Spiritual gifts

27
Aug
2025

Teaching

“We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we might present everyone perfect in Christ.” (Col 1:28)

The spiritual gift of teaching involves communicating Biblical truth in a way that brings about healthy spiritual growth and life change.  The gift is more than being a good teacher generically.  Someone can be a good biology or literature teacher without having the spiritual gift of teaching.  People with this gift focus on Jesus and on Scripture.  When these people teach, it’s not just that you learn something.  It’s that they take you to God and help you spiritually understand and apply His Word to your life.  People with this gift open your heart and mind to God’s ways.  People with the spiritual gift of teaching proclaim Christ.  They want to present everyone perfect in Christ.

People with this gift care about the truth and about applying that truth to real life.  Good teaching should be a bridge between a text and a life.  In order to bridge from a text, you must know the text.  Thus, people with the spiritual gift of teaching often spend much time in Scripture to discern what it says.  They want to proclaim it accurately.

But in order to bridge to a life, you must know life.  Good teachers, thus, are active participants in the Christian life.  To teach on prayer, you need to pray.  To teach on taking up your cross, you need to take up your own.  To teach on generosity, you need to be generous.

People with the gift of teaching still struggle with all of the above and more.  They will have their strengths and weaknesses just as you do, but they are in the fight.  And they understand the fight.  From the inside. 

James says that God judges teachers with greater strictness (Jas 3:1), so you should not become a teacher lightly. You will be held to the standard that you teach. If you teach a low standard, you are not a good teacher. If you teach a Biblical standard, you will be held to it. For an honest teacher, that is a fearful prospect.

This gift is more public.  People with this gift are usually in front of the church in some capacity.

The Importance of Teaching

This gift is the compass of the church.  Good teaching leads the church in a right direction.  Bad teaching leads the church astray. 

False Teachers

The New Testament is filled with condemnation for false teachers. Every era of history has had its false teachers, and today is no different.  Modern examples of false teaching include cults like Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons, different forms of the prosperity gospel, and different teachings under the label “progressive Christianity.” Those who teach such doctrines lead people astray, and God will hold them accountable for their teachings. God loves His church with a passion. Woe to those who lead the sheep astray.

Strengths of Teachers

  • care about truth
  • care about the church
  • love to read
  • love to learn
  • are willing to do the work of studying Scripture
  • are good communicators
  • want to see people apply the Bible
  • can explain complex spiritual ideas simply
  • are usually strong in the Word

Weaknesses of Teachers

  • can be too intellectual
  • can focus on ideas and miss the people
  • may struggle with personal relationships
  • may be proud of their knowledge and abilities
  • may be proud of being in front of others
  • need to be right

Examples of People with this Gift

Ezra, Paul, Timothy, Apollos, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, Francis Chan, Tim Keller

Good Roles for People with this Gift

pastor, Bible study leader, Bible teacher, seminary professor, apologist, writer

Posted by mdemchsak, 0 comments
20
Aug
2025

Service

“. . . whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  (Matt 20:26-8)

Greatness in the kingdom of God is backwards from greatness in the world.  Jesus came to serve. He came to give His life a ransom for many.  To Jesus, the great ones are the servants.  Therefore, the spiritual gift of service is Christ-like and makes men and women great in the eyes of God. People with this gift show the rest of us how to be great in the kingdom of God. 

Servants generally prefer to be behind the scenes and are usually the ones most willing to do the dirty jobs.  At a supper you’ll find them setting up and tearing down tables, doing dishes, and taking out the trash, and they will do these jobs with a smile and a glad heart.  In different ministries, you’ll find them giving rides to people, serving meals, helping an immigrant find work, or doing the taxes of an elderly man.  These people bring meals when you are sick or repair your car when it breaks down.  They thrive on meeting practical needs. They want to serve you.

These people do the leg work of ministry, and without them much that the church does would come to a standstill. 

The Importance of Service

Servants are the hands and feet of the church.  They show the rest of the church how to be great.

Strengths of Servants

  • content behind the scenes
  • can be humble
  • get things done
  • want to help
  • care about others first

Weaknesses of Servants

  • sometimes say yes to everything and burn out
  • can try to do everything themselves
  • can stress out because there is so much to do
  • sometimes focus so much on practical needs that they miss people’s spiritual needs
  • sometimes focus on working and miss abiding in Christ
  • sometimes try to please men instead of God

Examples of People with the Gift of Service

Ruth, Martha, Stephen, Tabitha, Mother Teresa

Good Roles for People with this Gift

support roles, nurse, needs ministries, most any work that is behind the scenes and that helps people

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11
Aug
2025

Prophecy

“The one who prophecies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues” (I Cor 14:5)

This gift is mentioned in Romans 12, I Corinthians 12-14, and Ephesians 4.

