| Key
Teachings: Spiritual Gifts
The
Church, as the Body of Christ, is filled with many unique
and varied ministries and spiritual gifts. Paul deals
with the area of body ministry in Romans
12:4-8. We call these ministries Foundational Gifts
to differentiate them from the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
mentioned in 1
Corinthians 12:4-11 - There are different kinds
of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds
of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds
of working, but the same God works all of them in all
men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit
is given for the common good . . .
It
would be difficult to list all of the special ministries
and gifts that exist in the Church. However, God has
given Foundational Ministry Gifts to every member of
His body to contribute to the success and service of
the local Church. Nowhere in the Bible do we have a
complete list of them, but here and there we have partial
lists. In the book of Romans Paul mentions seven different
Foundational Ministry Gifts in the Body of Christ; they
are teaching, exhorting, prophesying, showing mercy,
giving, serving, and administrating. Every person will
recognize and identify with one or more of these foundational
gifts. They are essential not only to the church but
they are foundational gifts that are used in both your
personal life, i.e. family and friend relationships,
and market place ministries.
Foundational
Gifts Profile
This profile will help identify your strengths in the
foundational gifts listed in Romans
12:4-8. This information might help you identify
your “flow” in the different ministry areas.
Place a check beside all statements that describe you.
Which
of these seven persons best describes you?
Person
Number 1
_____ You want to make sure that statements are true
and accurate.
_____ You desire to gain as much knowledge as you can.
_____ You react to people who make unfounded statements.
_____ You check the credentials of one who wants to
teach you.
_____ You use your mind to check out an argument.
_____ You enjoy spending hours doing research on a subject.
_____ You like to tell others as many facts as you can
on a topic.
_____ You pay close attention to words and phrases.
_____ You tend to be silent on a matter until you check
it out.
_____ You like to study material in a systematic sequence.
Person
Number 2
_____ You can visualize the final result of a major
undertaking.
_____ You enjoy coordinating the efforts of many to
reach a common goal.
_____ You can break down a large task into achievable
goals.
_____ You are able to delegate assignments to others.
_____ You see people as resources that can be used to
get a job done.
_____ You are willing to endure reaction in order to
accomplish a task.
_____ You require loyalty in those who are under your
supervision.
_____ You remove yourself from petty details to focus
on the final goal.
_____ You can encourage your workers and inspire them
to action.
_____ You move on to a new challenge once a job is finished.
Person
Number 3
_____ You see actions as either right or wrong.
_____ You react strongly to people who are not what
they appear to be.
_____ You can usually detect when something is not what
it appears to be.
_____ You can quickly discern a person’s character.
_____ You feel a responsibility to correct those who
do wrong.
_____ You separate yourself from those who refuse to
repent of evil.
_____ You explain what is wrong with an item before
you sell it.
_____ You let people know how you feel about important
issues.
_____ You enjoy people who are completely honest with
you.
_____ You are quick to judge yourself when you fail.
_____ You are willing to do right even if it means suffering
alone for it.
Person
Number 4
_____ You can sense when people have hurt feelings.
_____ You react to those who are insensitive to other’s
feelings.
_____ You are able to discern genuine love.
_____ You desire deep friendships in which there is
mutual commitment.
_____ You seem to attract people who tell you their
problems.
_____ You find it difficult to be firm or decisive with
people.
_____ You tend to take up offenses for those whom you
love.
_____ You need quality time to explain how you feel.
_____ You want to remove those who cause hurts to others.
_____ You often wonder why God allows people to suffer.
Person
Number 5
_____ You motivate people to become what you see they
could be.
_____ You like to give counsel in logical steps of action.
_____ You can usually discern a person’s level
of spiritual maturity.
_____ You enjoy working out projects to help people
grow spiritually.
_____ You sometimes raise expectations of results prematurely.
_____ You dislike teaching which does not give practical
direction.
_____ You like to see the facial responses of those
whom you counsel.
_____ You often take “family time” to counsel
others.
_____ You enjoy giving examples from the lives of others.
_____ You soon give up on those who do not follow your
counsel.
_____ You find it hard to follow through on the project
you have started.
_____ You identify with people where they are in order
to counsel them.
Person
Number 6
_____ You notice the practical needs of others and enjoy
meeting them.
_____ You enjoy serving to free others for more important
things.
_____ You are willing to neglect your own work to help
others.
_____ You sometimes go beyond your physical strength
in serving others.
_____ You can remember the likes and dislikes of others.
_____ You can usually detect ways to serve before anyone
else can.
_____ You will even use your own funds to get a job
done quickly.
_____ You do not mind doing jobs by yourself.
_____ You do not want public praise, but you do need
to feel appreciated.
_____ You find it difficult to say “no”
to those who ask for help.
_____ You like to put “extra touches” on
the jobs you do.
Person
Number 7
_____ You are very frugal with the money for yourself
and your family.
_____ You enjoy investing money in the ministries of
other people.
_____ You have an ability to make money by wise investments.
_____ You desire to keep your giving a secret.
_____ You react negatively to pressure appeals for money.
_____ You like to encourage others to give with your
gifts.
