What concern is that?
Can we see all the people the issues they face, and the struggles that beset them and us? Together, we ask, “What concern is that to us? Or for what should we be concerned? What do we have the capacity to respond to, to resource, to encourage and equip not just ourselves but the wider community?”
Unleashing Your Gifts: Finding Your Mission Field
Bible Passage: 1 Co 12:4–11
1. Diverse Gifts, Unified Purpose
2. Gifts for Good
3. Purposeful Distribution
With 1 Corinthians 12 Paul resumes answering the questions the Corinthians had sent him in their letter. The next question apparently dealt with the exercise of spiritual gifts in the church. We have already seen in 1 Corinthians 2 that the problem Corinthians probably thought that they were “spiritual” in contrast to other Christians in the church (2:15, 3:1). Apparently one way in which that arrogance showed up was in their exercise of spiritual gifts in worship. First Corinthians 12 through 14 give us Paul’s treatment of this issue.
2. Spiritual Gifts in the Church (12:1–31)
Paul is about to discuss spiritual gifts, it may be significant that he does not actually use the word gifts in this verse. It might actually capture Paul’s nuance better to translate the verse “Now about spiritual things
The confession that Jesus is Lord must be more than mere words for us
Jesus as Lord entailed an affirmation of the resurrection (Rom. 10:9; Phil. 2:9–11)
GREAT THEMES
grace (charis): “unmerited favor,” God’s propensity to give to us despite the fact that we do not merit His gifts
gift (charisma): that which God gives because of His grace
The Greek word for gift (charisma) is related to the word for grace (charis). The gifts to which Paul refers are thus instances of God’s grace.
No one can boast of their spirituality or greatness. True wisdom and spiritual power comes from God.
we should be very careful about making some simple equation between spiritual gifts and natural abilities. Paul’s emphasis is on God as their source and origin, not on something built into us.
Paul mentions the Spirit, the Lord Jesus, and God (the Father). The Spirit represents God in the world, Jesus is the King/Lord of the universe, and God is the ultimate source of everything.
There is one Spirit behind all spiritual gifts, but the Spirit “gifts” different individuals in different ways. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good (12:7). If Paul’s previous comment reminded the Corinthians that they could not take pride in their gifts because they all come from God, this one reminds them that the gifts, in the end, are not for them. The gifts of God are meant for building up the whole church (14:4) rather than for personal benefit
Paul here acknowledges that wisdom and knowledge are gifts of God, but they are gifts from the same Spiritual source. No human can take credit for true wisdom and knowledge
They were needed at first in the Church: (1) as a pledge to Christians themselves who had just passed over from Judaism or heathendom, that God was in the Church; (2) for the propagation of Christianity in the world; (3) for the edification of the Church. Now that we have the whole written New Testament (which they had not) and Christianity established as the result of the miracles, we need no further miracle to attest the truth
I would not have you ignorant—with all your boasts of “knowledge” at Corinth. If ignorant now, it will be your own fault, not mine (1 Co 14:38).
these dumb idols—Greek, “the idols which are dumb”; contrasted with the living God who “speaks” in the believer by His Spirit (1 Co 12:3, &c.). This gives the reason why the Corinthians needed instruction as to spiritual gifts, namely, their past heathen state, wherein they had no experience of intelligent spiritual powers. When blind, ye went to the dumb.
Garland (2003, 561) stresses the importance of the opening verses for understanding Paul’s argument for the entire chapter. He claims 1 Corinthians 12:1–3 introduces the subject of spiritual gifts and presents the section’s thesis: All Christians are “spiritual” people.
According to Garland (2003, 561), the thesis of 1 Cor 12 is that all Christians, regardless of which manifestation of the Spirit they have been given, are “spiritual.” That is, no particular gift of the Spirit—not even tongues or prophecy—makes a Christian more “spiritual” than another believer; all Christians possess the Spirit of God
Scholars generally agree that Paul’s list of spiritual gifts in 1 Cor 12:8–10 is representative, not exhaustive
In his discussion of Paul’s interaction with the Corinthian church, Bruce (1977, 260) describes “Jesus is Lord” and “Jesus is anathema” as two “extreme examples” to demonstrate Paul’s point that “it is not the phenomenon of ‘tongues’ or prophesying in itself that gives evidence of the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit, but the actual content of the utterances.” Bruce suggests the phrase “Jesus is anathema” may have been the type of confession Paul once tried to force out of Palestinian believers (see Acts 26:11)
Charisma, “Gift.” The word charis (“grace,” “favor”) is the basis of charisma, which translates roughly to “bestowed favor” or “gift.” Although charisma does occur a few times before the NT, it is primarily a Christian word, occurring almost entirely in Paul’s writings (except for 1 Pet 4:10). In 1 and 2 Corinthians, charisma occurs twice with a general sense of blessing or favor, as in, “so that you do not lack in any spiritual gift” (1 Cor 1:7) and “this gracious gift given to us” (2 Cor 1:11). Elsewhere in 1 Corinthians, charisma refers to a special capacity that is given by God. Charisma can also refer to an ability that is not specifically “spiritual,” such as Paul’s capacity for celibacy: “But each has his own gift (charisma) from God, one in this way and another in that way” (1 Cor 7:7).
However, the Corinthian community was interested in specific spiritual manifestations, which are the focus of 1 Cor 12 (in which charisma occurs in 12:4, 9, 28, 30, 31). Note that charisma does not occur in 1 Cor 12:1 and 14:1, and the translation of each verse is difficult. In both 1 Cor 12:1 and 14:1 the translation is clarified with supplied words, and the word “spiritual” might be referring to “things,” “gifts,” or even “people” in 1 Cor 12:1 and “things” or “gifts” in 1 Cor 14:1.
