To understand the importance and place of the gifts of the Spirit we must understand the context within the Body of Christ. In order for us to properly understand anything in the Kingdom it must always be seen through the heart of relationship with Father and relationship with each other. Outside of these references we can twist, distort and put the emphasis in the wrong place, causing much damage to ourselves and to others.
Let’s start with picturing what a community looks like. We can start a community with just a few families. If these families are all farmers there would be plenty of food but it would be a weak community. Let’s say a blacksmith decides to set up shop in the community. He would be a welcome asset because now the farmers have a place to go to for needed repairs. Then a doctor comes to town. The community has just grown in strength. There is now a place to bring the sick and injured. Then a merchant sets up a general store, a baker opens a bakery, then a restaurant, a bus terminal, a train station, a movie theater. Each person who joins the community with their specific skill set causes the community to grow in strength and richness.
The apostle Paul used a different metaphor. He referred to the body, the diversity of parts and the importance of those parts to the strength of the body. Where would we be without our left foot? Or where would we be without our right hand? Paul warned of the problem when everyone wants to be a hand, or in my metaphor, when everyone is a farmer. It’s important to understand that when it comes to the gifts of the Spirit none are less important than another and we need all the gifts to function in the richness of the Kingdom.
According to Paul, as he wrote to the Corinthians, every believer is a part of the body, as in everyone has a gift in this rich community. One is not more important than another as we need each one of them. And these gifts are not distributed by us but by the Spirit according to the Spirit not according to our determination. We don’t decide what gift we have received. That is important so we can simply accept who we are in the Spirit and get on with living the Kingdom life.
I can’t stress this enough : the gifts are not a reward for good behaviour. The gifts are Christ distributed among the believers. It is in unity that we find maturity and in maturity that we find Father’s glory. The gifts are the supernatural expression of the Kingdom in this world and are supposed to be as natural to us as walking, talking, breathing, and they give us a wonderful sense of belonging to each other. I need what you have and you need what I have. To live anything less is to live short of Father’s design for us in this world.
I discourage you from exploring the gifts outside of the relationship with Jesus. The most important thing is to be in this growing intimate relationship with Jesus that we have been called to and designed for. To try to operate in a gift outside of that relationship is an abuse and comes with terrible consequences in this world. The gifts are a beautiful thing that increase our service to the Lord, to each other and are a fantastic expression of surrendered worship. In these gifts we know it is nothing about us and everything about him, he determines them and he supplies them, we only walk in what he gives. And in doing so we make our community, tribe, body rich and strong.
So it is within this context that we will now begin to explore the gifts of the Spirit.
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