Last time, I talked about "church" in the New Testament and how it meant something different in their day than it typically means in ours. The word "church" literally meant "the gathering," as opposed to our primary understanding of "church" as a building. This has many implications, primarily 1) the church is not about real estate, 2) the church is its people gathered together, no matter where they meet, 3) the church is an organism, not an organization, and 4) the question, "What should the church do about this or that?" is actually asking, "What should I/We do?"
Okay, now for this week...
Another factor that is very important in any discussion about the "church" is spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts are crucial to the overall health of any body of believers. I'm not going to go into all the Bible background behind spiritual gifts, but if you'd like to read up on them, a couple key passages on the subject can be found in 1 Corinthians 12-14; Romans 12; Ephesians 4; and 1 Peter 4.
I'd like to just make a few observations from those passages...
1) Spiritual gifts are real...today.
2) The purpose of spiritual gifts is to build up a group of believers and prepare them for a life of service and ministry. Yes, it is about believers, but it also very much about those who don't yet believe. The stronger the group of believers in their faith, the more love they will have for those outside of their group and the more time spent serving them.
3) No single individual has all the gifts necessary to be 'complete.'
4) Therefore, it is absolutely essential for believers to gather together in groups of a reasonable size that these gifts can actually be utilized, so each person can share his/her gifts with others and allow others to share their gifts with them.
5) Your gifts have a lot to do with your passions in life. If you are passionate about giving and you're good at it, then that's most likely your spiritual gift. However, I will stress the "good at it" part. Chances are that if the passion is there, but the quality isn't, then that probably isn't your spiritual gift and you shouldn't necessarily think that it is. After all, God doesn't give 'cheap' gifts! Also, if it truly is a spiritual gift, it will most likely be recognized by others before you even realize it.
6) Everyone that believes has at least one spiritual gift. So, if you are a true believer, sorry, but you don't get a pass on this. You have a gift or gifts and it is your responsibility to find a way to use it/them. Someone is depending on the use of your gift and you need the gifts of others to be shared with you, too, to be full.
That's how the church (when gathered together) works. This is why there is no such thing as a solo Christian. If you aren't regularly gathering with a group of believers in the name of Jesus, then you should truly be questioning who it is you are following. Jesus has designed things so that his followers must gather in order to really be following him. And neglecting that responsibility is to neglect Jesus. The church works beautifully when everyone does their part.
How are you gathering with other believers so that you are using your spiritual gifts and allowing others to use theirs?
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