Most people associate prophecy with foretelling the future, and prophecy certainly can include that aspect.  But prophecy is bigger than foretelling the future.  New Testament prophets are a continuation of the Old Testament prophetic tradition but under a new covenant.  When you read Isaiah or Jeremiah, you read a lot of “Thus says the Lord,” and most of those statements have nothing to do with foretelling the future.  Sometimes a prophet rebukes sin.  Sometimes he offers restoration and forgiveness.  Sometimes he gives direction concerning God’s will.  Occasionally he predicts the future. 

What do Prophets Do?

At its most basic level prophecy is a word from the Lord.  Like Old Testament prophets, New Testament prophets speak a word from the Lord for the church, and that word is informed by the new covenant and the coming of Jesus. 

Prophets:

  • rebuke sin
  • call the church to repentance
  • call you to repentance
  • let us know of God’s judgment, love and mercy
  • point us to God and to His character
  • communicate messages from God to the people
  • provide guidance and direction
  • may speak about the future

The Importance of Prophecy

Prophets are the conscience of the church.

Who is Prophecy For?

Prophecy can be for individuals or for the church. 

Strengths of a Prophet

  • boldness, no fear of men
  • a focus on righteousness and holiness
  • can see the truth and communicate that truth clearly and simply
  • care about the truth
  • want to see the church honor God
  • are sensitive to the Spirit
  • have high ethical standards

Weaknesses of a Prophet

  • can be proud
  • can be insensitive
  • can be offensive needlessly
  • can lack tact
  • can speak the truth without love when speaking from the flesh

False Prophets

Because false prophets exist, the church must test the message of a prophet to see whether it is of God (I Jn 4:1).  The standard for such a test is Scripture.  The message of a prophet is, thus, subordinate to Scripture, not equal to Scripture.  People who listen to a self-proclaimed “prophet” who gives a message that does not align with Scripture are not listening to a prophet of God (Dt 13). 

Prophecy and Teaching

Prophecy communicates a message from God.  Teaching also communicates a message from God.  But the two are not the same.  Prophecy tends to be less formal, shorter, and more spontaneous than teaching.  It is more like a word God gives on the spot to address a particular situation. 

Examples of People with the Gift of Prophecy

Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, A.W. Tozer, Keith Green, Paul Washer

Good Roles for People with the Gift of Prophecy

mentor, writer, speaker, jail ministry, evangelist

Posted by mdemchsak, 0 comments
05
Aug
2025

Spiritual Gifts: Introduction

In 1993 I sat in on a series of lectures by Russell Kelfer at Wayside Chapel in San Antonio, TX.  The topic of the lectures was the spiritual gifts, and in each lecture, Kelfer took one gift and expanded it in such a way as to give a picture of what that gift looked like and how to use it.  I did not get the lecture tapes, and I do not now remember any specific details of what Kelfer said, but I do recall the gist of the overall structure and the general idea. 

I wish then to take his concept at the macro level, reconstruct it here, and give him credit for the idea.  I then wish to fill in some details.  I intend these details to be simple and brief.  My goal is not to say everything that can be said about a gift.  Rather, it is to give a quick picture.  An incomplete picture, certainly, but a picture nonetheless. 

It is quite possible that some of my details originally came from Kelfer as well, and they have sat around in my head for more than 30 years.  In such cases, he also gets credit, but since I don’t remember the specifics of his talks, I don’t know which ideas to credit him for.  Thus, this generic acknowledgement will have to do.  If the Holy Spirit led him, and if the Holy Spirit leads me, we should agree in substance. 

In an orchestra, the different instruments have different roles in a symphony.  On a basketball team, the different players have different strengths and play different roles on the court.  In a body, the different members do different things.  This is the church.  Different people have different strengths and, thus, should have different roles within the church. 

So what are some of these different gifts? 

Scripture lists spiritual gifts in different places.  Among the gifts listed are these:  prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership, mercy, wisdom, knowledge, faith, miracles, healing, discernment, administration, speaking and interpreting tongues, evangelism, pastoral gifts, and hospitality. 

These lists appear in four different places and have considerable overlap, but they are not identical.  Thus, when Scripture lists the spiritual gifts, the lists are not comprehensive.  They are merely examples of some of the gifts.  You can likely think of other spiritual gifts not specifically listed in Scripture.  Worship?  Vision?  Intercessory prayer?  Cross-cultural ministry?  Ministry to children?  You may say that these gifts intersect with others Paul mentions, and I won’t argue with you, but neither will I say that these gifts are identical to what Paul mentions. 

I am not going to talk about the gifts outside Scripture.  If I did, we could go on a long time.  So I am going to take one Biblical gift per blog and address questions such as the following:  what do these gifts do?  What are their strengths?  What are their weaknesses?  Who are real people who have those gifts?  What are some good roles in the church for someone with those gifts?

