Paul and the Holy Spirit (cont.2)

[HKHaugan]

Paul and the Holy Spirit (cont.2)  Spiritual Gifts---How Disciples Function in the Body

Major theme for Paul, Gal.5:25, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

These are words that are written for each member of the Body.  But at the same time, they are written so that the members of the Body can function more freely in the gifts they have been given.  Three things to keep in mind when we keep in step with the Spirit. 

First, keeping in step with the Spirit means each believer gives their mind, heart and spirit to each task they have been given. There is an excitement in experiencing the Spirit accomplish something through us.  That’s a blessing.  It makes you want to practice your gift more and see the Spirit working through you.  Letting the Spirit motivate us keeps us in step with Him.  Go for it.

Second, our perception of others is not perfect.  Nor is theirs.  We individually keep in step with the Spirit, not others.  If we allow ourselves to be judgmentally distracted, we lose the footing we have in what we’re personally called to do.  Time wasted, old attitudes creep in and spiritual growth takes a break.  Keeping our focus on Jesus keeps us in step with the Spirit.

Third, we are a spiritual family.  No one grows at the same spiritual pace as anyone else.  But what is important is that we are growing together.  Loving one another, we let our spiritual brothers and sisters be what they are, pray for them and assist them where we can when we are called to.  Again, the gifts will by their nature, bring us together.  Letting the Spirit be the Spirit and doing the Spirit’s work is keeping in step with the Spirit.

Keeping in step with the Spirit is staying within the spiritual atmosphere we breathe, namely the fruit of the Spirit (Gal.5:22), love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  

There are seven unique purposes in God giving us spiritual gifts. 

First, they are the means by which we not only take up our cross of faith but also help one another in their daily faith building.

Second, they are the means to thawing out the individual heart from the freezer of aloneness and fear in which sin placed it.

Third, they are the means by which the Body of Christ is built and God’s Kingdom is spread.

Fourth, they are the means to relational restoration to God and one another.

Fifth, they are the means to heal the gaps between natural talents and their spiritual application.

Sixth, they are the means to renew and strengthen our worship and service.

Seventh, they are the means by which human personality and character can be spiritually re-formed and readied for our returning Lord.

In other words the bottom line is this: spiritual gifts are given for spiritual maturity so that “...we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ (Eph.4:15).” 

Prophecy

In the Body of Christ prophecy can be experienced as the spiritual ability given a believer to sense God’s direction for the local Body, the awareness of the spirit’s direction for Body leadership and for individuals in the Body who need a spiritual stimulus to action or correction of behavior.  Prophecy can find its outlet in worship, in groups or in the individual who senses God’s will in a specific situation.  Probably the most common experience of prophecy is in preaching where the preacher opens up Scripture, dwells on the person and character of Jesus and brings a theme to the surface that reveals God’s intent for transformation and growth. 

Service

The gift of service shifts our gaze from self to others.  In fact, this gift will cause interior agitation until we follow its lead.  It may or may not use our talents, but it will require humility to reach out beyond ourselves as we assess our surroundings.  In the Body, the gift of service makes us conscious of needs that will be material, emotional, functional and spiritual.  It will stir us to pray and ask, “How can I serve the Body, Lord?  What is taking place around me among the brothers and sisters in the Body that I can offer myself to?”  It starts with prayer and the Holy Spirit answers.

Leadership

There are those in the Body who people look up to and are willing to follow.  Sometimes it is a natural attraction.  Other times it is thrust upon someone and they have to learn to lead but the calling is clear.  When a gift is recognized Paul says, “Let him…”  The ‘let him’ means not only to allow him the latitude necessary to exercise the gift but also that the person with the gift does it diligently, cheerfully and in love (vs.7-9).  One more thing, ‘Let him’ means we have to trust the Holy Spirit to ‘let him’ make mistakes.  We need to realize we are sinners in recovery and each of us needs correction, support, direction and accountability to the Body.  Spiritual gifts are not for building pride but a mutual method of humble interdependent activity to build the Body.

Teaching

The spiritual gift of teaching is not something that comes out of a person’s talent, career, intellect or ‘common sense.’  It is a spiritual gift of insight from the Holy Spirit who makes the words of Scripture come alive through talent, intellect and, instead of ‘common sense,’ spiritual sense.  When someone with the gift of teaching teaches the response may be, ‘Oh, now I get it’ or ‘I never thought of it that way before’ or ‘That’s something I needed to hear’ or ‘That changed how I thought’ and hopefully, ‘I need to hear more, the Lord really spoke to me right where I am.’  That’s when we let the Lord ‘get His mind around us.’  The beauty of the gift of teaching is that the teacher is totally dependent on Scripture and how the Holy Spirit gives Him the humility, the momentary insight, the awareness of his own sin and its forgiveness, the need to set self aside and receive the words to express the insights and the faith to deliver them. 

Encouragement

People who are encouragers hear an idea; can sense the reluctance and even the fear of starting to bring the idea to fruition.  This is when they step in and say, ‘You can do it’, ‘I’m with you in it and I’ll stand beside you, pray for you and help if I can.”  They do it not only once but keep on because they sense it is an idea consistent with the Word of God, that it should be done and the person who conceived the idea exhorted (urged) to go ahead with it.

Giving

People who have the gift of giving don’t think twice about giving.  They just do it because it is part of their spiritual makeup.  There are those with this gift that see someone on the street begging.  While others would question and ponder whether the need is real or view the beggar with skepticism, a person with the gift of giving just gives spontaneously.  Their rationale is ‘When you give, the Lord sorts it out the way He wants, my duty is to give.’ Another aspect of the gift of giving is that the person with the gift is not doing it to be seen nor are they looking for a tax break or an ‘atta-boy slap on the back.’  It is just done simply and quietly. 

Mercy

Mercy is a core Spiritude in the heart of a believer.  What is a core quality of God’s heart is also a specific gift given to individuals in the Body that goes beyond being an attitude of the many to a practice by the few for the sake of the many.  This gift finds the gifted one empathetic beyond sympathetic to the point that when distress is sensed there is an immediate response of action to meet the need.  A person with the gift of mercy becomes absorbed in the plight of people in need.  They do really ‘feel your pain.’  When that gift is practiced it builds the attitude of mercy throughout the Body. 

Wisdom

It is not we who are making wise judgments.  It is the mind of Christ displaying His wise judgments in us through His Word the Holy Spirit inspires.  What does this say about the gift of wisdom?  When Paul specifies a gift of wisdom, he is telling us that some people have been given a special measure of grace that is in direct accord with Jesus and His Word.  That faithful accordance produces the kind of practical wisdom upon which others in the Body can rely for evaluation and guidance in making choices and decisions.  Actually, what we see in Paul is that gift manifested in his counsel to the Body of Christ through his letters.  He knows it is the mind of Christ directing Him.  You can see a confident wisdom from the Spirit as you read them.