March 7, 2008
EQUIPPED TO SERVE
Selected Scriptures
One of the most common metaphors for the church in the New Testament is that of the church as the Body of Christ. It is a very powerful and effective word picture, because it works at different levels to portray different truths about the church. As we saw two weeks ago, it beautifully pictures the church in the vertical dimension, as it depicts the relationship between Christ as the Head and the church as his Body. It also describes the horizontal dimension of church life, as we saw last week. As fellow members of the Body of Christ, we are to love each other and care for each other and serve each other.
In today’s message, we will continue to focus on the church in its horizontal dimension. In the Scripture reading this morning, we read Romans 12:1-8. In this text, Paul is elaborating on the Body metaphor. As he does so, he uses it to emphasize and highlight two truths. The first truth is that WE ARE ONE. This is an important reality of life in the church. We are one Body as he says in verse 5: We who are many form one body. There is to be a oneness, a unity in the Body of Christ, just as there is a oneness in the composition and functioning of the human body.
This first truth is set alongside a contrasting truth. WE ARE DIFFERENT. We find this expounded in Romans 12:4: Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not have the same function…This line of thought is picked up in verse 6: We have different gifts according to the grace given us. These are the twin realities of life in the Body of Christ. We are one and we are different. And this oneness in diversity is beautifully portrayed in the human body, which has many different members with different functions, yet all the members work together in a harmonious whole. We are different, and yet we are one. As members of the Body of Christ, we have different gifts and different functions, yet the Body of Christ is to be unified and work together.
The question before us this morning is, how does this work out in reality? The oneness and unity of the Body is enhanced and built up as we love each other and build each other up, as we saw last week. But what about this diversity of gifts and functioning? There is one core conviction of Biblical reality that I want to base this message on. Everything else I am going to say is based on this. God has uniquely equipped each believer to serve effectively in the church. As I have studied and researched the different Scriptures relating to this topic, this truth comes through loud and clear. God has uniquely equipped each believer to serve effectively in the church.
Let me highlight some of the Scriptures which support this statement.
I Corinthians 12:7: Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. Notice that “each one” has been given a manifestation of the Spirit to serve effectively for the common good.
I Corinthians 12:11: All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each just as he determines. Once again there is the emphasis on “each one” and also that it is God the Holy Spirit who gives the gifts. He is the one who does the equipping.
Ephesians 4:7: But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned.
Ephesians 4:16: From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. The emphasis continues to be on God as the one who distributes the gifts and that each member receives one. No one is left out. Each member has a part to play.
The application that we are to make of this reality is the point that Peter takes up in I Peter 4:10-11: Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.
God has given the gifts, apportioning them as he determines. We have been equipped. Now it is our responsibility to use the gift or gifts we have received, not for ourselves or for our own glory, but for the benefit of the church and for the glory of God.
That is a simple and concise summary of the New Testament’s teaching on spiritual gifts. But how does this work out in practice? The Key Question: How can we find our places of service? How do you and I as individual members of the body, find our unique place of service in the church, the place we are best equipped to serve?
Let me first of all describe a Traditional Approach to that question. This was the approach I was taught in seminary. The traditional approach would say that we must first identify our spiritual gift. This would lead to a careful study of the passages of Scripture which talk about gifts and give us lists of gifts. There are actually only four such passages: Romans 12, I Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4 and I Peter 4. In studying these lists, we would then seek to define each of the gifts in the list. Then we all tried to decide, based on these definitions, which gift or gifts we had. Once we identified our gift, we were to go forth and serve effectively by using our gift.
It was a logical approach. But in my experience, it was an approach that never seemed to work very well. It generated a lot of discussion and created a host of seminars. But it never seemed to really multiply the number of people serving in the church. It was an approach that seemed to leave far too many people on the sidelines. We might have concluded that these people on the sidelines were simply uncommitted people who were unwilling to serve. But I found that many of them were frustrated because, after taking all the different surveys and studying all the lists, they still weren’t sure what their gifts were. They didn’t feel like they fit in any of the boxes. Too many people slipped through the cracks.
I think this approach to gifts fails for one simple reason. We made a wrong presupposition. The presupposition was that there was a limited number of gifts; that the Biblical list of gifts was exhaustive. You had to have one of the gifts listed in the New Testament, or you didn’t have a gift. But as I studied further, it seemed to me that there was absolutely no Biblical reason to draw that conclusion. In fact there were good reasons to conclude otherwise. For one thing, the Bible never gives the same list of gifts twice. In fact, the different listings are more notable for their differences than their similarities. There are actually only a handful of gifts that appear on more than one list. It seems to me that the Biblical lists of gifts are suggestive, not exhaustive. It is as though the writer says, “We all have different gifts. For example, some are apostles, some are prophets, some are teachers…” He is simply illustrating the diversity of gifts by giving some well known examples.
The other reason the traditional approach doesn’t seem to work is that the Bible itself does not define the gifts. It simply lists them. So when a particular teacher or seminar gives a long, detailed definition of a gift and how it works, the fact of the matter is, he’s making it up. The Biblical data just is not there to support the definition. So we are left using man’s definitions of a gift to fit ourselves into a particular box in order to say, “I have the gift of…” And even if we find a definition which fits, we still do not always know how to translate that gift into a particular ministry. For example, if someone has the gift of teaching, does that mean children, youth, or adults? Does it mean standing in front of a classroom or writing curriculum material? The game of “Name that Gift” simply left far too many people out and far too many questions unanswered.
