Gifted to Serve

I’ve learned over the years that it doesn’t matter which denomination you grew up in. Every one of them have something that everybody loves: a potluck. The joke is, “Where Baptists meet, Baptists eat.” It turns out that can be applied no matter the denomination you substitute. Potlucks have probably existed in some form for as long as there have been people. But do you know what makes a potluck successful? You.

In a potluck, the food doesn’t magically appear on the table. The spread is put together by several people who know how to cook a dish. A potluck works when everyone brings something to the table. The church is like a potluck. Everyone brings something to the table. Some are capable of providing an elaborate dish, and some of us are capable of bringing things that are more simple. The important thing is that the potluck functions best when everyone contributes. The secret is everyone has something to contribute.

The church is like a potluck. The church is not the building itself, but the people who occupy the building. But like a potluck, the church is made of individual members who contribute something to the whole. Like a potluck, everyone in the church has the privilege of enjoying what you bring to the table.

When my family gathers, we eat. I’m sure your family is similar. Food provides fellowship. When my family gathers, everyone brings something, even if it is not food. Someone might bring plates and napkins. Another might bring drinks. Several will bring food. The important thing is there is an expectation that if you are of a proper age, you participate in the life of the family by bringing something to enjoy, which in turn allows us to enjoy one another in fellowship.

Do you know what doesn’t happen? Everybody brings their own lunch. Imagine if we had a potluck and everybody brought their own brown paper bag and we all ate our own lunches together. That’s a picnic, not a potluck. God does not call us to be in fellowship with one another only to provide for ourselves. He calls us into fellowship with one another so that in our fellowship we are mutually benefitted.

There are a variety of metaphors to describe the church in the New Testament. Over the next couple weeks we will look at one of them. As we begin to explore this topic, we want to understand that every believer is empowered by the Spirit with a unique gift meant to serve others in the local church.

Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 12 together:

1 Corinthians 12:1–3 NASB95

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

Before we jump in to spiritual gifts and what they mean for the local church, we don’t want to breeze by these first couple verses. First, Paul doesn’t want the church to be unaware. The Scriptures are there to inform us of God’s truths and we are then to live by them. Before we became believers in Christ, we were idol worshippers. In one way or another, we worshipped something other than God himself. When Paul wrote verse three, he did not mean that one could not literally utter the words “Jesus is accursed” or “Jesus is Lord.” An atheist can say the words “Jesus is Lord” but he can’t do it with conviction. In the same way, a true believer in Jesus can never say the words “Jesus is accursed” with any real conviction. That would be blasphemous. Remember, confessions are made by confessors. And if you are a true confessor of the Lord Jesus Christ, there are some things you need to know about your role in the church.

If you belong to Christ, you have a role to play.

Notice in the last part of verse three that the only way a true confessor makes a true confession is by the Holy Spirit. One cannot claim Jesus is Lord in a genuine way if he does not have the Holy Spirit. So if you have made a confession that Jesus is Lord with conviction, you have the Holy Spirit, a sign of your genuine salvation.

Because every Christian is part of the church Christ builds, and no individual Christian is the church, every Christian has a role to play. The Holy Spirit doesn’t just reside in a Christian. He empowers us for service. To be a Christian is to have a spiritual gift. To have a spiritual gift is to have a role to play. The New Testament is very clear. The church is not a holy huddle that isolates itself from the world. It is an embassy in which every believer is called to actively represent Christ and his kingdom to the rest of the world. We are to influence the culture around us, and it is a team effort.

This means you have a role to play. Following Jesus means that you are actively using what God has given you to represent his kingdom and influence others. God has so designed the church that our uniqueness as individual people gives us unique giftedness and skill sets that give us a role to play in the church. Just like every team sport has different positions, you, as a member of the team, have a role to play.

So don’t question if you are gifted. Ask God how he wants to use your gift.

Your gift may look different, but it is just as essential.

The church is not supposed to be made up of people who are all alike. If everyone in the church was just like me, the church would crumble. That’s because there are things I can’t do, yet are necessary for the success of the church. God has created the church with a diversity of giftedness on purpose.