_____ You want the ministries you support to be as effective
as possible.
_____ You sometimes fear that your gifts will corrupt
those who get them.
_____ You desire to give gifts of high quality.
_____ You enjoy knowing that your gifts were specific
answers to prayer.
Which
person did you check the most? ____________________________
Your
greatest area of gifting is: __________________________________
Person
Number 1 - Teacher
Person Number 2 - Administrator
Person Number 3 - Prophet
Person Number 4 - Mercy
Person Number 5 - Exhorter
Person Number 6 - Serving
Person Number 7 - Giver
Using Foundational Gifts
If each of the seven gifts were represented in a family
and someone dropped the dessert on the floor; here is
what each one (gift) might say:
Developing
Your Foundational Gift
The key principle in developing your gift is obedience.
You will never achieve God’s purposes for your
life until you learn obedience to His Word. Another
key principle is to learn the characteristics of the
other six foundational gifts and work on incorporating
them into your life. God designed the body of Christ
to be interdependent therefore we need each other to
properly function just as our physical body needs every
part. For instance, if a person with the gift of prophecy
does not learn from one with the gift of mercy, he may
speak the truth, but probably not in love as we are
commanded to do (See Ephesians
4:15). Or if one with the gift of exhortation does
not learn from one with the gift of teaching, she may
give steps of action for spiritual growth, but may not
be scripturally accurate. Only as we understand this
will we avoid the danger of thinking more highly of
ourselves than we should. (See Romans
12:3-6).
In
Scripture God commands all Christians to:
PROPHESY
“Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual
gifts, especially the gift of prophecy… He who
speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies
edifies the church.” 1
Cor. 14:1,4
SERVE
“...serve one another in love.” Galatians
5:13
TEACH
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as
you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom...”
Colossians
3:16
EXHORT
“But encourage one another daily... so that none
of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”
Hebrews
3:13
GIVE
“Give, and it will be given to you…”
Luke
6:38
ADMINISTRATE
“But everything should be done in a fitting and
orderly way.” 1
Cor. 14:40
SHOW MERCY
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy
and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion,
kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
Colossians
3:12
Using Your Gift
If seven people, representing each of the foundational
gifts, met to organize an ideal church, here is what
each one would probably emphasize.
See
Through Others’ Eyes
Begin asking those with other gifts to tell you what
things are important to them. Ask them to describe what
they see in a particular situation. Encourage them to
point out “blind spots” in your life and
service for Christ.
• Find Christians who are successfully using their
gifts, and study how they go about doing various things:
• How does a prophet identify and expose sin?
• How does a server see and meet practical needs?
• How does a teacher validate truth?
• How does an exhorter visualize steps of actions?
• How does a giver make wise investments?
• How does a ruler get jobs done?
• How does one gifted with mercy know what hurts
others?
Discovering
Blind Spots
When another Christian sees you, he will tend to evaluate
you on the basis of his strong points and he will judge
you on the basis of his weak points.
“You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass
judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you
judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because
you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know
that God’s judgment against those who do such
things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass
judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you
think you will escape God’s judgment?” Romans
2:1-3
With another person’s evaluation there will be
a strong desire to help you achieve in the areas they
have already learned. In order not to think of ourselves
more highly than we ought we must go to those with the
following gifts for counsel regarding our blind spots:
• Prophetic: To reveal motives and actions which
are not godly.
• Server: To see areas of service you have overlooked
and attitudes of ungratefulness.
• Teacher: To explain inaccuracies of statements
or conclusions which you have made.
• Exhorter: To pinpoint causes of problems and
steps of solution.
• Giver: To reveal unwise use of assets.
• Administrator: To point out mismanagement of
time or procedure in accomplishing goals.
• Mercy: To share areas of insensitivity.
Fulfilling
Responsibilities: We are to put our whole heart
and soul into whatever we do. (Col.
3:23) We should visualize how an activity can be
an expression of our motivational gift. If we have the
gift of mercy, but a responsibility to be a teacher,
we must view the teaching job as a means of promoting
harmony and understanding.
Determining
Priorities: It may be that we have assumed
responsibilities God did not intend for us to have,
or activities which detract from our ability to concentrate
on our gift. We are instructed to concentrate on our
gift (Romans
12). This concentration is required so that we will
be able to make a significant contribution to the cause
of Christ through the motivation that God has given
to us.
Delegating
Responsibilities: By knowing what our gift
is, we should have a new freedom and ability to delegate
responsibilities to others whose spiritual motivation
would better equip them for achievement.
Anticipating
Responses: By knowing what the motivations
of others are and learning to see situations from their
point of view, we will be able to anticipate and understand
their responses (Phil.
2:4). We will further be able to harmonize their
responses and gain the emphasis God is making through
them.
Edifying
the Body of Christ: We have a strong desire
to see others learn the skills, which we emphasize through
our gift. As we learn how to share with them our motivation,
we are not only developing a life message, but we are
expressing the love of Christ and perfecting His Body
(1
Peter 4:10). If we fail to exercise our gift in
this way, there will be weakness and imbalance in the
church.
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