So, if this traditional approach does not work, what am I proposing in its place? I would like to propose a different approach. We might label it The Nike philosophy of Christian service: JUST DO IT!
Let’s come back to our central statement: God has uniquely equipped each believer to serve effectively in the church. What we are looking for is the answer to a simple question: How has God specifically equipped me to serve in the church? It doesn’t matter what the gift is called. It doesn’t matter whether it appears on any lists. What matters is that you find out what you do well, and you do it for the benefit of the church and the glory of God.
You might say, “That’s all very well, but how do I know what I am good at and what I should be doing in the church?” To answer that question, I would suggest that you consider five different factors. This is not Biblical teaching. This is just common sense. It is not original to me. Various church movements have used these factors or variations of them, such as Willowcreek Church and Saddleback Bible Church. They have helped many people find their places of service.
Here are the factors:
The first factor is your passions. What are you passionate about? What do you love to do? What fires you up and gets you excited? Is it working with kids? Is it music? Is it computers and technology? Do you love to read and study? What do you love to do? Obviously I am not talking about sinful things here. But God made each of us unique, and he’s placed certain passions and desires and interests in us.
The second factor is your personal style. This includes your personality and your personal preferences and where you are comfortable. Are you an extrovert or an introvert? Do you like being up front or do you prefer being behind the scenes? Do you like working in a team or do you like to work alone? Do you like to work with people or do you prefer fixing things and working with inanimate objects? Remember our beginning point in Romans 12: We are one, but we are different. How has God made you different or unique? That is no accident. It is part of his design and may well point the way to your most effective place of service.
The third factor is your abilities. What are you good at? What do you do well? What skills have you acquired? These can include both natural abilities as well as learned ones. What can you do?
The fourth factor is your experience. This includes your past history. What have you done in the past? Of course this would include your past service in the church, but don’t limit it to that. What have you done at work? What have you been involved in at school? Write yourself a mini CV.
The fifth factor is the ministry needs of the church. What are the tasks that need to be done and the roles that need to be filled in the church? Listen to the announcements when ministry needs are mentioned. Ask around. Look for opportunities which may be neglected.
Now here is the point. As you consider these factors, and weigh them together, I believe your most effective ministry roles will be where these factors converge. That will be where you are most uniquely equipped to serve.
Let me move quickly to wrap this up. I want to give you 5 steps toward discovering your place or places of service (no one says we are limited to only one!)
1. Pray.
Ask God to show you where he wants you to serve. Ask him to help you discover the role or roles he has uniquely equipped you to serve in the church.
2. Be willing.
We have to start with a willing heart. We have to start without preconditions. We have to start by doing what Romans 12:1 tells us: Present your bodies as a living sacrifice.
3. Be informed.
You can start by looking at the list of gifts in the Bible. They could well trigger your thinking into an area of service which is just right for you. You can fill in a personal inventory of the different factors I have mentioned today. You can also do some research on what the needs are in the church.
4. Experiment.
That doesn’t sound very spiritual, does it? But how do you know you can or cannot do something unless you’ve tried? Try different ministries and see how they fit.
5. Let God move you around.
One of the questions people sometimes ask is whether we are given a gift for life, or whether God might give us different gifts in different seasons of our lives. From what I’ve said earlier, I think it is obvious that there is simply not enough Biblical data to answer such a question. Personally, I think we should remain open to God moving us around and developing us into different ministries that may be build on what we have done before, or may even take us into very different and unexpected directions.
The final question I want to touch on is simply this: How will I recognize my place of ministry when I find it?
Four quick points:
1. You will enjoy it.
Again, that doesn’t sound very spiritual, does it? And of course it is not an all inclusive answer. Every ministry role contains some frustration and what can be called the “sweat factor”. But over all there will be a sense of joy in service if you are serving in a role which God has equipped you to fill.
2. You will gain a deep sense of satisfaction from your service.
Once again, this is not always immediate or in every moment, but there will be a profound sense of fulfilling God’s purpose and playing a significant role in the Body of Christ.
3. You will quickly gain a sense of confidence in the exercise of your ministry.
You will experience a sense of competency which will give you confidence to continue and know that you are doing a job and doing it well. We must be careful that this does not become a confidence in the flesh that leads us away from trust in Christ and his working in us. As with many principles, there is a careful Biblical balance to keep here. But overall, if we are serving in a role which we are equipped to serve, we will sense God’s enablement for service.
4. Others will recognize and affirm your contribution.
Listen to what people around you are saying and their affirmation. We do not serve for men’s praise, but when we serve effectively, we will normally receive positive feedback from those we are serving or from those who serve along side of us.
I recognize that this has been a different kind of sermon this morning. I hope I haven’t rocked too many boats or muddied the theological waters too badly. I just feel that there is a need to de-mysticize or even de-spiritualize the whole matter of Christian service. There is a tendency to make it far too complicated. The church has needs. There are vital roles that need to be filled. Too few people are carrying too much of the load. We desperately need more people to get involved. If you are a Christian, if you know Christ as Savior, then God has uniquely equipped you to serve in the church. We need you to get involved. Don’t worry about labels. Don’t sweat the small print. Roll up your sleeves and start somewhere. Just do it! And God will lead you into the places of service which are just right for you.