Christian Community - About Spiritual Gifts

Scripture passages regarding Spiritual Gifts
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
1 Corinthians 12:28
Romans 12:6-8
1 Peter 4:10
Ephesians 4:7-11

I have always loved the idea of team, and the dissection of team into its unique parts.
During the summer of 1967, our family was on vacation at Daytona Beach. One afternoon, my dad took me to see the new Lee Marvin movie, "The Dirty Dozen." I fell in love with that movie - the idea of 12 unique personalities coming together for a mission many considered failed before it began. The idea of "team" just resonated with every cell of my being.

In 1991, when we moved to Lexington, I served as publisher-editor of what was then The Dispatch-News, the county's oldest publishing newspaper. I inherited parts and built with others a "Dream Team" news operation. In three years, we won more than 30 awards for news coverage, layout and design, and editorial writing. Working with that team made coming to work a lot of fun, and many of us remain great friends today. We all brought specific personalities, skills, temperaments and personalities to the table. And, we recognized it and embraced it.

My Vicki and I are blessed to have four sons. I would have loved to have had a daughter, but the Lord gave me this "team" of boys. Each is so incredibly different in personality and temperament, and yet they love and care deeply for one another. When we gather around the kitchen table for a meal, each brings his own wit and personality to the mix. No television show or movie could ever be that entertaining.

Maybe you can imagine how excited I am about the relaunch of our class in 2014, especially as we consider the "sum of the parts" within Christian Community. I love the idea of everyone being different, and everyone bringing themselves to the community, and the community being stronger because of every individual’s contribution. (And, it's even okay if we disagree on some things).

But, I want to state and state again that Christian Community is different than any other community. It trumps them all. Does your life reflect that? As a believer, it should and you should be challenged accordingly. The Christian Community is a supernatural organization comprised of individuals who are spiritual beings acknowledging this supernatural condition. I know, it's mind-boggling, but it's true. You and I are simply dust in the wind here on this Earth - this life is a page within the larger book of our supernatural, spiritual existence. And, as Community, we have little precious time to do all we can to point many others to faith. To do that it requires a lot of individual parts working together as one.

Now, we come to spiritual gifts. The Holy Spirit within each believer - God in reality - brings gifts to believers. These gifts allow believers to love and serve within the Christian Community so that the whole can impact the Kingdom. As we dive into an examination of specific gifts over the next few weeks, I want put forward a 30,000 foot view of spiritual gifts and some reminders.

1. Spiritual Gifts are supernatural empowerments given by the Holy Spirit to the followers of Jesus so that followers can do the work of building up the Christian Community  and extend the Kingdom of God throughout the world. The Holy Spirit owns and dispenses gifts (1 Corinthians 12:7, 11 – “given to each of us so we can help each other.” And, “It is the one and only spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.”) We are the stewards of these gifts – the managers and protectors of them. (1 Peter 4:10) – (“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.”)
2. Spiritual Gifts are not natural talents or professional skills. They allow one believer to minister to other believers within the body. Many people err by trying to translate spiritual gifts into what they do well professionally or within hobbies. My No. 1 is Exhortation. Webster's Dictionary defines exhortation as “strongly encouraging or urging someone to do something” but as a spiritual gift it means “Those who exhort stay focused on helping people maximize their own potential and live from within their own gifts and skills. They build confidence in others.” Can you see the difference?
3. Strengthening the body includes encouragement and comfort. So, almost all gifts are shadowed by encouragement and comfort. So, don’t be surprised if your gifts come around to the same end-game – encouraging and comforting others. Encouraging others can be corrective, as in, "Let me encourage you to treat your family with more respect."
4. Spiritual gifts should work together, complementing each other. They must be used – framed – in love, and if not used in love they will be abused and cause trouble in the body. Love, when used with gifts is like oil in a machine. Love makes all the parts work well together. Believers must love one another.
5. What kind of ministry do you enjoy the most and which shows the most fruitfulness? That probably indicates your giftedness. If you enjoy teaching and find that people are edified through your teaching ministry, it is likely that the Holy Spirit has given you a gift of teaching. If you find that the Lord puts people in your path who are ready to surrender their life to Christ, you probably have a spiritual gift of evangelism. If you enjoy inviting people to your home, either for a meal or to stay, you probably have a gift of hospitality. Spiritual gifts will not be a chore. My lowest is Compassion. That doesn't mean that I am hard-hearted toward the misery of others. But, those with the gift of Compassion hear about a need, drop everything and respond to it. That's not who I am. When I hear about someone in the hospital, I find myself saying, "Should I go see them or just let them rest?" Those with the gift of Compassion don't ask that question - they just respond with no expectation.
6. Spiritual Gifts can also have a witnessing effect on non-believers. People will “know us by our love.” 2 Corinthians 5:20, “So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” While the gifts are first and foremost for strengthing the community, unbelievers are always watching.
7. Gifts can be received upon conversion, but are often received at various moments subsequent to conversion. It’s believed that Timothy (1 Timothy 4:14) was gifted when he was commissioned by the church to begin his ministry. “Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received when the elders of the church laid hands on you.”
8. Pastor, preacher, author A.W. Tozar wrote, “No one ever received the Holy Spirit’s power without knowing it. (Keys to the Deeper Life). A creed of power without the experience of power is worthless. It is a Biblical necessity that believers discover and move into the arena of spiritual giftedness. You can't really call yourself a follower of Jesus and ignore the giftedness of the Holy Spirit. Spiritually, you would be at odds with yourself and probably implode.
9. A spirit-filled life is evidence by the fruits of the spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. “The Holy Spirit produces fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” These qualities are produced by the Holy Spirit, and demonstrate the Spirit is in control of a believer’s life. People are always wondering about the evidence of spirituality, and the fruits give us that.
10. Other evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit is a fruitful ministry. In Acts 1:8, Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would give power to His witnesses – introducing others to Jesus. I believe a follower's life will always point people to faith in Jesus. The person who dies having never influenced another person toward faith would be unable to make a compelling case of his own faith . . . regardless of what else they did on this Earth. The Holy Spirit wants us to have a holy life for effective service. The good news is that exercising your gifts, whatever they are, will empower you to influence others for faith.
11. I believe exercising gifts will be an emotional thing. Exercising gifts will always involve a sense of joy, and may involve tears and even laughter. 
12. Discovery of spiritual gifts must be a spiritual experience. The Holy Spirit will reveal His gifts in our lives. However, diagnostic instruments can help us uncover what God has given. These diagnostics, however, should not be confused with personality tests. That would be degrading of giftedness.