As I do this, keep in mind that what I say will be general truths that will not apply to every situation.  It may be like those times you look online at the symptoms of some disease and say, “Woa! I have some of those symptoms!”?  That doesn’t mean you have the disease. 

I am giving a broad picture, as a Proverb does.  I am not assessing your life.  Strengths and weaknesses are tendencies, not laws.  Sometimes they are wrong.  Keep in mind as well that people often have more than one gift, and sometimes the strength of one gift may help offset the weakness of another.  For example, someone may have the gifts of mercy and service, and because they have the gift of service, they are focused on accomplishing practical tasks, a reality that someone with the gift of mercy alone may struggle with.  Someone may have the gifts of administration and encouragement, and because they have the gift of encouragement, they may have strong relational skills that someone with the gift of administration alone might lack. The real world is more complex than the pictures I am going to give you.  But I pray that the pictures still help.

Posted by mdemchsak, 0 comments
16
May
2025

A Right Emphasis on the Gifts

Earnestly desire the higher gifts.

And I will show you a still more excellent way. (I Cor 12:20)

Think for a moment about physical handicaps. 

I once had a friend who was a paraplegic and confined to a wheelchair.  The thing he wanted most to do was to walk.  When Jesus asks blind Bartimaeus what he wants, Bartimaeus says, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight” (Mk 10:51).  Even if you’ve never been blind or paralyzed, you understand the sentiment.       

Paul likens spiritual gifts to parts of the body – hands, feet, eyes, ears — and that picture portrays the need for the gifts.  The church needs the gifts as a body needs a leg.  The gifts serve the church, and the absence of those gifts is a handicap on the church.  A church without sound teaching is blind.  A church without evangelism is lame, and a church without service has no hands. 

When Christians merely sit and soak in sermons without ever serving their church, they hurt their church.  Finding your gifting and using it for the church is necessary for your own spiritual health but also for the health of the church.  Spiritual gifts are as needed as a hand, an ear, or an eye. 

Having said this, however, spiritual gifts are not the most important aspect of your life with Jesus.  In I Corinthians, Paul talks about the body and spiritual gifts and then goes on to say, “But let me show you a more excellent way” (13:1).  He then says that if you have great gifts but don’t love, you are nothing.  As necessary as the gifts are, love is more needful yet. 

In addition, when Paul gives the criteria for elders (I Tim 3 and Titus 1), most of the criteria deal with character.  And even the one criterion that deals with a skill requires only that an elder be able to teach, not that he be gifted at teaching.  Elders do not have to have the spiritual gift of teaching, but they do need to be able to explain the faith to any who need an explanation.  Thus, even with elders, spiritual gifts are not the primary qualifications the church should look for.

Biblical character is more important than spiritual gifting.   Love is more important than spiritual gifting.  Your relationship with Jesus is more important than spiritual gifting.  Righteousness and holiness are more important than spiritual gifting.  It is better to be holy than to be a gifted evangelist.  It is better to love God and neighbor than to be a gifted church planter. 

If spiritual gifts are like hands and eyes, then love, holiness, intimacy with Jesus, and righteousness are like heart and liver. 

The church may be handicapped without the spiritual gifts, but it is dead without love or holiness.  In fact, it is not a church.  Godly character and a godly heart are essential markers of genuine Christianity.  Without them the church cannot survive.  John puts it this way:

            “Little children, let no one deceive you.  He who practices righteousness is

            righteous as he is righteous.  He who practices sinning is of the devil, for the

            devil has been sinning from the beginning . . . By this it is evident who are the

            children of God and who are the children of the devil.  Whoever does not

            practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.

            (I John 3:8,10)

You can be of God without practicing your spiritual gifts, but you cannot be of God without practicing love and righteousness.  Of course, if you are of God, you should practice your spiritual gifts.  You use them for the church as a man uses his feet to carry the body. 

We, thus, need this twofold emphasis that Paul gives in I Corinthians.  On the one side, your gifts are important and you need to use them.  On the other side, some qualities are more important still. 

Thus, spiritual gifting should be important but not the overall focus of a believer.  If you gain strong hands but lose your heart, you have made a bad trade.  The main things need to be the main things, and spiritual gifts, good as they are, are not the main things. 

Walk in holiness.  Love Jesus.  Love your brother.  If you do these things, you put the word “spiritual” into spiritual gifts.  But if you don’t do these things, you rip the word “spiritual” out of the gifts.  That was a problem Paul had to correct in Corinth.  It is a problem that some people still have today. 

A church board calls a man to be pastor because he is a gifted communicator only to find later that he is also addicted to pornography.  A ministry calls a man who is a gifted evangelist only to find later that he abuses his power. Many people emphasize gifts instead of humility.  Ability instead of prayer.  Flash instead of substance.  Corinth is alive and well today. 

Don’t let it be so with you.

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