Re-orienting the "gifts": Part VI

Summary
The unifying concept that links these four passages is the idea of a Spirit given ministry – not Spirit given abilities for service. Kenneth Berding makes this point when he says, “Undoubtedly, no one can engage in a particular ministry without being able to do so, but when we mistakenly equate the entity we call “spiritual gifts” with special abilities, we end up reading special skills into a place where special ministries... are in view.” It seems obvious to say that one cannot perform a particular ministry without being able to do so. However this ability is precisely the point. At the moment of salvation the believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and receives His general empowerment for ministry, which in this sense is defined by Berding as “any edificatory activity in the Christian community which serves to build up the Christian community.”

A spiritual gift may then be defined as a God given ministry, function, or activity that builds up or strengthens the body of believers. Essentially, gifts are specific roles that are designated by the Holy Spirit and given to the believer to fill. Prominence is placed upon the performance of the function or the doing of the service, not the ability to do the ministry. This definition allows for individual personality and natural ability, for God has individually formed each of us before we even entered the womb. The Spirit then uses our unique personalities and talents in practical ways to grant success in the ministry to which he has appointed them.

The purpose of these ministry gifts then seems to be the development, growth, edification, unification, and common good of the Christian community in conjunction with the glorification of God. Relationship of the members of the body is not only implied in all of the passages, but is a necessity. Without the relationship of the believers to one another in a faith community these instructions would be both without subject and purpose. In conclusion, it can be said that a gift is a God-given ministry, function, or activity that one uses to faithfully and unselfishly contribute to the common good, mutual care and edification of the whole church community. Consequently, gifts aid the church in bearing witness to the world, for when the people of God operate in love and harmony they will have a redemptive impact on a lost world.