Spiritual Gift Exchange
December 13, 2022
Dear CPC Family,
I’m sure most of you have thought about gifts in the past 24 hours—either anxiety that you have more shopping to do or anticipation for a long-hoped-for gift that might be waiting for you under the tree on Christmas morning.
We exchange gifts at Christmas to celebrate Jesus Christ as the Father’s greatest gift (more on that grand truth in next week’s letter!). But this season is also an appropriate time to reflect on the spiritual gifts that the ascended Lord Jesus Christ has poured out on the church—and on each of you—by the work of the Holy Spirit.
There are several places these gifts are listed in the Bible. You can find them in Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12, and 1 Peter 4:8-11.
How to Discover Your Spiritual Gifts
The first time I ever gave any serious thought to spiritual gifts was in training for a high school missions trip. Part of the training process each year was completing a spiritual gifts survey. I remember two things about this survey. First, the one we used came from a decidedly charismatic source and it was always funny to see which members of our decidedly Presbyterian youth group would end up with high scores for tongues or prophecy (these, by the way, are gifts of the Spirit that we believe ceased after the age of the apostles).
The second thing I remember about this survey is that my highest scoring gifts were always, to my 14 year old mind, kind of boring: administration, service, teaching (definitely not tongues or prophecy).
Spiritual gift surveys have a place, but the best way to identify your spiritual gifts is by serving.
Do you see a need? Jump in to meet it! God’s unique gifting means that you see situations in ways that many others don’t.
Is there something about our church that you especially value or that has blessed you? That may be a clue to a gift you’ve received and should work to develop.
Have multiple people sincerely thanked you for a specific way the Lord has used you in their lives? That’s another very strong clue to the Holy Spirit’s work in you and through you!
Spiritual Gifts and Our Circumstances
It makes sense to spend some time thinking about God’s unique gifting to you. Sometimes, though, how we serve is much more about our circumstances than about our own subjective appraisal of our gifts.
Here’s an example: perhaps you don’t think you have the gift of evangelism. But if a Mormon missionary knocks on your door or a neighbor in crisis asks you why you have such peace, guess what? You have the gift of evangelism! It is no surprise to God when you find yourself in situations that don’t necessarily line up with your spiritual gifting. Trust him to work, even through your feeble efforts.
Sometimes our circumstances feel limiting rather than stretching.
Perhaps you’re in a a life-stage where time is at a premium and you don’t have the expanses of uninterrupted time that are needed for certain gifts.
Perhaps illness means you’re at home rather than face-to-face with others at church.
Again, these circumstances are not a surprise to God. Instead, they are the providential circumstances that help to guide you in how to use your gifts. All of us can pray anywhere and anytime. Many of us can initiate encouraging phone calls or notes. The English poet John Milton struggled with this question of limitation in serving God as he became blind.Here’s the conclusion he arrived at in his Sonnet 19:
“God doth not need
Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o’er Land and Ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.”
God’s focus and love are upon you, not on what you can or can’t do. This means that, no matter your limitations, if you are a believer in Jesus, there is a way for you to give your everyday life to serving Him for the benefit of his people. And in certain seasons that spiritual gift may be your simple example of trust in the Lord.
The Purpose of Spiritual Gifts
We can treat finding our spiritual gifts like a personality profile: an exercise in self-knowledge. Knowing how God has gifted you can be a helpful way of knowing yourself, but the main purpose of spiritual gifts is found in Ephesians 4:12: “for building up the body of Christ.” The gifts you’ve been given are intended for the benefit of your church and the believers in your life. That’s one point of the Bible’s teaching on spiritual gifts: put them to work! Here’s how Romans 13:6-8 summarizes it:
“Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.”
So, Corona Presbyterian Church, “let us use” the gifts we’ve received! If you need help with this or would like to get plugged into service, talk to me, any of our elders, or our deacon. And you can know that we are praying for you to discover and use your gifts with great anticipation of the fruit that God will grow in our midst as we serve together and serve one another.
In the Father’s Love,
Pastor Andrew