No Lesser Gifts
Are you a gift giver? If you’re at all familiar with Gary Chapman’s landmark book The Five Love Languages, you’re aware of his theory that each person receives and gives love in different ways. Personally, receiving gifts is not the primary way I receive love. Yet I love to give them when there is no expectation to supply a present. When I’m online or in a shop and see something personal, funny, meaningful, I usually buy it and give it as a “just because” present. Not for a birthday or Christmas, I like to surprise people with thing that reminded me of them.
Spiritual gifts work in a similar way. They are at times intentional, but more often a spontaneous offering meant to bring joy to another. They seem natural to us because they are indeed in our nature. God gives every believer, though the anointing of the Holy Spirit, a unique role that is needed for Christian community to function well. As our key verse describes, we are to steward the varied graces we are given to serve one another. The gifts are diverse because the needs of the church are diverse.
Many people I meet haven’t thought about their unique gifts. There are many reasons people don’t intentionally develop their gifts and benefit their spiritual community. First, they might be unaware of how diverse the gifts are. In the Bible, there are 3 main sections that outline the gifts in a list-like fashion: Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4. In addition, they might think that “on stage” gifts like music or speaking are the only ones that really matter. Paul says these gifts have their own honor but we are to honor the lesser gifts, which means more exist. Lastly, those that do have a self-awareness of how they bring encouragement to other believers don’t often value their gifts. They might not think what they have to bring matters much to others.
Using some verses from these key passages, let’s dig a little deeper into the lesser known gifts.
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. Romans 12:6-8
Prophecy
Most often when people think of prophecy, they think of the prophets, pre-incarnate biblical figures who foretold future events and predicted the Messiah’s birth. If that is your definition of prophecy, it’s easy to discount this gift. Prophecy is hard to define so I will take it directly from Thomas Schriener[1]. He says one way to think of this gift is communicating with others revelations from God in a spontaneous fashion. There are other commentators that connect the gift of prophecy to the gift of preaching: proclaiming the word of the Lord through weekly exposition.
There are denominations that would take that very liberally and make it a part of their weekly gathering to declair words from God at the assembly of believers. I want to be careful here, as I know my readership is worldwide and to my delight, contains believers of many denominations of the Christian faith. To be honest, my experience of these types of sharing in a service when visiting more charismatic churches has seemed to come from emotional fervor and doesn’t follow the other guidelines about order in the church. And as this is not an essay to discuss the biblical regulation of these practices, I will instead share out how I have seen this gift in my life.
Often when I am reading the bible, I will read a verse and God will put someone on my heart. When this happens, I share this verse with them along with some enouragement. Sometimes when I am praying, the Spirit prompts me to pray a certain way for someone and I will tell them, I’m praying for you and this is how God led me to pray. This is prophecy and you may find you have that gift, the sensitivity to think of others as you spend time in the presence of God and the courage to share those impressions with others.
Service
Basically, helping with what needs done. On the surface, this many not seem like something important, but I would argue this is the most versatile and practical gift to have. When you love just helping out, jumping into whatever needs done, and are the kind of person who asks, “Is there anything I can do” not to be polite but because you really want to lift a burden, you have this gift. Not only that, you get real joy from helping others and don’t feel resentment. You might sign up for a meal train, take someone to the airport, help them move, as long as you can feel a need, you feel connected to the body.
Teaching
Teaching is having an understanding of God’s word and sharing it with clarity with other people. So many different kinds of roles within the church showcase this gift. The obvious one is your pastor sharing his weekly message but youth workers and bible study leaders also share this gift. Teaching isn’t always formalized in lesson plans and sermons but in answering questions when you have a cup of coffee with a friend. If you have a passion to study the word of God and share what you are learning with others, you may have this gift.
Exhortation
This gift is synonymous for encouragement. If you are someone that is sensitive to how another is progressing with the Lord and find yourself coming alongside them to cheer them on you may have this gift. It might be scripture you read and share, prayer, or even the ability to sit quietly and listen without judgement. You inspire others and literally give courage to them to obey the Lord in difficult seasons. Often you are sought out for advice in how to build a relationship with God. A challenging aspect of this gifting is sometimes you tell people things they don’t want to hear, because honesty is part of your gifting.
Generosity
Jesus said it was more blessed to give than receive[2] and those who love to give understand the simple pleasure that comes when sharing what they have. Those with this gift understand that all they have belongs to God and their role is to steward it. God loves a cheerful giver[3] and those with this gift love to give things away. It may not be money, but you may be generous with time or your talents, really any resource that can be shared.
Leadership
Today I watched the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a wildcard team who were in the hunt for a playoff spot, make their way to Super Bowl 55. When receiving the division trophy, the coach gave credit to Tom Brady and said, “It only took one person to believe we could do it.” Leadership is a gift that may seem desirable, because one gets all the recognition, but it also comes with a cost. You may get the glory when your endeavors prosper but you also get the blame when your project fails. Yet God redefines success when He explains that anything we do that abounds in His work is not in vain[4]. You may not be a church elder, but if you bring people together around a common cause, keep them focused, encourage those who want to quit, stay committed when things are tough, you may have this gifting.
Acts of mercy
If this is your gift, Jesus say you are doubly blessed because if you are merciful to others, you will receive mercy[5]. Mercy is an attitude and actions motivated by sympathy. You may express your acts of mercy by forgiving quickly, not taking retribution, or simple acts of kindness. If you cloth the needy, care for the sick, and visit believers in prison, not only are you being merciful to others, but you are doing these acts unto God Himself[6].
