The Road to Redemption – Spiritual Gifts 5

    For those of you who have read the past several articles about the gifts of the Spirit it would seem that we have come to the end of the discussion. We looked at the reasons for gifts of the Spirit; equipping Jesus' followers with the abilities necessary to insuring that the church can indeed become the living expression of Christ. We looked at the fact that equipping by the Spirit was not new to the New Testament but that God had equipped individuals (prophets, priests and other leaders) throughout the Old Testament. We looked at the three major listings of Spiritual gifts in the letters of Paul and examined each gift individually. So what else is there to do? The answer is that there is one gift which is often overlooked because it is listed separately from the rest; the Spiritual gift of love.

    In his first letter to the church at Corinth Paul offers a list of Spiritual gifts. . "4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; ⁵and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; ⁶and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.⁷To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.⁸To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, ⁹to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, ¹⁰to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses." (I Corinthians 12:4-11) Most people believe that the Apostle's discussion of gifts ends here, but it does not.

    Paul, as any good writer would do, saves the best gift for last. The issue within the church at Corinth was that the church members were arguing about whose gifts were best and which gifts matter the most. For some speaking in tongues was the most important gift while others argued that being an apostle was the most important gift and…well you get the point. Paul attempts to address this at the end of the spiritual gifts discussion when he states that not only are people differently gifted but that there is in fact only one gift that is greater than all the others; the gift of love. He writes, "But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal…." (I Corinthians 12:31-13:1) The Apostle continues with an entire chapter about the importance of love.

This discussion lets the Corinthians know that even the most amazing gifts including speaking in tongues, prophecy, discernment and even martyrdom are absolutely nothing if love is not evident. He continues by telling them that all of the amazing gifts which people want to claim as the greatest will eventually vanish. In the return of Jesus and the establishment of the Kingdom of God they will not even be necessary. The only ones that will remain are faith, hope and love…with the greatest being love.

This discussion also informs the Corinthians about the nature of the Spiritual gift of love. " ⁴ Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant ⁵ or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ⁶ it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. ⁷ It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." (I Corinthians 13:4-7) In other words the greatest Spiritual Gift is the one which the Corinthians need the most but seek the least. In a congregation divided by class, wealth, partisanship and gift pride Paul reminds them that unless they possess and use the gift of love all of their other gifts will be useless; those gifts will not help the Corinthians become the Jesus' centered community God is calling them to be.

While this chapter (I Corinthians 13) is often read at weddings because of its focus on love, it is really meant for the church. It is meant for the church as a powerful reminder that the church is a living spiritual organism in which all parts/gifts are necessary and of equal importance and that it is ultimately and only bound together by one gift: love.