I Corinthians 12:27-31 Status Update: We Should Want to be Effective Parts of Jesus

Proposition: The better we understand God's true design for His church body, the more effective parts of Christ's body we can be. 

There are 4 keys to understanding spiritual gifts.

First, there’s our new identity in Christ.  There’s a difference between your identity and your spiritual gifts.  Paul told the Corinthians they were the body of Christ, one team with many parts.  We are first children of God and representatives of Him.  Our gifts flow from that.  The gifts we have depend on what God needs done at the time so it is possible to have certain gifts now and different gifts later.  However, if you allow your gifts to equal your identity, you may feel like less of a Christian when your role changes. A better outlook would be to take what you’ve been given and use it for right worship.

Secondly, there’s design.  God gives Christ body the parts/gifts it needs to accomplish His plan.  Because we are chosen and placed by God, the body would be incomplete if some parts were missing.  This would weaken the overall effectiveness of the body.  

Thirdly, there difference. Paul asked some seemingly silly questions… “Do we all have the exact same gifts?” Obviously no but the Corinthians were fixated on the gift of tongues and wanted everyone to have that particular gift.  How effective would they be if they all had only that one gift?  Would God have given them all the same gift?  Is this happening in churches today?

God has designed a diverse body but so often we see diversity as “dis-unity”.  We have to remember we have unity because of our oneness in Christ.  Our diversity is a blessing from God to accomplish the plan He’s set in motion. 

Folks also struggle with seeing their “everyday” gifts AS gifts.  We tend to think of “church” only as the weekly Sunday gathering so some gifts are more evident in that context but what about Monday gifts? Tuesday gifts? Wed...?  Small groups, outreaches and everyday life provide a wonderful landscape to showcase the different gifts (hospitality, counseling, empathy, repairing a house, fixing a car, etc…).  (Romans 12:1-2)

Fourth, God chooses what gifts we have so we can be most effective.  Paul said we should earnestly covet/desire the most useful gifts but sadly, some Christians covet the more attractive/popular gifts which could be the least useful in the church.  There is something more excellent to consider…not more excellent than gifts but a more excellent way to carry them out.  We should always consider others first, thinking less about our needs/wants and paying more attention to those around us.  Read ahead through chapter 13 to get a jumpstart on next week’s message. 

CHALLENGE

How can you share the gift within you in a new or bolder way this Christmas season?

Songs With This Set
Be Glorified
Emmanuel, Emmanuel
Angels We Have Heard On High
How Sweet The Day