A Clear Guideline⤒🔗

When the gifts of the Spirit aim to serve the upbuilding of the congregation, then we will first have to ask ourselves where these gifts that God provides to the congregation need to be applied. We cannot and may not use the gifts we have received in a random and disorganized manner in the church. This would lead to disorder and confusion. The gifts need to be applied purposefully, under proper spiritual leadership, for the benefit of the congregation and for building up the body of Christ.

To achieve this, the New Testament provides us with clear guidelines.

When we look at the information about the gifts in the New Testament as a whole, we discover a biblical-theological line right through the New Testament, which helps us to discover and to use the needed gifts of the Spirit in the right manner.

The New Testament provides a certain pattern or guideline according to which we can assess the Spirit’s gifts and put these to their proper use.

We start at the beginning and look at the young church of Jerusalem. Problems have arisen in connection with the care of the Greek-speaking widows. The apostles recognize the problem, and after wise deliberation under the direction of the Holy Spirit, they come up with a very acceptable solution. The congregation is divided, by way of speaking, into two defined areas.

We now encounter two specific areas for their work and attention that can be clearly distinguished from each other. According to Luke, both areas where the Spirit’s gifts need to function have now been clearly defined by the apostles. They differentiate between two unique areas in the congregation of Jerusalem: the area of speaking and preaching, and the area of diaconal service: the service of the Word and prayer, and in addition the service of ministry (Acts 6:3-4). The apostles will continue to prayerfully work with their gifts in the area of the Word, and the seven deacons are assigned to their specific area: the work of mercy. Witnessing is not excluded from either, for among these deacons we also find some of them evangelizing.

This same pattern is also found further in the New Testament. As we compare the various enumerations of the gifts in the New Testament, a remarkable similarity strikes us, a similarity not so much of uniformity or number, but of direction and goals. The same pattern of Acts 6:3-4 comes back time and again in different instances. This is clearly the guideline that needs to be applied.

When next we take a look at the list of gifts in Romans 12:3-8, we cannot simply deduce from it which functions and offices were present in the church in Rome.

But what we can gather and distinguish rather clearly from this information is that there are two areas of special activities within the congregation: prophesying and service. Teaching and admonishing are activities of the prophets. The works of service and in particular the showing of mercy is the task of the deacons. Prophecy is aimed at the faith of the church, to build up this faith, while the service of ministry is intended to stimulate the internal communion in the church.

According to Romans 12:3-8 the activities that are to be exercised in both identified areas are, on the one hand: teaching, admonishing, providing leadership; and on the other: contributing and showing acts of mercy. Paul is not only talking about some offices but about the members in general, although the contours of the offices come into view as well.

Paul therefore also follows the guideline of the twelve apostles as shown in Acts 6 for the congregation at Rome.

The broad explanation of the gifts of the Spirit that Paul gives in 1 Corinthians 12-14 culminates in a remarkable conclusion: Prophecy is the gift to be desired above all, while it may not hinder the speaking in tongues (1 Corinthians 14:39). Prophesying in service of the congregation, as the body of Christ, receives all emphasis. Besides this the apostle also points to serving. The congregation is united into one body and this demands that the members in like manner take care of one another (1 Corinthians 12:25). The apostle uses the beautiful verb merimnaoo, which conveys the idea of being concerned about the wellbeing of the other. Again, we find the same pattern. The gifts need to be applied toward Word (prophecy) and service (actively showing heartfelt empathy and compassion to each other by serving one another).

In his discussion of the Spirit’s gifts in the congregation, Peter is very brief. However, again the two different areas are defined: speaking and serving (1 Peter 4:10-11). Apparently, these subregions together cover the entire congregation. Word and deed are both important.

There are multiple gifts. Peter speaks of many gifts of grace (1 Peter 4:10). God has invested a significant capital in the church, and everyone is called to manage his portion of the capital. We need to be good stewards (Greek: oikonomoi), says Peter, of God’s various gifts of grace. The church members are not the proud owners, but the grateful stewards of God’s gifts. This stewardship puts a great responsibility on the office bearers and the members of the congregation. It means that all functions and skills need to be made use of in an optimal way.

