Picture a family preparing their home to receive guests. Almost anyone can carry a chair. Anyone can set a table, wipe a counter, hold a door. Some work belongs to all of us.
But every now and then, someone opens the oven, and does what the rest of us simply can’t.
Same house. Same table. Two kinds of gifts.
Peter says it plainly in 1 Peter 4:9-10, “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”
Varied grace. Each of us has received a gift that we steward to serve one another.
We began by exploring The Gifts Among Us. We looked at the Purpose of these gifts, in Ephesians 4. Then the Practice of these gifts, in 1 Corinthians 14. And finally, the Participation of every disciple, in 1 Corinthians 12.
Purpose • Practice • Participation
Paul closed that stretch with a strange command. “Earnestly desire the higher gifts” (1 Cor 12:31).
So we pick that up. If every one of us has a gift, what kind of gift is it? And how does it come to us? Because they don’t all come the same way.
Some gifts, the Spirit asks of every one of us. The duty of every believer He indwells. We practice these gifts, and grow into them.
But other gifts, He hands to a few. Roles we can reach for. Appointments we should desire to receive.
Two kinds of gift. Functional Gifts (which are the ones we are called to grow). And Appointed Gifts (which are the ones we are conferred in order to go).
Functional Gifts: Called to Grow, Develop to Use Them
- Service (helping/in zeal)
- Exhortation (encouragement)
- Generosity (contribute)
- Love (genuine affection)
- Joy (rejoice in hope)
- Patience (in tribulation)
- Prayer (constant)
- Mercy (cheerful acts)
- Hospitality (seek to show)
Appointed Gifts: Conferred to Go, Desire to Receive Them — Are all…? Do all…?
- Teaching
- Leadership
- Administrating
- Apostles (sent ones, pioneers)
- Prophets (prophetic discernment)
- Tongues (languages for evangelism)
- Interpretation (like the prophet Daniel)
- Miracles
- Healing
Functional Gifts: Called to Grow, Develop to Use Them
Watch how Paul begins. Not with a gift. But with humility (verse 3).
Then as he begins to name a list of gifts, he uses the word “function” (verse 4) and he describes the grace given to each of us in different measure. And he commands “let us use these gifts” (verse 6). Functionally.
Here’s the thing. None of the functional gifts wait on a special aptitude. You don’t need a gift of mercy to show mercy. You grow it. On purpose. Over time.
You don’t wait for a gift of love to show affection; or a gift of exhortation to encourage; or a gift of joy to rejoice.
We develop these gifts through constant practice. We grow in faith, in wisdom, in discernment the same way. Trained by constant practice (Heb 5:14).
These are the functional gifts. The ones we develop to put to use.
Even Jesus grew. “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” (Luke 2:52)
So those gifts are the gifts we grow. Asked of every one of us.
But Paul doesn’t even sort them for us. One list, verses 6-8, and prophecy sits right next to mercy. He calls generosity a gift in verse 8, then tells everyone to give in verse 13.
So which is it? Both. Paul lists. We discern.
Each list holds some of both. But each one leans. Romans, toward the gifts we grow. Corinth, toward the gifts God appoints.
Discussion
- Paul opens not with a gift but with “sober judgment” about ourselves (v3). Why might humility be the right place to begin any honest conversation about gifts?
- Paul calls generosity a gift in verse 8, then tells everyone to give in verse 13. What changes when you see the same act as both a gift some carry and a duty asked of all?
Key Takeaways
- Start with sober judgment (verse 3). Know the measure God assigned you, and use it.
- Develop to use them. You don’t wait for a gift to serve, to encourage, or to show mercy. You grow these through frequent practice, until they’re second nature.
Appointed Gifts: Conferred to Go, Desire to Receive Them
Read 1 Corinthians 12:27-31 (ESV)
So look back at that same list. Teaching. Leading. Paul set them right in the middle of it, and those he does NOT ask of everyone. Those God appoints to some. He makes that plain in his letter to Corinth.
Not called to grow. Conferred to go.
Now the other kind. Verse 27. You are the body of Christ, members of it one by one.
Then verse 28. “God has appointed in the church.” Appointed. Placed. Set there by God, as he chose. Not earned. Not climbed into.
Then Paul asks a run of questions he already knows the answer to (verses 29-30). Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Do all work miracles? Do all heal?
No. And that’s the point. A hand is not an ear. God spreads the gifts out so we’d need each other.
Some of these you can see among us. Teaching. Leadership. Administrating.
Not everyone can teach, and Scripture says not many of us should try: “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” (James 3:1)
James said not many. He didn’t say only one.
Paul says in Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom.”
And prophecy is the same. Are all prophets? No (12:29). But later Paul says you can all prophesy (14:31). How?
Because prophecy, underneath it all, is just a Spirit-given word that builds someone up. Encouragement. Consolation. To build one another up.
That word again, oikodomē, from Part 1. The practice when we gather.
So hear the pattern. The offices, God appoints to some. But the act, like building a brother up, God asks of all.
