“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.”
Ephesians 4:11-15 NLT
In Corinth spiritual gifts had run rampant and their misuse was tearing the church apart as people thought of them as a personal commodity from which to glean power and status. There, Paul speaks of their true usage, which is the harmony of the body. For Ephesus, Paul highlights their outworking in the church. Rather than giving a rundown of each gift, he highlights the single thread between them. They are all outward focused and relational in nature. This list of gifts is one that requires people to speak to each other about the gospel and it’s impact and to do so in love and unity. Each person’s gift is actually not for the individual at all. It is a gift from God through the individual to the church to be used to spread the word of God to the masses. Because of this, we should all think of Spiritual gifts as things that are not for us to keep, but for us to share. They are a gift to the body. This is especially true of spiritual gifts, but it is in line with all blessings. This is how they were designed. When we share them, they will blossom into fruit bearing orchards for the whole community to find nourishment, shade and security in.
JOSH McGARY. COM 