Lane Sanders
1 Corinthians 12:4-11
Lane Sanders, senior pastor
Macedonia Baptist Church, Jackson
My son joined his high school shotgun team a few years ago. Now, excluding a few months here and there, he shoots skeet, trap, and sporting clays on a team year-round. This pursuit of his is only fitting, since he has been captivated by guns since he was knee high to a grasshopper.
At the same time, it was strange, because I, his dad, have little experience with guns. I don’t even own one. In fact, when he first started on the team, we had to borrow someone else’s gun just to be able to participate. Where did he get this interest from?
Once we melded into this new subculture, I noticed something about a lot of other shooters. Many of them owned guns that had parts cut out of the stock or extensions added on the end of the stock. I learned that these shooters had customized their shotguns. And they spent big money to do it! On the other end of these guns, at the end of their barrels, shooters would screw in some piece called a choke.
I quickly learned that a single shooter will carry many chokes. Why? Because a certain type of choke is used to shoot certain types of targets at certain distances and in certain flight patterns.
It still makes my head spin! I just figured you picked up a gun, saw the target, and pulled the trigger. Simple. But no! Serious shooters approach their craft with great detail. And special detailing of the shotgun is a big part of the strategy of the shooter.
Likewise, God has custom-made you and me. He created us with distinct personalities, led us through a special set of circumstances, and surrounded us with varying influences. Not all of these factors were pleasant, but they made us who we are – who He wants us to become (Rom. 8:29).
Why? Because he has a specific target in mind for us, and He knows exactly what is necessary to hit that target. You are the craftsmanship of God’s greatest detail work (Eph. 2:10)!
One of the most profound marks God makes on His children to set them apart for His special plan is their giftedness. When God saves someone, He blesses him with a special ability – more than just a mere talent – that in some remarkable, but often unknown, way impacts the Kingdom agenda.
Many volumes have been written about spiritual gifts: what they are, how they function, how to discover yours, etc. For our purposes in today’s column, I simply want to point out the great paradox that accompanies our giftedness. Keep in mind that Paul was writing to a church body, not simply individuals. And in this passage, he demonstrates how their gifts are what separate them from one another, but they are also what bond them together into one.
Our giftedness sets us apart
In verses 4-6, Paul writes of three varieties, or differences, concerning our gifts. First, we have different outfits (v.4). God gifted us differently, according to His own wisdom and design.
You probably share the same gift with some others in your church, but most people you worship with possess other gifts. And that’s a good thing. What if everyone in your church had the gift of prophecy (truth-telling) but no one had the gift of mercy? That could get rough! Paul lists different gifts in this passage and in Romans 12:6-8.
You do not have all the gifts. But if you belong to Him, you have at least one of them.
We also have different outlets (v.5). In other words, even if you have the same gift as someone else, you have a unique setting or ministry through which you exercise that gift. God blessed my church with a lot of people who have the gift of service. Some of them work on our hospitality team. But if all of them did, we wouldn’t have any to work in AWANA or Upward or a number of other vital ministries.
You do not have all the gifts. But if you belong to Him, you have at least one of them.
So don’t feel like you have to serve in one particular ministry just because someone else with a similar gift does. In fact, that may be a sign God wants you to use your gifts in another ministry.
Finally, Paul writes we have different outputs (v.6). Preachers are like everyone else (don’t tell yours I said so!): we have a tendency to compare ourselves to other preachers. I stopped doing that awhile back because depression doesn’t suit me well! But just because someone else who shares your gift, and maybe even shares your ministry, seems to do it better or experiences better results, doesn’t mean that they are more valuable to the Kingdom.
Whatever your gift, whatever your ministry, it is guaranteed that you are the only one who can do it the way that you do it, and there will always be someone you can reach that no one else on the planet can. Guaranteed. Because it’s not really us, but God who uses our gifts (v.6b).
Our giftedness bonds us together
Only God could take such vast differences and make them the catalyst for true unity (v.7). In these eight verses, Paul uses the words “same” or “one” eight times and implies them five more times. For a church like Corinth, wracked with divisiveness on a myriad of issues, Paul appealed to the strongest bond in the Spirit: the people’s spiritual gifts.
I’ve discovered in my 20+ years of vocational ministry that the people who cause the most strife in church are the ones who either took little to no interest in discovering their spiritual gift or, worse, knew their gift but refused to use it in the spirit of Christ. As the old saying goes, “Those who are helping row the boat are too busy to rock it.”