The appointed gifts take a God-given aptitude, one the church can see and confirm.
And some gifts are rarer still. Tongues. Healing. Miracles. Paul names them, but these are a topic all their own.
Faithful people who love scripture as much as anyone, read this passage differently. That’s for another day.
What I want us to focus on here is the charge (verse 31). Earnestly desire the higher gifts.
You can’t manufacture these. You can’t practice your way into them. You desire them. But God gives as he chooses.
So whatever God has placed in the person beside you, the posture is the same. Recognize it. Receive it. Don’t envy it. And don’t fake it.
Because these gifts are conferred to go. Go make disciples. Given to a few to build up the whole body and to send it out.
In the first point, you grow into them by practice. But for these, you don’t practice your way in. You desire them and receive them, if God wills.
Develop some. Desire others.
And above both, pursue love. Paul says it himself: “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts” (14:1).
Desire the gift, yes. But pursue love above all. (1 Cor 13)
Discussion
- Paul says the church “appoints” what God has already given (v28). How do you tell the difference between a gift God has placed in someone and a role someone has simply taken for themselves?
- Paul tells the whole church to “earnestly desire the higher gifts” (v31), yet God gives them as he chooses. How do you hold both at once, desiring a gift and refusing to envy the one who carries it?
Key Takeaways
- God appoints. We don’t self-appoint. These are placed by his choosing, not earned by our effort.
- Desire, then receive. Earnestly desire the higher gifts. (verse 31) Then honor the gift God distributes as He will. Never envy. Never fake it.
Something to Sit With
Two kinds of gifts. Functional gifts. Called to grow. This is the floor we all stand on.
Serve, give, encourage, show mercy, welcome, pray. These functional gifts are ones we should develop to use. Every one of us. No exceptions.
Appointed gifts. Conferred to go. Gifts God places selectively for the sake of us all. Teaching, leading, administration, the church sees and confirms. And gifts rarer still, for another day.
These appointed gifts are ones we should desire to receive.
Every one of us has gifts to grow. And the body needs your gifts to send us out.
To grow (bear fruit)… and to go (make disciples).
And we make disciples the way Jesus did. Not from a stage. By investing in people, up close, in the body.
And one thing holds both kinds together. Turn one page, to chapter 13.
Speak in the tongues of angels, without love, and you’re a noisy gong (13:1). Show the smallest mercy, in love, and it’s never wasted. Love never ends (13:8).
The gift was never the point. Love is. Jesus held every gift there is. And he poured them all out in love.
A few questions to take away. No need to answer them out loud.
- Is there a gift I’m called to grow that is hidden within me?
- Am I waiting to be handed a gift, instead of using the ones I already carry?
- Whose gift, right here among us, can I recognize and thank God for this week?
“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” (1 Pet 4:10)
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I figure out what my spiritual gift is?
Start by serving, not by testing. For the gifts you are called to grow, you do not need to discover anything first. Show mercy, encourage, give, welcome, and the gift grows in the doing.
For the gifts God appoints, you rarely name them in yourself. The church sees them, names them, and confirms them.
So serve where you are, pay attention to where God works through you, and let the body tell you what it sees.
Can I grow my spiritual gifts, or are they just given to me?
Both, depending on the gift. The functional gifts are called to grow. You develop them by practice, the way you grow any skill, until they become second nature. You do not wait to feel gifted before you serve.
The appointed gifts are different. You cannot manufacture them or practice your way in. God confers them as he chooses, and the church confirms them.
So grow the ones you are called to grow, and desire the ones only God can give.
Does every Christian have a spiritual gift, even if I don’t feel like I do?
Yes. Peter says each one has received a gift to steward (1 Peter 4:10).
If you do not feel gifted, start anyway. You do not need a gift of mercy to show mercy, or a gift of encouragement to encourage. Serve, and the gift grows in your hands. Feeling ungifted is not the same as being ungifted.
Why are the gift lists in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 different?
Because they lean toward two different kinds of gift. Romans 12 leans toward the functional gifts, the ones every believer is called to grow: service, mercy, generosity, encouragement. First Corinthians 12 leans toward the appointed gifts, the ones God distributes to some and the church confirms: apostles, prophets, teachers, and others.
Paul does not give one tidy list because he is not making one point. He is showing us gifts we develop and gifts we receive.
What does “earnestly desire the higher gifts” mean if I cannot just choose my gift?
Paul tells the whole church to earnestly desire the higher gifts (1 Corinthians 12:31), even though God alone gives them. So the desire is real, but it is not a demand. You can long for a gift, and ask for it, and still leave the giving to God.
And notice where Paul goes next. Straight into 1 Corinthians 13. Desire the gifts, but pursue love above them all. The wanting is always governed by love.
Is love a spiritual gift?
No. Love is greater than the gifts, and it governs them all. Paul says you can speak in the tongues of angels, or carry every gift there is, and without love it is nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
Love is not one gift among many. It is the more excellent way that makes every gift worth anything. Grow your gifts, desire the higher ones, but pursue love first.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway.