Our calling as husbands, fathers, church or business leaders is to devote ourselves to helping those under our leadership reach their full potential. According to the NT, a central part of the way Christians are to be fulfilled is by putting into use their spiritual gifts. This episode begins a series that equips us to understand the Biblical teaching in Romans 12:4-8 about spiritual gifts, so we can help those we lead thrive, by using the spiritual gifts entrusted to them by God.
Studying Christian discipleship does not begin with Jesus’ call to Peter, Andrew, James and John, but with God’s calling for Adam. Christ came to restore Adam and Eve to their original calling to exercise dominion over creation. For Adam, that role is spending his energy, the sweat of his brow, to cause the garden and those in it to reach their full potential, embodied in the Genesis 2:14 statement that God put Adam in the garden to cultivate it. AVAD, the Hebrew word for cultivate, means to cause a thing to reach its full potential. The most precious things inhabiting the Garden of Eden were Eve and eventually their children. Christ’s redemptive work restores and empowers us to Adam’s masculine calling to die to ourselves to help others reach their potential—perfectly demonstrated by Jesus’ sacrificial death, that his bride might experience abundant life. Understanding and deploying our spiritual gifts is so central to the lives of Christians, that we cannot help our loved ones become all God wants them to be in Christ, without understanding what Paul teaches about spiritual gifts. So, this series will focus on understanding specifically the seven spiritual gifts identified by Paul in Romans 12:4-8:
For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 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.
I realize that there is intramural debate among Christians about spiritual gifts. I personally believe that the sign gifts mentioned in 1 Cor 12, (like healing, miracles, tongues, and the interpretation of tongues) were given to demonstrate that God was giving direct revelation to the church after Christ’s ascension until the gospels and New Testament epistles were written. Though I believe God supernaturally heals today, the sign gifts are no longer needed, since the NT was written, and the church has recognized the authority of the NT writings. In contrast to controversies over sign gifts, all Christians agree that the seven gifts mentioned by Paul in Romans 12 continue today. Here are five reasons why understanding what God is saying to us in these four verses matters:
1. Paul commands fathers to raise up their children in the training and discipline of the Lord (Eph 6:4). Helping our children understand that they are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for (them) to do, is a central part of helping them build a strong self-image. As Dads, we need to help them see their uniqueness, and get excited about their giftedness by visualizing how they might make a difference for Christ.
2. In these verses from Romans 12 all believers are COMMANDED to use our gifts. We need to model doing this OURSELVES for our kids, and them assist them to obey this command.
3. We need to help our wives and kids see that WHAT THEY HAVE TO OFFER the community of Christ is NEEDED—that other members of the Body of Christ will suffer if we and our oved ones do not deploy our spiritual gifts. For example, one who is experiencing pain needs the comfort of one with the gift of mercy. The discouraged need the encouragement of the exhorter. One who is confused by Scripture needs the clarity of those with the gift of teaching. Those seeing the opportunity to pursue ministry for Christ need those with the gift of giving to supply resources to make the ministry happen. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you” (1 Cor 12:21).
4. Seeing and understanding the seven spiritual gifts of Romans 12 helps us and our loved ones better see Christ’s perfections because each one of the spiritual gifts pictures a different facet of the diamond of Christ’s perfect character. For example, the prophet exhibits a respect for God’s holiness and hatred of evil, the mercy shower demonstrates Christ’s divine mercy, the teacher reveals Christ’s unequivocal commitment to never lie but always speak truth.
5. Understanding spiritual gifts dramatically opens our eyes to understand a major source of conflicts between Christians, probably including some differences you have with your own wife. For example, when it comes to counseling, a mercy shower, will point out that what the average person going through trials needs most is to feel understood, by the counselor listening well to the counselee’s feelings—helping her to process those feelings. The prophet’s approach to counseling is to say, “You will never find lasting help unless you deal with the sin beneath the issues.” An exhorter, will recognize that God uses trials to build Christ-like character, and give practical steps to solve the problem. So, which counseling approach is right?
BIBLICAL OVERVIEW OF THE SEVEN GIFTS BASED ON THE GREEK WORDS USED
As we examine the first gift mentioned, prophet, we can make no progress understanding this Romans 12 text until we recognize another category of gifts. We have mentioned the sign gifts—gifts like healing and miracles to prove that revelation was being given. A second category of gifts that we must understand is OFFICES, or JOBS, or EQUIPPING GIFTS in the church. Paul refers to these OFFICES or POSITIONS in Eph 4:11: And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry. Those holding such ministry positions bring people to Christ, then EQUIP THEM—THE BODY OF CHRIST—TO DO THE WORK OF MINISTRY. The Greek construction has shepherd (pastor) and teacher closely linked, which is consistent with the way the NT describes the OFFICE of Elder (1 Pet 5:1-4, 1 Tim 2:8-15).
Additionally, the words, apostle and prophet are also used in an uppercase kind of way to describe, THE Apostles, and THE Prophets. Paul uses the words this way in Eph 2:19-20, addressing the Ephesian gentiles, You are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the FOUNDATION OF THE APOSTLES AND PROPHETS, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone. This reference is to those whose writings became Scripture. In the OT, they were called the prophets. In the NT, they are called the apostles. Jesus’ is himself, the cornerstone of the foundation of truth upon which the OT and NT church is built.
Returning to Romans 12, Paul does NOT use the word prophet in either of these two ways—neither as a job description like the job held by Elijah, or Elisha, or Nathan in the OT, Agubus (Acts 21:10) or Silas (Acts 15:32) in the NT—nor is Paul referring in Romans 12 to those prophets whose words became Scripture, like Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Amos. Rather, this list of gifts in Romans 12, written towards the end Paul’s ministry, describes spiritual gifts as given to every believer by grace—the inner working of God’s spirit to motivate us towards godliness. That is why they are sometimes called motivational gifts. Let’s now look at them.
PROPHET: (PROPHETES) which means “to speak forth openly.”
A. Three word-pictures describe the way this spiritual gift functions:
- Mouthpiece: The prophet’s cry was, “Thus says the LORD.”
- Prosecuting attorney: Elijah’s prediction of the draught God would send upon Ahab and Israel was the consequence spelled out in Deuteronomy 28 for Israel’s disobedience in But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God…..the LORD will send upon you curses…The LORD will strike you with…drought (vs 15-22) The prophet sought to convict his hearers to repentant or the consequences for their sin would overtake them.
- Oncologist: The prophet understands the devastation of the cancer of sin to the human system and insists on doing surgery that gets all of the cancerous cells removed from our sinful hearts. This “surgery” is calling for repentance.
B. Peter appears to have had this spiritual gift.
C. Sample Characteristics of Those Having This Gift Today (We’ll look in more detail at these gifts in the coming weeks)
- Quick to detect and point out sin.
- Tendency to be blunt.
- Set and demand a high standard of moral behavior by believers.
- Very convictional and will not compromise when they believe they are right.
- Discerning of other’s motives
SERVER (DIAKONIA)
A. This is the inward motivation to express Christ’s love by meeting practical needs. People with this gift love the touch of the physical—they like mowers, mops, wrenches, saws, drills, pots and pans, soundboards and computers.
B. This Greek word (DIAKONIA) is the word used by the Apostles in Acts 6 when a dispute arose over the distribution of the food. The twelve summoned the full number of disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up the preaching of the word of God to SERVE tables” (vs 2). Seven highly qualified men are then chosen to oversee this vital role of caring for the widow’s practical needs—the precursor of the office of deacon. This serving heart, though is a motivational gift, not limited just to those holding the office of deacon or deaconess.
C. Sample Characteristics of Those Having this Gift Today:
- They have radar that sees practical needs with a motivation to immediately meet them.
- They find joy in taking care of practical needs to free up those they love to do other things.
- Usually those with this gift are in the background, which they are fine with. But they need those they are serving to express appreciation for them.
TEACHER (DIDASKALOS)
A. Just as Microsoft Office’s Word has spell check, those with this gift are the doctrine check for the church. In fact, the DIDASKALOS’ teaching is called DIDASKALIA, which is translated doctrine. The DIDASKALOS’ focus is always on the accuracy of what is being taught.
B. Dr. Luke seems to have had this gift. He introduces his gospel with the words: Just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you…. THAT YOU MAY HAVE CERTAINTY concerning the things you have been taught.
