Romans 12:6-8: Using Your Gifts

Romans 12:6-8: Using Your Gifts

Please turn with me in your Bibles to Romans 12. If you’re using one of the Story Bibles we provide, that’s on page 785. We’ve been working our way passage by passage through Paul’s letter to the Romans, and this morning the next passage we come to is Romans 12:6-8. But to give you some context, I’m going to begin reading at verse 4. So Romans 12, beginning at verse 4:

4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. 

When you go to a professional sporting event—whether it’s a baseball game, a football game, or whatever it is—you go there expecting to sit in the stands and watch the pros do their thing. You go there to be a spectator. And that’s something a lot of people like to do. In fact, some people will shell out thousands and thousands of dollars for season tickets so they can do that all season long. And they’ll even go if it’s winter and twenty degrees outside. I remember hearing about a Buffalo Bills game—I think it was this past winter—that was played right after a big snowstorm had dumped literally a few feet of snow on the ground. And they still had the game because they were able to get the field cleared off in time. However, they actually weren’t able to get all of the seats cleared off. So the fans who came had to dig out their seats in order to have a place to sit. That’s what you call dedication. Personally, I don’t think I have or will ever have that level of dedication, but a lot of people do. I guess that’s where the word “fan” comes from. A lot of people are truly fanatical about going to games and watching their team take on other teams. And that’s what you do at a sporting event. You watch other people play the game. You function as a spectator.

And I’ve noticed that a lot of churchgoers have similar mentality when it comes to church. They have what we might call a “spectator mentality.” They may never say it like this, but a lot of churchgoers view church as basically a time where a bunch of “ordinary” Christians gather together in order to watch a special group of “elite Christians” or “professional Christians” do the work of ministry. In their mind, church is an event that people attend in order to watch the pros do their thing. Yet the Bible speaks of church a lot differently, as we see here in our main passage of Romans 12:6-8. This passage shows us that church is meant to be so much more than watching a handful of Christians use their spiritual gifts for an hour on Sunday mornings while everyone else sits and watches. Rather, Paul tells us that God’s given every Christian a spiritual gift and wants them to use it. That’s the main idea we see in these verses. God’s given every Christian a spiritual gift and wants them to use it.  So let’s look at those two ideas more closely. First, let’s look at the fact that God’s given every Christian a spiritual gift and then, second, at the fact that God wants Christians to use their spiritual gifts. 

God Has Given Every Christian a Spiritual Gift

So first, we see in verse 6 that every Christian has received at least one—and possibly multiple—spiritual gifts from God. Paul writes, “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.” God’s given every Christian a spiritual gift. Now what exactly is a spiritual gift? Well, we might define a spiritual gift as “any ability that’s empowered by the Holy Spirit and used in any ministry of the church.” That definition’s from Wayne Grudem. A spiritual gift is “any ability that’s empowered by the Holy Spirit and used in any ministry of the church.”

And notice that Paul says we have “gifts that differ.” That means we don’t all have the same spiritual gift but rather gifts that complement each other. Kind of like a puzzle is made up of different pieces that all fit into each other and have their own unique function in the puzzle. Imagine purchasing a puzzle but then discovering, once you opened the box, that all of the pieces were identical. There was some kind of error at the manufacturing facility so that instead of giving you hundreds of different pieces, they gave you hundreds of duplicates of the same piece. That’s not going to be a very fun puzzle to put together. In fact, it would be impossible to fit those pieces together to form a picture. In order to form a picture, the puzzle pieces have to be different than each other and not only different but complementary. And that’s how God’s designed the church to function. He’s given us all different spiritual gifts that enable us to meet different needs and have different functions in the church. Now, think about what that means. That means you as an individual Christian are incomplete apart from a local church. You need other Christians who have different spiritual gifts than you to minister to you in various ways. Maybe if you had all the spiritual gifts, you’d be able to minister to yourself in all those ways, but the fact is that you don’t. So you need others in the church to minister to you. 

Also notice that Paul says we have “gifts that differ according to the grace given to us.” Whatever abilities we have are products of God’s grace in our lives. And every practical manifestation of God’s grace can ultimately be traced back to the gospel. Every bit of grace we experience was purchased by Jesus on the cross. He died as our substitute, suffering in our place and bearing the punishment for our sins. You see, our sins deserved and even demanded God’s just punishment, but Jesus endured that punishment on the cross so we wouldn’t have to. He then resurrected from the dead so that he’s now in a position to save everyone who will put their trust in him. That’s how you become a Christian. You stop trusting in your own efforts to gain God’s favor and become right with him and instead put your trust in Jesus to rescue you. And then, as you do that, God sends his Holy Spirit to actually live within you and change you in all sorts of ways and empower you with one or more spiritual gifts. So that’s where these gifts come from. They come as we trust in Jesus for rescue and receive the Holy Spirit. They flow out of God’s grace. 