1 Corinthians 12:4–7 NASB95

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

Do you see that? There is a variety of gifts, but they come from the same Spirit. There are all sorts of ministries, but the same Lord. There is kids ministry, youth ministry, adult ministry, food bank ministry, evangelism, the list goes on. All of them are needed, but none of them are the same. As it pertains to spiritual giftedness, there might be a level of overlap, but they are different. Even in the same giftedness, there is diversity. No pastor preaches the same as another. One Sunday School teacher doesn’t teach just like the other. Nobody shares the gospel in the exact same way even if they use the exact same words. Why? Because they are not the same person.

Your gift may look different, but it is just as essential as someone else’s. We will take a closer look at that next week. There may be times where you wish your giftedness was more like someone else’s. Maybe you wish you were better at evangelism or maybe you wish you could teach. However God has gifted you, don’t wish you had someone else’s gift. Instead, discover and develop the one God gave you.

If you don’t know how God has gifted you, we have supplied a spiritual gifts survey that will aid you in discovering how God has gifted you. There is a version in print and one digital by scanning the QR code on the back of the bulletin. I encourage you to take that survey and then we will get together to help you understand its results.

Your gift finds its purpose when you use it to bless others.

We see this at the end of verse seven and then examples of it are given in the proceeding verses. Your gift, given to you by the Spirit of God at your conversion (or spiritual rebirth) is for the common good. Notice it doesn’t say that it is for your good. It is for the common good. Now, here’s the funny thing. If you work for the common good, your good comes with it. If you work only for your own good, there will be no common good. In the church, your giftedness is to be used to benefit everyone in the church. Your gift is like a potluck dish. The table is missing something if you don’t put anything on it. Those who share in the potluck meal miss out on what you have to offer.

1 Corinthians 12:8–11 NASB95

For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

These are examples of giftedness all given by the same Spirit. Words of wisdom and words of knowledge come from the same Spirit of God. Have you ever met someone who seems to live more by faith than you do? It’s not to say you don’t live by faith, but there seem to be people who find it easier to take leaps of faith where some of us take a little longer. I sure don’t have the gifts of miracles, tongues, or interpreting tongues. These are all examples of gifts given by the Spirit of God for use in the church for its common good. The gift of tongues only makes sense if there is someone to interpret it. The gift of prophecy only makes sense if there are people to receive it. The wisdom and knowledge only matter if people are deepening their faith. The gift of faith encourages me to walk by faith. When spiritual gifts work he way they are designed, then like a potluck, everybody benefits.

For the church to be successful, it requires that the people in it know how God has gifted them and are willing to use their gifts to strengthen and bless the church. What if we already had everything we need for the church to do everything God wanted it to do today? Do you know how God has gifted you? Do you know how God wants to use your gifts to build up the church?

For the next few weeks I am asking for all our church members to complete a spiritual gifts survey. You can do so by pen and paper or you can do so online from your own phone by scanning the QR code on the back of your bulletin. If you have trouble with it, let me know and I will get together with you to help you out. Even if you have taken something like this before, I’m asking that you do it again. You may be surprised at the outcome if you haven’t done one of these in a while.

If you are not a member of this church, you are under no obligation to do this. We want you to continue exploring where God would call you to. But if you feel like God may be leading you to call First Baptist your church home, you can make that declaration official by coming to the front in our invitation time and say you would like to become a member. We will schedule time to talk about that. You can call me, email me, text me, or come visit with me any time after the service is over. A spiritual gifts survey will become a requirement for membership if you don’t already know how you have been gifted to serve.

Every Christian is called to join themselves to a local church. We will talk more about why next week. A call to church membership is a call to serve. The question is how has God gifted you to serve?

The church is like a potluck—everybody brings something to the table. But before you can bring your dish, you’ve got to show up to the meal.

So let me ask you: Have you ever truly responded to the invitation Jesus gives? Maybe today you realize you’ve never repented of your sin and asked Jesus to save you. If that’s you, don’t leave today without settling that. You can ask Him right now to forgive you, to take over your life, and to fill you with His Spirit. That’s where it all begins.

Others of you have already trusted Jesus, but maybe it’s time to commit to a local church family. You’ve been attending, maybe even serving a little, but you haven’t taken that step of saying, “This is my place. These are my people.” If God is leading you to join this church, I’d love to talk with you about what that looks like. You can come forward during our invitation, or catch me after the service.

And for those of you who are already members, the question is simple: What are you bringing to the table? How has God gifted you to serve? If you haven’t taken that spiritual gifts survey yet, go ahead and do it. Let’s find out how God has wired you—and how you can bless others because of it.