KEY TEXT: (Romans 12: 3-8)
INTRODUCTION
God in His wisdom has lavished upon every believer precious gifts of the Spirit. He does this in order to bring growth, enrich and sustain the Body of Christ.
These gifts are bestowed upon the Church for the purpose of transforming lives and bringing reconciliation between man and God, and between one another.
Therefore the gifts that God has given you are not for you, but for the body whose final end is to bring us to the knowledge of Christ and Unity in the Body of Christ.
The sinful nature of man seeks out for self-glory. It is about I, Me and Myself.
(1 Peter 5:5) "Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, putting on the garment of humility, for God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble"
Putting on the garment of humility is accepting that I, Me, and Myself cannot do it on my own. I depend on the support structures of my brothers and sisters in the body of Christ, and ultimately I depend upon God.
That is why our attitude towards one another should be that of humility.
Where there is pride, there is divisions, fighting, war and all forms of hostilities. But where there is unity, there is peace. In pride we compete against each other, in humility we complement one another.
Humility in serving God is like a wrapper or an outer garment that you put over. The Church is a power house of diverse gifts.
God has blessed each one of us with natural abilities/gifts. I have no doubt that everyone reading this post is incredibly privileged, uniquely gifted individual. My friend you are a power house of gifts waiting to be unleashed to the glory of God.
It is wrong therefore for some members of the Church to begin to assert themselves better than the others. It's like walking around boasting and showing off your fancy expensive clothes.
Putting on the garment of humility is like covering up our so called 'fancy' gifts. So that in serving one another, our gifts must be wrapped in humility the way we wrap Christmas gifts.
To unpack this subject "Focus On The Gifts In Church' I have divided the Spiritual Gifts in three parts namely;
1. Motivational Gifts
2. Manifestational Gift
3. Ministry/leadership Gifts
There are so many gifts in the Body of Christ and you have two or three of these gifts functional or potentially inside you. See the list of spiritual gifts and see yourself in two or more;
1. Prophesy
2. Serving
3. Helping
4. Teaching
5. Encouraging
6. Giving
7. Leadership
8. Mercy/compassion
9. Pastor
10. Apostle
11. Prophet
12. Evangelist
13. Wisdom
14. Knowledge
15. Discernment of Spirits
16. Healing
17. Miracles
18. Faith
19. Tongues
20. Interpretation of tongues.
Today we focus on the Motivational gifts sometimes called the Romans 12 Gifts.
(Vs 3)
"For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith"
Many gifted people in our Churches have never stopped to think soberly about the scripture above.
We don't have a problem of gifting in our Churches, we have a problem of character. Some people think so highly of themselves as if their gift is the next big thing that happened after Christ ascension.
We live at a time in history where Gifted people are worshipped. To be connected to the so called powerful man of God is a privilege. This is so because our identity is found in association with men, as opposed to God.
Therefore the Apostle Paul says, "I say to you through the grace given to me" meaning grace is given. Grace is not transferred from Papa to son, grace is given freely by God. This 'grace' is 'charismata' which means gift.
Just for clarity, the word 'grace' is used to describe the gifts of the spirit upon a believer. I may say, "God has given me grace for teaching".
However, 'charis' is the grace that saves a sinner. And 'charismata' which means the gifts of the Spirit.
He calls upon us to humble service in the Church. Don't think of yourself more highly than you out to, but think of yourself with a sober mindset.
Sober judgement means an honest evaluation of ourselves.
This self assessment should take into account the grace 'charismata' upon your life. If you are gifted in teaching admit that you have grace in the area of teaching, and if you gifted in prophecy admit that you have grace in that area without exaggerating.
Using the Body metaphor we need to know which part of the body we are;
are you an ear? Are you an eye? Are you a mouth? Are you an hand? Are you a leg?
False humility is when a leg says, "I am nothing" because you are not nothing, without you the body cannot move.
Thinking of yourself more highly is when the mouth thinks it is more important than eyes, ears, hands and legs. We ought therefore to have an honest, accurate view of our self-esteem. A renewed mind puts on the garment of humility.
In thinking about ourselves and the gifts God has bestowed upon us we should avoid exaggerating our ourselves. Avoid thinking of yourself too high, and avoid thinking of yourself too lowly.
Because you know who you are, whose you are and the grace God has put upon you.
MOTIVATIONAL GIFTS (Romans 12:3-8)
1. Prophecy
2. Serving
3. Teaching
4. Encouragement
5. Giving
6. Leadership
7. Mercy
Each person reading this has one dominant motivational gift, and may be one more secondary gifting.
