Telescoping Spiritual Gifts

I was just reading in 1 Corinthians 12 this morning about the varieties of gifts that God has given to His people to accomplish His work. That reading prompted me to think about the other major sections of the New Testament where “spiritual gifts” are the theme. (Romans 12; Ephesians 4; 1 Peter 4).

Taken together, these are amazing lists, running the gamut from the relatively ordinary (giving and leading) to the extraordinary (speaking in tongues and miracles). Some are best accomplished working behind those who work behind the scenes (serving), while others, of necessity, are rather public (prophecy and teaching). Theologians have bisected and dissected these lists ‘til the world looks level. Bible scholars have studied these passages ad infinitum, usually in hopes of discovering God’s truth; sometimes, to grind a theological axe or to prove a sectarian point, ad nauseum.

Relative to spiritual gifts, the thoughts now rolling around in my head have little to do with parsing verbs or detailed exegesis, with theological systems or with the intricacies of sentence diagramming. (Not that such is unimportant. Careful exegesis is crucial and I’ve given the better part of my life to parsing verbs and to the exegetical study of Scripture so as to be able to bring messages to a church that reflect what the text really says.) No, my current concern is to back away from the Bible study microscope and take out the telescope to look at the overall purpose of spiritual gifts.

Again, I’m not saying that the individual gifts are unimportant or that the details don’t matter. The gift lists are important in the particular. Each gift is very important and very strategic in allowing the church to carry out its mission from God. But it is possible that we might focus so much on the trees of this or that gift that we miss the forest of God’s overall mission.

I have wondered if it is possible that Paul’s and Peter’s lists are not encyclopedic, but are of the “fer instance” variety. Have the apostles, in all four gift lists, given us every gift that God might ever give to Christians for all time? Maybe.

More likely, I suspect that they have, by giving us terrifically different kinds of lists, said, “Here are some of the
ways in which God gifts His people to do His work. You have received a gifting from God. Now, go do His work.”

Could the message of spiritual gifts be that simple? Might it be that through the writings of Paul and Peter, God’s message to you is that you are a chosen vessel, a servant of God on the pointy end of the spear, to take His love to a love-starved world? Try this on for size: The Holy Spirit has gifted you. Jesus promises to provide a setting in which you can exercise that gift. God the Father will produce some God-honoring fruit from the exercise of that gift. Now, go!