Then moving on in our main passage, Paul gives us some examples of spiritual gifts. Verses 6-8: 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. Now this isn’t a complete list of the spiritual gifts. There are three other lists of gifts in the New Testament that include other gifts besides these. And in fact, I don’t even think all of the lists together make a complete list but rather just give us examples of the kinds of gifts God gives. I see no reason why we shouldn’t expect to benefit from other gifts beyond those specifically listed in the Bible. 

Nevertheless, we do have a list of certain gifts here in Romans 12, so let me go through those relatively briefly. First, Paul lists the gift of prophecy. And this is actually one of the most controversial gifts identified in the Bible. A lot of good and godly Christians disagree on how we should view this gift—even within our church. However, here’s what I think. One definition of prophecy I really like is by Wayne Grudem—the same theologian I quoted above—and he says that prophecy is “telling something that God has spontaneously brought to mind.” So God spontaneously brings a very clear message to your mind—that’s of course in full accord with the Bible—and you then tell that to others. Another author named Sam Storms describes prophecy this way, which I also like: prophecy is “the human report of a divine revelation.” Now it’s important to note that this isn’t new doctrinal revelation. We’re not adding to Scripture here. Rather, this revelation is much more practical in nature and specific to a particular situation. And I’d really like to spend a full sermon unpacking the gift of prophecy because I’m afraid this short description may leave some of you with more questions than answers, but since there are seven other gifts listed here I have to move on. If you want to learn more about the gift of prophecy and how it functions within a church, I recommend reading about it in a book entitled Practicing the Power by Sam Storms. Again, that book title is Practicing the Power by Sam Storms.

Then the next gift Paul lists is the gift of service. And this is such a broad term that it’s a bit difficult to pin down exactly what Paul means here, but it probably relates to serving others in the church in very practical ways. There are, of course, many ways to serve. Then Paul lists the gift of teaching, which likely refers not just to teaching anything but rather to teaching the Bible in particular. And the way you do that is by explaining it and then helping people see how it connects to their life. It’s basically what I’m doing right now, as well as what other teachers in the church do in smaller contexts such as Community Groups. 

After that, Paul lists the gift of exhortation, which is coming alongside other believers in order to encourage them in their spiritual growth and motivate them to continue following Jesus faithfully. Then the gift of generosity is exactly what it sounds like. It refers to taking unusually great joy in giving of your material and financial resources to help those in need as well as to advance the gospel. Next, the gift of leadership is also fairly self-explanatory. It involves leading a group of people toward a common goal and inspiring them to buy into a certain vision. Then the last gift Paul lists is the gift of mercy, which simply refers to ministering to those who are sick or in need. 

God Wants Christians to Use Their Spiritual Gifts

So God’s given every Christian a spiritual gift, and many times multiple spiritual gifts, such as the ones listed here. And the reason he’s given us these gifts is because he wants us to use them. That’s the second thing for us to note from this passage. God wants Christians to use their spiritual gifts. As we’ve already read in verse 6: “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.” So again, church isn’t about just showing up to an event on Sunday morning and watching the pros do ministry but rather about getting involved and using your gifts to minister to the people around you. 

We find this taught also in Ephesians 4:11-12. Paul writes, 11 And [Jesus] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. So according to these verses, why did Jesus give all of these different kinds of leaders to the church? Did he give them to the church so they could do all the ministry themselves? Not at all. Quite the opposite: he gave them to the church “to equip the saints [the “regular” Christians] for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” So my job as a pastor isn’t to do the ministry of the church but rather to equip you for the work of ministry. A few weeks ago, my three-year-old son Silas asked me a question on the way to his t-ball game. I think I’ve mentioned before that I’m the manager of the t-ball team. So Silas asked me, “Daddy, why aren’t you wearing cleats?” He was wearing cleats and was wondering why I wasn’t wearing cleats as well since I also would be out on the field. So I explained to him that I didn’t need cleats because my job wasn’t to play the game but rather to coach him as he played the game. I was a coach, while he was a player. And God’s designed the church to function in a very similar way. He’s called the pastors not to do all the ministry themselves but rather to coach and equip the rest of the church as they do ministry. So, coming back to Romans 12, God’s given all of his people spiritual gifts because he wants each of them to use those gifts. 

However, that raises the question, what if you don’t know your gift? Perhaps some of you are sitting there thinking to yourself, “I’d be interested in using my gift if I knew what my gift is.” So how can you know that? How can you know what spiritual gift you have? Well, many Christians of the past few generations have taken what are commonly called “spiritual gifts tests,” which are basically the Christian version of career assessments. They’re questionnaires designed to help you identify the kinds of roles in the church that interest you and that you might be good at. And there may be some value in those tests, but I believe the best way to discover your spiritual gift is to simply start serving others in the church in any way you can and seek to minister to them as the Bible tells us to do. 

You see, the vast majority of the spiritual gifts are things that the Bible tells every Christian to do anyway. For example, service is commanded for all Christians. In Galatians 5:13, Paul says, “through love serve one another.” Also, exhortation is commanded in Hebrews 3:13, where it says to “exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” In addition, generosity is taught in 2 Corinthians 9:11, where Paul writes, “You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way.” Furthermore, mercy is commanded in Luke 6:36, where Jesus says, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” And the vast majority of other spiritual gifts are commanded in some form as well, though perhaps some of them in less explicit terms. So if you want to discover your spiritual gifts, just start obeying those commands. Do what the Bible says all Christians should do anyway. And as you’re faithful to do those things and minister to other Christians in those ways, you’ll notice that certain strengths will start to emerge. Those strengths are your spiritual gifts. 

