, we not only cripple God’s witness on earth but we let God’s children remain unfaithful to him without sounding a word of warning. Is it too harsh to say that you are either a minister or you are not a member of Christ’s church? It is what Paul seems to suggest.
Science tells us that, in nature, things tend toward disorder–that time spawns chaos. In the church, I suspect the opposite is true. We take simple things and make them complex. This is certainly true of spiritual gifts. We read texts like 1 Corinthians 12 and make seminars, sophisticated gifts assessment inventories, and committees to direct spiritual gift development. No doubt these tools have served some people well but what the apostle Paul really meant to say was quite simple: God made you who you are for a purpose. In the Corinthian church, they had certainly noticed their unique approaches to life (There is evidence in the fact that Paul spends much of his letter telling them how to work together in spite of differences). The same is true for most of us. We don’t need spiritual gifts inventories or the like to tell us what excites us and what we’re good at. We just need to employ creativity in finding ways to use our gifts to serve him. It’s quite simple.