To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
1 Corinthians 12:7
If you disappeared one day from your local church, who would notice? If you were absent for an extended period of time, what would your church miss?
God has given every believer at least one gift to use for the good of His body. And while none of us should be irreplaceable in the sense that the church couldn’t go on without us, we should be missed if we were absent, because God has gifted us in a specific way at a precise point in time to be uniquely useful in a particular group of people.
But how often do we sit on the sidelines, waiting for others to minister to us when the thrust of Scripture is that God ministers through us? Yes, every single one of us must be ready to receive ministry from others as they use the gifts God has given them for our good. But our default setting should be to give, not only or primarily to receive. The church really doesn’t have much space for spectators. Even the youngest among us, be it in faith or in age, has something to contribute.
When we exercise our gifts, we manifest the Spirit’s work and power for the common good. Most immediately, that includes the edification of our brothers and sisters in our local assembly, but it also includes witnessing to our friends and neighbors beyond the church walls. While they might be confused and bemused by the very idea of “spiritual gifts,” they will understand a compassionate heart. They will respond to hospitality. They will be open to a word of concern or encouragement.
You have something to contribute, uniquely. Yet our ability to participate in God’s work should never puff us up, for it is a gift given by the Spirit of God, and it is the Gift-Giver who deserves the praise as we use it to serve His people and His world.
So, assured that to each is given a gift, by God’s Spirit, for the common good, be encouraged to pour yourself out rather than holding yourself back. Your church needs what you, through God’s Spirit, have to offer. As an old children’s song puts it, “There’s a work for Jesus none but you can do.” What is He asking of you?
Alistair Begg