The apostle Peter writes that each faithful member has received a gift from the rich treasure of God’s grace.

The gifts, which are necessary in both areas of speaking and serving, can differ. Peter does not only identify the official functions in the congregation when he speaks of "speaking" and "serving." In rather broad and general strokes he describes two possibilities: “whoever speaks…” and “whoever serves…”

In the speaking, God’s voice needs to be heard. This speaking can be in the form of a simple, straightforward witness, or via the ordained official proclamation in the congregation, in the shape of leadership in a Bible study or in the work of evangelism. But God’s Word needs to be heard in all such situations.

In serving, God’s power must be noticeable. Serving must be done as coming forth from the strength that God grants. The strength that God provides is the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, who provides his various gifts to the church members (1 Corinthians 12:4-6).

The serving needs to take place in the strength of the Holy Spirit. The New Testament places great emphasis on the relationship between Spirit and power (see Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8; Acts 4:33; Acts 6:8; Acts 10:38; Romans 15:13; 1 Corinthians 2:4; Ephesians 1:19-23; Ephesians 3:16). This power is tremendous. It is the same power with which God raised Christ from the dead (Romans 6:4; Ephesians 1:19-20). This power is available to us, and therefore, also, we may pray for it (Ephesians 3:16).

In the congregation, God’s Word needs to be heard and his almighty work needs to be noticeable. He grants giftedness within the church that makes some people active in prophesying, and others in showing service in merciful deeds.

There are also certain gifts that serve a personal goal such as the glossolalia (1 Corinthians 14:4) and the gift of healing (1 Corinthians 12:9), yet the main goal is the service to the church.

Word-Charisma and Deed-Charisma←⤒🔗

Summarizing we can state that in regard to the gifts of the Spirit there are two categories: these are Word-charismata and deed-charismata. In the congregation, it is not possible to separate them completely from each other. They affect and complement each other. They are the two pillars that support the service in the congregation. They are the means by which the Holy Spirit is active to build up the congregation in its totality as well as each believer.

A Necessary Interdependency←⤒🔗

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul gives us a great example with regard to God’s gifts of how, in the congregation, there needs to be an interaction between the special offices and the gifts that the believers have received.

In the first place, Paul points to the offices Christ has instituted in his church (Ephesians 4:11). They are intended to equip the believers for works of service, namely, the upbuilding of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12), or in other words, the growth emanating from Christ but also toward Christ (Ephesians 4:13). In this growth, each member of the body has his own place. The members themselves need to take the task in hand regarding spiritual growth and building one another up.

Paul describes in a peculiar way how this process of growth takes place. Although the apostle borrows his illustration from the human body, we need to remind ourselves that here we do not get a lesson in human anatomy. What is described by the apostle in Ephesians 4:16 closely connects to what he had written in Ephesians 4:11. And yet, there is a difference. In verse 11 Paul speaks about the office bearers, but in verse 16 he indicates the relationship between office bearers and other believers.

From experience the apostle knows that things can so easily go wrong in the body of the congregation. He is looking at the body from the perspective of the ancient medical science of his day. He compares the believer who does not function well in the congregation with a part of the body: an arm or a leg that has been dislocated. The part cannot fulfil its function. Paul uses a term that originates from medical science: The various body parts need to be held together by every joint. They need to fit together to form a unity and to work well together. In this operation the joints play a significant role. The word used here in the Greek for joints, tendons, or connective tissue is quite remarkable: haphai.

In antiquity tendons or joints were seen not only as connective links between the various parts of the body. They were also regarded as channels or supply routes that needed to provide nutrition to the farthest parts of the body. Not only do these connectors keep the body together, they also serve to provide nourishment. The joints or connective links are the offices named in verse 11.

When we apply this to the church, we see that the offices or ministries are given to the church as means to help the body to function as a whole. The offices have been instituted to supply each member with what it needs, to respond to what may be expected from that member on the basis of the charisma bestowed upon him.

In this way everyone in the congregation fulfils his task, and that is the way in which the body builds itself up (Ephesians 4:16). This presupposes that each member of the congregation has his own place, knows his own calling, and has also received his own gifts.