Gifts and Offices

Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, [let us use them:] if prophecy, [let us] [prophesy] in proportion to our faith; or ministry, [let us use it] in [our] ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. Romans 12:6-8


But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit [of all:] for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another [different] kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. 1 Corinthians 12:7-11

And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. 1 Corinthians 12:28

And He Himself gave some [to be] apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.... Ephesians 4:11

As I was going through Ephesians 4 this evening, I came across that familiar passage about certain positions or offices in the body of Christ. So I went to look up a few other passages and found these from Romans and 1 Corinthians.

As far as I can tell, there are certain offices that the Lord has in the body, and He gives those offices to certain people by His grace. There are also gifts (miracles, healings, tongues, etc.) that He gives as well, which are slightly different than the offices. Here are a few observations about these gifts and offices:

1.) It's the Lord who distributes these gifts. No one takes these gifts for himself.

2.) The people who operate in these gifts/offices do so by His power, not their own.

3.) These gifts are given for the profit of the entire body. We ought to use them with others in mind.

4.) Not everyone has certain gifts/offices. Just like on a football team, not everyone is a quarterback or lineman. Each has his own spot on the team for the benefit of the entire team.

5.) Love should be the over-arching attitude of all gifts and offices.

Another thing I've been thinking about lately with respect to where I'm serving "on the team" is something I read in a book awhile ago. It might be Jim Collins' Good to Great, but I'm not sure. The idea is (in any corporation or the church) that you want to have the right people in the right positions. God puts people in certain positions and gives people certain gifts so that the body can engage in ministry for maximum effect. In keeping with the football analogy, as a coach you don't draft 20 quarterbacks. No, you need certain people with certain gifts in certain positions so that the team can operate optimally.

There's an interesting phenomenon that takes place sometimes called the curse of competence. The idea here is that there are some people who are decent at a lot of things. These are the decathletes...they can be competitive in several different events. The problem is, if they have a gift for a certain thing, it can be hard to detect what it is because these people serve well in a variety of different positions. The curse comes when you just can't step out of the things you're good at to do the one thing you're great at. Sometimes people get burned out serving where they're not very well-equipped to serve. I wonder if this kind of stuff happens quite a bit in the body of Christ.

I've heard a lot of people say, "Oh he's got a gift for this..." or, "she's got a gift for that..." when in reality, that's not even a gift. Maybe sometimes we just aren't very familiar with what the Bible says are gifts and offices. I don't know.