Ordinary Spiritual Gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4-7)

1 Corinthians 12:4-7

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

One of the weaknesses in the Corinthian church was a love of the dramatic. Early on in the letter, Paul defended his apostleship as it was compared to other impressive teachers. It seems that the Corinthians were fascinated and deeply impressed when big things happened. The factionalism that Paul wrote against showed that this church loved to get behind the man who most showed them something great.

Here, we enter a section in which Paul will talk about the gifts of God’s Spirit in the church. It should not be a surprise that a church with a fascination with the extraordinary would mishandle the gifts. These folks were looking for a show, for power, for flashes of glory.

But notice what Paul says to the church right here at the beginning of the discussion. There are varieties of gifts, service, and activities in the church, but there is only one God. In each case, the power of God is given to individuals, not for personal empire-building, but for the common good. God gives some people one kind of gift and another gift to others. We are not to be overly fascinated by the more showy gifts. We are not to be ashamed of the ordinary gifts. Instead, God calls us all to use the gifts that we have been given for the good of the entire church body.

I’ve recently been reading Michael Horton’s book, Ordinary: Sustainable Faith in a Radical, Restless World. In this book, Horton points out that we should not think that God only works through the fantastic. Sometimes the greatest work that God does is through ordinary people serving him in ordinary ways. We need to stop thinking that ordinary is somehow beneath us. We are ordinary people. God is great, of course. But part of the way that God does his work in a way that surely glorifies him is when he uses ordinary people in ordinary ways to change the world. It would glorify God less to make us all super heroes. It glorifies God more when truck-drivers, home-makers, doctors, plumbers, teachers, police officers, firefighters, pilots, cooks, waitresses, engineers, politicians, and every other type of ordinary person in the world serves him. God is not just wishing that the church was filled with more movie stars, oil tycoons, and professional athletes so that the work could be done. Of course, he will save such folks and be glorified by how they serve him too. But, the point is, God is glorified when those of us whose names will never be known outside of our little circles of friends are faithful to him and help the good of the local body of Christ.

This chapter reminds us that God gives a variety of gifts to his people. All people of God are gifted by God. You, if you are a believer, have been gifted by God to play a role in the building up of others in the church. There is something about what God’s Holy Spirit is doing in and through you that is supposed to make the church stronger. Maybe it is a gift to teach. Maybe it is a gift to care for others in a special way. Maybe it is a gift to help encourage people toward maturity. Maybe it is a gift of a heart that loves giving to others or showing hospitality. Maybe it is the gift of a nature to serve behind the scenes. Who knows? But God has gifted us all, and he wants us to use those gifts for the sake of his glory in the local church, the ordinary, standard, lovely, local church.

This encourages me. I need not look for the spectacular gifts in order to matter. I do not need to be given an extra-biblical revelation of future events to matter. I do not need to experience a miracle of speaking in a language I do not know. God may gift me however he wants, and it will all be for the sake of his church. However, if God wants to do the miracle of growing Christians through the ordinary work he does in my life, through the gifts that he has given me that will not make me a person anybody remembers in a century, that is to his glory and for my joy.