Giving Thanks for Gifts that Build the Church
Giving thanks for gifts that build the church, and the people who implement them, should be every bit as practical as the gifts themselves. The particular list we’re considering is the one most frequently termed “spiritual gifts.” Tests exist that purport to help the curious or bewildered identify their gift, as though each person only ever gets, or is allowed to use just one.
Personally, I’m not certain that’s the way it works. What is obvious, merely by reading the epistles, is that each gathering of believers is unique. They’re united to the rest by worshiping and praising the Savior. Also evident is the fact that groups of believers function best with some underlying organization.
Gifts that build the church ease the work load.
Church window
Not long after Pentecost, the apostles recognized tackling all the necessary jobs themselves wasn’t a good use of their time. They formed a board of deacons for the Jerusalem church and carried the format through in newly developing gatherings elsewhere.
Paul was fond of the “church-as-body” teaching illustration, but even that wasn’t enough to keep him from needing to write sternly to Euodia and Syntyche, who were not working together smoothly on some committee or other.
Even while Jesus was teaching and ministering, His followers were exhibiting gifts, and traits, that built fellowship. Martha, for instance, is probably the New Testament’s prime example for someone who felt her gift was to serve. She’d go into full-blown hostess mode, and probably induced catering envy in the minds of other women in Bethany.
Giving thanks for gifts that build the church keeps the gifts and givers effective.
However, she also exemplified burnout, and frustration. She’d practice her gift with a faulty attitude because she’d pushed herself and took on unnecessary work. In Romans 12:8, Paul inserts one gift that doesn’t appear on the other lists: “if it is encouraging, let him encourage.” Ideally, church members are deliberately giving thanks for gifts that build the church, and for the people who practice those gifts.
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Ruth DeMaat
Heidi Kortman