Varieties of Gifts, But the Same Spirit

I Corinthians 12: 1 - 11 (January 17, 2010)

1) The Text

12Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. 3Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. 4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

2) The Context

Corinth was a major port which also commanded the land route from the Peloponnesus peninsula to central Greece. An industrial and ship-building centre, it was also a centre for the arts. Its inhabitants came from far and wide. In this epistle, Paul answers two letters he has received concerning lack of harmony and internal strife in the Corinthian church, a church he had founded. Paul wrote this letter from Ephesus (now in Turkey), probably in 57 AD.

The letter may be divided into three sections: (1) A Call for Unity (1:10-4:21) [which assumes division in the community], (2). A Call for Community Discipline (5:1-6:20), and (3) Counsel regarding Contested Issues (7:1-15:58). The contested issues included sex and marriage (7:1-40), offering and eating idol meat (8:1-11:1), worship issues (12:1-14:40), and the resurrection of the dead (15:1-58).

Thus, Paul's focus on spiritual people and gifts comes right in the midst of his counsel on how to handle problems in worship that have arisen for the Corinthians.

3) Interpretation

It is interesting that Paul deals with problems about spiritual gifts by pointing to the Corinthians' previous involvement in other religions before they became Christians. Paul is confronting them with the possibility that their spiritual Christianity may be no better than their previous religious experience. Paul is suggesting that focus on spiritual gifts can amount to nothing more than being carried away and can achieve exactly the opposite of what Jesus stands for.

How could this be? Paul will go on to suggest that this occurs wherever the gift or experience becomes more important than the giver and the achievement more important than love. Paul will go on in 1 Corinthians 13 to explain that if love is not central, then all such claims to spiritual gifts and achievements and to special workings of the Spirit amount to nothing. He begins unpacking his challenge in 12:4. There is one Spirit. This means that among the various gifts (or claims to gifts) of the Spirit there needs to be coherence; otherwise something is wrong. That coherence is bound up with an understanding of unity and wholeness which flows from the fact that we are relating to the one Jesus and the one God (12:5-6).

This helps us see what matters most for Paul - or better, who matters most. For Paul, faith (faith in community) is about relationship, in which people matter most. It is not about sensational experiences or achievements. The real sign of the Spirit of God is not the ability to sustain spiritual "highs", but the presence of love and compassion in our lives. Particular gifts are subordinate to this purpose.

The gifts exist to bring into effect what is appropriate. The word, sumferon, in 12:8 means what is fitting or appropriate. NRSV translates: "common good". It certainly needs to fit what God sees as good and for Paul that means building people up in their faith and not putting blocks in the way of sharing God's love with others. That is the focus here.

Many parts but one body

Recent studies, attempting to identify the factors that make for lively, effective congregations, have found that a "motivated and mobilized laity" is the mark of a successful church. However, the "funnel" phenomenon exists in many churches. Management decisions are initiated and controlled by a single person. Initiative is therefore, stifled, and the potential for the congregation to maximize its effectiveness is limited.

Yet, too often, when power is moved from the minister, it falls into the hands of a church committee, parish council, eldership, or deacons. This can turn out to be a worse scenario. Some feel that the best committee is a committee of one. When power is centered with a group of lay-managers who determine and manage policy through a monthly debating society, then the life of a church is easily stifled.

God's desire for his church is that we understand and apply the diversity of spiritual abilities found within the membership. It is the Spirit's task to give to individual members of the congregation abilities that can be used within the group to enable each individual to grow in their relationship with God, to grow in fellowship one with another, and to reach out to God's broken world. We need to remember that from one God there is a diversity of gifts for the common good.

4) Thought Exercise

How can we maximize the diverse spiritual abilities found in our membership?

How can you make sure your gifts are known and utilized?