For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 1 Corinthians 12:8-10
Wisdom
When you can give someone good advice by looking at what scripture says and their circumstances you are giving the gift of wisdom. Wisdom is often found with age[7] but not always[8]. Someone who grounds their life in the Word of God and submits to it is someone who is able to give wise council to others. You are open to reason, impartial, and sincere[9] and fear the Lord, being open to correction[10].
Knowledge
Knowledge is the gift of insight given someone to understand the mysteries of God and can explain them to others, so this gift might relate to teaching. Colossians 2 explains that God’s plan of redemption was a mystery.[11] Even Jesus said that the kingdom of God was mysterious[12] not because God wants to hide his plan of redemption but because it is hard to understand and wasn’t revealed even to the Jews until He came. Someone with this gift has a peace of mind about the challenging things surrounding our faith and can bring understanding and peace to those that come with questions.
Faith
As a believer, we all have faith in that we believe in what we cannot see[13] with our physical eyes, trust through the Spirit the future hope of our salvation, and wait in expectation for Jesus to return bring us home to the place He is preparing for us[14]. What makes this gift different from the common faith we share? Someone with the gift of faith is someone who may not struggle with doubt in when trouble comes, who seems to look past their circumstances and see the goodness of God, and inspires others by their own confidence. If you have this gift it doesn’t mean you never have times where you are unsure, it just means that you typically have a steady self-assurance when you go through trials that God will come through. God often uses people with this gift to inspire others simply as they live out their faith.
Healing
The language used to describe the gifts of healing is broad enough to describe different kinds of healing for different kinds of illness. As a mom, you may calm a tantrumming toddler. As a physician, you may treat a variety of diseases. As a counselor, God may use you to heal damaged emotions. You may have shelter rescued women from sex trafficking or facilitate recovery groups for addicts. Because we live in a fallen word there is hurt and God empowers some of us to facilitate His healing. Within the church God instructs the elders to pray for the sick[15]. Though out the gospels and the book of Acts we see physical healing come from Jesus and the apostles which relates to our next gift of…
Miracles
Biblically, these supernatural acts were done as a proof to establish the validity of the gospel. This topic is debated among commentators so to summarize, I can tell you that some scholars believe those gifts have ceased and some believe they still occur. I’m someone who sees the work of God in my life as proof of His power and ability to do all things for the good of those He love Him[16]. I love hearing and sharing stories of how God showed up and moved, making His will and the way clear, His power on display. When we share of His authority at work in our lives, we are in one sense sharing the gift of miracles with others.
Discernment
I know we aren’t to have favorites, but what an important gift! Most of the New Testament letters warn believers of the danger of false teachers. Having the gift of discernment is the ability to test the spirits to see whether they are from God[17]. In our tech-laden culture, we now have access to an unending multitude of opinions, and many who claim to have spiritual truth. We need those that have such a strong handle of the Word of God to help us figure out the false from the true.
Languages
This is a gift I wish I had! I’ve always wanted to be able to speak more than one language and help those who can’t communicate connect. If you are bilingual, God may use your ability to understand multiple languages to bring people from every tribe and tongue together to worship Him[18]. Though a spiritual gift is more than just an ability (it is a divinely given gift to serve the church), He can still empower your knowledge of multiple languages to glorify Himself.
One of the greatest examples of this gift is Acts 2:1-12 when the Holy Spirit fell upon the church at Pentecost. Those receiving the Spirit began praising God in various languages and travelers from different places were able to understand them. Read chapter 14 of 1 Corinthians for further instruction in this gift. In a group setting, when one speaks in a different language, an interpreter is also present because the building up of the church is done with language that can be understood. He puts this regulation in guidelines for gathering to protect us from sensationalism and worshiping an experience. He desires the gathering of believers to grow our conscious and rational knowledge of Him[19].
Now that we’ve covered the what, we need to remember the how. Though this list is not exhaustive, what binds all spiritual gifts to each another is that we activate our gifts with God’s strength and not our own. When you serve with His ability and empowerment, you always bring glory to Him and not yourself. If you rely on yourself and your strength to serve, you won’t ultimately be fruitful and only point others to your own deficiencies. If you approach your giftings with the desire to bring recognition to yourself, you are enacting the same sin that brought Satan’s fall from heaven[20]. In contrast, if you serve with the strength God supplies, you are bringing glory to Him and filling your place in the body of Christ in a way that can bring stability and blessing to the whole as it functions in the way it was designed by Christ, the head[21].
I hope by reading this detailed account you’ve been able to see that you matter. Your gifts are needed and God will supply the strength you need, bringing the results He intends. Are you doing things for others as if He was doing it through you? Are you giving credit to God when others recognize your gifts? The way we display our gifts vary, but that are all given by the Spirit for the common good[22].
[1] From Paul: Apostle of God’s Glory in Christ by Thomas R. Schreiner
[2] Acts 20:35
[3] 2 Corinthians 9:7
[4] 1 Corinthians 15:58
[5] Matthew 5:7
[6] Matthew 25:36
[7] Job 12:12
[8] 1 Timothy 4:12
[9] James 3:17
[10] Proverbs 1:7
[11] V. 2-3
[12] Mark 4:11
[13] Hebrews 11:1
[14] John 14:3
[15] James 5:14
[16] Romans 8:28
[17] 1 John 4:1
[18] Revelation 7:9
[19] 1 Corinthians 14:19
[20] Isaiah 14:12-15
[21] Ephesians 4:16; 5:23
[22] 1 Corinthians 12:7
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