So to be completely honest and upfront with you, if you’ve been a Christian for a decent amount of time and yet still have no clue about how you’re gifted, it just makes me wonder—not judging but just wondering—how intentional are you being at serving others in the church and trying help them in their walk with God? If you’re making an intentional effort to do that, I would think that before long, you’d have some idea about what your gift is. I’m not saying that’s true in every case, but in most cases I’d expect that to be true. So the way we discover our spiritual gifts is simply by ministering others in whatever ways we can and then observing which particular forms of ministry we seem to be the best at. And those are our spiritual gifts.

So regardless of what level of clarity you presently have about the ways in which you’re gifted, my encouragement to you is to pour yourself out in ministry to other people in this church. And certainly a good place to start with that is by volunteering to do something on Sunday morning—even something small. We’ve already announced that there’s a need for more people on the hospitality team and maybe someone else to help with setup. Lori’s also informed me that there’s a need for two more volunteers in the children’s ministry. Those are easy opportunities to begin serving the people around you. 

However, of course, serving other Christians goes far beyond Sunday morning. You see, if you really want to serve others in the church, here’s what you have to do: you have to actually get to know them and build meaningful relationships with them that reach beyond our Sunday morning gathering. Because if you don’t have real relationships with others in the church, you really don’t have much of an opportunity to minister to them. I mean, if you don’t know them, how in world are you going to know what their needs are? How are you going to know where they’re struggling? How are you going to know what pressures they face in life or what’s really weighing on their heart? So the fact is that if you don’t take the time to develop real relationships with others in the church, all of this teaching about spiritual gifts is just “pie in the sky” theory. Kind of like a conversation we might have about what it would be like to live on Mars. You and I don’t have any way to get to Mars, let alone live there. Technology hasn’t yet progressed that far. And even when it does, I’d be quite surprised if anyone in this room were selected for a Mars mission. So any conversation we might have about living on Mars is just theory. It’s just us talking about something that, realistically, we’re never going to have the opportunity to do. And that’s also what it’s like for us to talk about using our spiritual gifts if we haven’t developed real relationships with others in the church. It’s just a pipe dream. 

So if you want to discover and then exercise your spiritual gifts in a meaningful way, I’d start by joining a Community Group. Our group in Brentwood will have our second meeting this evening. Just get with me after the service for more details about that. Also, you could maybe start showing up early for our worship service and staying late so you can interact with people more. And then, once you’ve had a little bit of interaction with somebody, maybe invite them out to lunch after church or have them over to your house for dinner one evening. Also, once you begin to develop those meaningful relationships, there may be an opportunity for you to take the initiative to personally disciple someone. If there’s a Christian you know who’s a little younger in the faith, start meeting with them one-on-one each week to help them grow spiritually and teach them more about following Jesus. You don’t have to be some elite Christian to do that. If you’re just one step ahead of someone spiritually, you can disciple them. And in addition to that, there will of course be other Christians who are one or more steps ahead of you, so it would also be a good idea to find a Christian you know who’s more mature than you and then ask them to disciple you. So there are all kinds of practical steps you can take to discover and exercise your spiritual gifts. 

Conclusion

And as we think about everything Paul says here in verses 6-8 about spiritual gifts, keep in mind that all of this grows out of what Paul said back in verse 5. In verse 5, Paul stated that we as Christians in a church are “members one of another.” That’s what we are: “members one of another.” That means, among other things, that we should count it our duty to help and serve one another. In fact, that should be our natural disposition to such an extent that we do it, many times, almost without even thinking about it. After all, that’s how the physical members of your physical body interact with one another. Let’s say you find yourself in some crazy situation this afternoon and get shot in the arm. What will your hand on the opposite arm do? Of course, it’s going to automatically and without hesitation offer its assistance in any way it can—probably by applying pressure to the gunshot wound to stop the bleeding. Or let’s go with a scenario that’s perhaps more likely to happen. Let’s say you’re walking barefoot around your house this afternoon and stub your toe. How is your body automatically going to respond to that? Is the rest of your body just going to say, “Oh, too bad for that toe; good luck dealing with that”?  Of course not. Your whole body is going to automatically shift its weight to the opposite leg as you hobble along and try to get to a chair. That’s how the parts of your body work. Their natural disposition is to serve one another. You don’t really have to train them to do that. They just do it instinctively.

And in a similar way, since we as Christians are “members one of another,” we also should have a natural disposition to serve and minister to the Christians around us in whatever ways we can. That should be your natural disposition as you come to this building on Sunday mornings and as you attend a Community Group or some kind of Bible study during the week and as you meet with Christians in various other settings. You should be thinking, “How can I be of service and be a blessing to those around me?” That’s a key measure of how spiritually mature and healthy you really are.