These gifts to some extent define your personality.
I like to describe the first gift of prophecy as a 'perceiver' one who is able to see things. It must not be confused with the Prophetic Ministry.
This is one dominant gift upon my life. I am able to 'read' people more accurately. I often say,"I am a good judge of character" while people are excited about something, I can tell "this thing will end badly" and usually it ends badly.
People who fall under this category are often known to be very sensitive. We hear more than your words, and we see deeper than the outside.
Who makes sure the place of worship is cleaned? Or volunteers to prepare meals for a family that is bereaved or sick?
The gift of serving is a motivational gift. It doesn't flow with a duty roaster. Martha was preoccupied with cooking a meal for Jesus, while Mary sat under the feet of Jesus.
The 3rd gift is teaching ministry. This is my secondly gift. I love asking questions, reading, researching and teaching.
In some places my host would say, "Lawrence preach, this is not a college it's Church". I can preach and teach at the same time. So if you are reading this you understand why my posts are long because I have to explain.
The 4th gift is what we call the Barnabas ministry. Barnabas was called a son of encouragement.
This is also called the 'Exalter' given to encouraging and exhorting and comforting or consoling others.
We all know of that brother or sister who is constantly motivated no matter what you are going through they find words to lift up your spirit. We need exhorters in our local churches. And we need exhortes past Covid19 when reality sinks in and people are depressed. Exhorters will stir the faint hearted to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The 5th is the gift of giving. People with the grace to give are motivated to bless others.
I was telling my daughter that a giver is a giver even before he/she becomes a Christian. The gift of giving simply finds opportunity to partner in Gospel ministry in Church.
The gift of giving never waits to be manipulated or guilty tripped to give, givers give!
During lockdown I saw the hand of God. I had three different organisations that were dropping food at my house.
But we had individuals who sent us grocery vouchers. I remember my medication was finished at the height of the pandemic. Living with comorbidities I couldn't go to hospital to collect my medication.
A Facebook friend sent me R600. I only needed R100 for medication but we had more than enough to buy grocery.
This gift of giving can also be abused by believers and even Pastors. Givers ought to give prayerfully.
The 6th gift is leadership, also known as the gift administration.
You can be gifted in Pastoral ministry yet terrible at leadership.
There is no harm in allowing someone who has a gift of leadership handle the administration side of the Church.
The 7th Gift is the gift of mercy. There are people that are more compassionate than others. They feel the pain of others and extend mercy. This gift is more effective in hospital and prison ministry.
I often say where it hurts you the most that is the area of your ministry. In your gift you flow graciously, there is no forcing.
CONCLUSION
Just image a scenario where all the Seven Motivational gifts are present in one local Church.
While having a Church meeting, a sister walks in with a tray full of drinks. She stumbles and falls down! The glasses break into pieces and drinks are spilt everywhere.
What kind of response would the seven motivational gifts give towards this accident?
The one with a prophetic gift will stand up and say, "I saw this coming from a distance. Be careful my sister you need to learn to walk and balance properly especially when balancing your high heels and the tray. I suggest next time you don't wear high heels while serving". There is no empathy. Instead she is rebuked by the gift of prophecy.
The one with a serving gift will get a mope and broom to wipe the floor and pick up broken glasses.
The teacher will give the sister a lecture on how to carry a tray with drinks.
The one with the gift of encouragement will rise up and encourage the sister. "Stand up my sister, the righteous will fall seven times and seven times they shall rise. I went through the same sister, but look at me now! Come on give me your hand".
A giver will find an opportunity to pay for the broken glasses and to buy more drinks. "How much would this cost?" Is the attitude of a giver.
A person with the gift of leadership will be the one giving instructions and making sure everything is sorted out.
The gift of mercy or compassion will quickly find out if the sister is hurt. If the sister needs to go to hospital. The gift of mercy will sit next to the sister sometimes silently showing compassion.
It's important to also note that the Motivational gifts can be categorized as; (i) Speaking or oratory gifts, (ii) Serving Gifts.
(i) Speaking or oratory Gifts includes; gifts of Prophecy, Teaching and encouragement.
(ii) Serving Gifts includes; gifts of Serving, Giving, leadership and showing mercy.
Finding your motivational gifts helps you to serve God in the area of you grace.
In our Church we say, "Our Dream is Big Enough For Everyone To dream within" The Pastor is not more important than a car guard. We are all serving God with our spiritual gifts. We also believe in Servant leadership. We believe in the leadership principle called; "The First Among Equals"
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Lawrence Musunte
+27845517018
lmusunte@gmail.com
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