My sincere hope is that everyone who attends our church leaves with their arms full, so to speak. I want people to take – take the teaching, take a closer walk with the Lord through worship, take fellowship, take prayer and encouragement, take coffee and a bagel. At the same time, it’s reasonable to expect that everyone who attends, gives. In fact, the Bible says we all have gifts that are meant to be shared with the church.
First, our gifts are God-given (1 Cor. 12:7-11). That should humble us and remove any arrogance or sense of superiority we may have. Verse 18 reminds us that the members we fellowship with are here by God’s design.
Second, our gifts are given for the edification of the church. This theme is communicated at least a dozen times in these two chapters, including:
12:7 — “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.”
13:3 - “He that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.”
14:12 - “Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.”
14:26 - "When ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying."
Third, our gifts are to be motivated by our love for people (1 Cor. 13:1-3). We can be gifted and impatient. Gifted and mean. Gifted and selfish. Gifts, exercised with the wrong motive, become ineffectual at best and toxic at worst. When our gifts are motivated by something other than love, our gifts can become instruments of control and competition (1 Cor 12:21-25).
Let’s remember that this body analogy didn’t start with the church. It started with Jesus Christ, who gives sight to the blind, speech to the mute, hearing to the deaf, and a heart of flesh to those with a heart of stone. The first spiritual gift he gave you was bringing your body back to life. He continues to give us gifts so that we can continue the work of edifying each other here on earth. Then it stands to reason that to truly be a disciple of Jesus is no less than this – to generously distribute our gifts in love for the edification of His church.
