1 Corinthians 12:7

Sisters and brothers in Christ,

This evening’s Bible verse is 1 Cor. 12:7: “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

It’s in the nature of meditation on the words of Scripture that we learn new things. This, too, is the work of the Holy Spirit. Yesterday, I understood in a new way that the ability to proclaim the gospel in foreign languages, which they hadn’t naturally learned, was a hugely practical gift of the Spirit to the apostles, who had been commissioned by Christ to be his “witnesses … to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Today, I’m wondering whether a recognition of the Spirit’s practicality in such matters might lead us to a better understanding of the other gifts of the Spirit to the church.

“There are,” Paul tells us “varieties” of such “gifts,” “service,” and “activities,” all of which are given by the Spirit “for the common good” (1 Cor. 12:5-7). They are all, in other words, practical gifts to be used in the service of the church, not showy gifts to display the special status of the one who claims possession of the gift. Some gifts may be instant; others may be acquired over time.

If we apply this litmus test of practicality to the gifts that Paul then names, we might find that we understand some of them in new ways. Some qualify quite clearly. “Gifts of healing, helping, [and] administrating” (12:28) are of obvious practical value. “Miracles,” too, would be useful under our present circumstances, so long as the gift was exercised wisely and not for self-promotion. “Wisdom” and “knowledge” (12:8) have a practical value, too. Many of us scour the internet daily in a frustrating search for reliable wisdom and knowledge. Which of us wouldn’t like to know someone with the gift of “prophecy,” who could tell us accurately when and if we’ll be free from Covid-19? But the revelatory gifts, which brought a direct word from God, seem to have lapsed with the completion of the New Testament. And we no longer have living “apostles.” So now we need those whom the Holy Spirit has gifted to be “teachers” to help us better understand and apply the prophetic and apostolic witness to Christ that is found in the biblical word of God. The gifts of “tongues” or “languages” and “interpreters” or “translators” may also have lapsed, at least in their New Testament form. Most missionaries and translators now learn foreign languages the hard way. Who’s to say, though, that those who find learning foreign languages comparatively easy haven’t been blessed with a gift of the Spirit, albeit in a less spectacular form, to be used “for the common good”? Finally, “generosity,” leadership, and “acts of mercy” done (praise God!) “with cheerfulness,” all of which Paul mentions in Rom. 3:8 but not in 1 Corinthians, have clear practical value.

Paul’s two lists of gifts are not exhaustive, even when combined, but they do, I believe, point us to the practicality of the Holy Spirit. To a degree that was not true before Pentecost, the Spirit gives individual believers gifts, skills, and talents, some “natural,” others learned, that we are called to use, not for our sole benefit, but “for the common good.” Moreover, we are assured that “to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” We read in the Old Testament of particular individuals being anointed by the Spirit for special roles in the community. Now the practical gifts of the Spirit are no longer exceptional but generously and abundantly spread out among all of us. The good news of Christ has been sent to “all nations” and gifts of the Spirit are given not just to a few but to each and every Christian.

It’s no accident that Paul followed his discussion of gifts in 1 Cor. 12 with his praise of love in 1 Cor. 13. This, too, was the work of the Holy Spirit. If practicality is a litmus test of our understanding of the gifts, then love is a litmus test of whether we are using our gifts well. “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor. 13:4-7). The gifts of the Spirit are to be used for the common good and with love. Wel all fail at times. We need to remember, therefore, that Christ has already lived a life of perfect love for us, that in God’s sight we are clothed with the loving righteousness of Christ, and that the Holy Spirit is patiently bearing the fruit of love in us (Gal. 5:22). Along the way, though, it doesn’t hurt to make love our goal, both in general and in the way we use our gifts.

I’m humbled to be serving a church in which the loving exercise of so many and varied spiritual gifts in so many practical ways is so evident. You are a blessing to me.

Your brother in Christ,

Max