If you are just joining us on this blog, we are beginning a discussion of the spiritual gifts God offers to us. We have discovered that each true Christ follower will supernaturally receive at least one gift and possibly more. Also, God is the one who decides which gifts go to which individual based on his all-knowing wisdom. The gifts are given for our use as we minister to the Body of Christ but will also assist us in the many other roles we fill as men.
The number of spiritual gifts listed in Scripture varies, depending on who is counting. This is not a question of the accuracy of Scripture, but the difference in the interpretation of Scripture. For example, there are different Greek words for ‘leadership” and “administration in the New Testament. Some would say these are two separate gifts while others would see their similarity and count them as one. This number is not important. Understanding their purpose and how to apply this purpose in our lives is.
Although we will discuss many more, most people agree there are five primary gifts God provides to edify the Body of Christ. The Apostle Paul lists them for us in Ephesians 4:11. He attributes their distribution to be from Christ. Other passages speak of the gifts being distributed by the Holy Spirit. Again, this is not a discrepancy since we understand God to be One in three persons. What one does, the others are also involved. This passage lists these five primary gifts. “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,”
In the title, I mentioned giving God a “hand” since this is a tool for remembering the characteristics of each of these gifts. The first, “apostle” is represented by the thumb because he is one who is sent. If you envision an umpire raising his thumb in the air and shouting, “You’re out a here!” you get the picture. As a sent one, the apostle is able to comfortably go into new situations and get something started. They are aggressive and single minded. In vocational ministry, the gift of apostleship is important for Missionaries and Church planters. They can meet new people and encourage them to join them in following Christ and starting a new ministry.
For laymen in local church ministry, this describes the person who is antsy with the status quo and wants to see new ministries get started for the purpose of reaching more people for Christ. They not only have the dream for new things, but they also take the initiative to see those things get going. They are good at pulling people together to rally around a common goal.
This gift is valuable in other roles as well. An apostle leads his family to discover new spiritual truth and new ways of expressing those truths in worship and ministry opportunities. He is creative in how he leads his home to serve the Lord.
The person with this gift is also extremely valuable in his work. He takes the initiative to aggressively do all he can to see forward movement in his chosen career. While doing this, he also wants to assure that God is seen to be important in every aspect of his life. Each of the many roles he fills are all brought together under one purpose, to glorify God as he builds his Kingdom