C. Sample Characteristics of Those With This Gift Today
- Their teaching is often boring because they are motivated to insure the accuracy of teaching. They care about the details of the context of verses, and the details of related doctrines.
- Unlike exhorters, they are typically not good at applying Scripture—just at making sure everything taught in every detail is true.
- They are often good at detailed research in the secular world.
EXHORTATION (PARAKLESIS) from PARA along side + KALEW to call to
A. The exhorter is given by God to the church to help believers apply Scripture to everyday life. It is noteworthy that this spiritual gift is the same word used to describe the Holy Spirit (PARAKLETE) whose role in the plan of salvation (planned by the Father and carried out by the Son) is to apply the work of salvation.
B. The motivation of the exhorter is to see spiritual growth take place. Though Paul identifies the roles he plays as an apostle, preacher, and teacher, he identifies his motivation to be seeing others come to maturity in Christ. In Gal 4:9, he tenderly calls the Galatian Christians, my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!
C. Sample Characteristics of Those Having This Gift Today
- Focused on helping others build Christ-like character.
- Focused on helping the church get its members discipling one another.
- Loves the book of Proverbs and practical wisdom for making everyday life work the way God designed it to.
GIVING (The one who contributes)
A. Those with this gift play a vital role in God’s plan to finance the work of ministry. That plan is: 1) Christians who tithe, 2) Special sacrificial giving such as the church members in Acts 2 trying to care for the thousands of Jews who had come to Jerusalem for Pentecost, met Jesus through Peter’s teaching and stayed in Jerusalem instead of returning home, 3) those in the Body of Christ with the gift of giving contributing financially as a primary spiritual motivation.
B. Matthew may have had this spiritual gift. Those who have it are very conscious of the resources required to finance a call from God. Matthew recorded in greater detail than any other gospel writer the gifts given to Christ. He was the only gospel writer who mentioned the treasures brought by the Magi. He described Mary’s ointment as very precious and Joseph’s tomb as new.
C. Sample Characteristics of Those Having This Gift Today
- Usually but not always have the ability to bring in above average income.
- They are personally frugal to free funds for kingdom work.
- Resist pressure appeals for funds. Gives quietly to kingdom projects.
- Often very interested in overseas mission work.
LEADERSHIP (PROISTEMI) to stand before
A. This is the God-given ability to enlist a group of people to help accomplish a task that honors Christ. This is not the same as administration—it is the ability to influence others to come with you in your pursuit of kingdom objectives.
B. Since spiritual gifts were poured out to the NT church in a new way at Pentecost, Nehemiah may not have had the spiritual gift of leadership—but he clearly was gifted for it, and his life provides many leadership insights.
C. Sample Characteristics of Those Having This Gift Today
- Goal focused.
- Have the ability to win a following and build a motivated team captured by a vision that matters to them.
- See clearly the talent and resources required to reach the goal.
- Visualize the potential of those around them.
MERCY SHOWER (ELEEO) to feel sympathy for the misery of others
A. The gift of showing mercy is mentioned last in Romans 12:4-8. It has been suggested that after everyone else in the Body has done their ministry, the mercy shower binds up the wounds of those hurt in the process. One scholar, describing this word, says, “grace describes God’s attitude toward the law breaker and rebel; mercy is his attitude towards those in distress.” God gives his heart of mercy to some in the Body of Christ for the purpose of sensing those who are in emotional turmoil to gently, tenderly bind up their wounds.
B. The Apostle, John, known as the Apostle of Love, and the disciple Jesus loved appears to be a mercy shower, just as certainly as Peter was a prophet.
C. Sample Characteristics of Those With This Gift Today.
- His primary motivation is to care for others, not reach a program objective.
- In his view, oneness and fellowship ARE the objective.
- A mercy shower thinks relationally about everything. Caring for each other trumps the influence of all the other gifts.
As I close this initial overview of these four verses from Romans 12, I’m reminded of the hundreds of thousands of dollars I have spent on my kids’ college education—to equip them to reach their full potential. Yet, there is another huge part of equipping my loved ones to flourish—that is helping them understanding and deploy their spiritual gifts. This assistance doesn’t require spending hundreds of thousands of dollars. But it does require the investment of some time to understand the biblical teaching about seven different motivational gifts, at least one of which God has given your wife and children. I hope you will join us in our continue studied of these gifts the next few weeks.
