Building the Kingdom
by Trevor Blackwell
Talents are unique and personal – given by God and something to be celebrated. The beauty of being a unique individual is that, while we all have much in common, we have giftings that allow us to serve a specific purpose within the Church. Paul discusses this in 1 Corinthians, where he sheds some light on spiritual gifts and how to use them properly.
Let’s start with some background information. In 1 Corinthians, Paul is writing to the people of Corinth in a time of division and pridefulness. The Corinthians sought spiritual giftedness, but if you had certain gifts, you were more highly esteemed. For instance – if someone had the gift of prophecy, he was “better” than someone who had the gift of say, hospitality. Why? Because the gift of prophecy was a very visible gift that everyone in the church could recognize, unlike hospitality. This favoritism of certain gifts led to division and pridefulness within the church as many meeker Christians were torn down and the Christians with more visually powerful gifts like prophecy or healing were praised and honored.
However, 1 Corinthians 12 emphasizes that all spiritual gifts are equally valuable. In this chapter, Paul compares Christians to parts of the human body. Just as each part of our body serves a purpose to the whole, each Christian has different gifts, purposes, and roles within the Church.
Later in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul puts special emphasis on the PURPOSE of our gifts. What we do with our gifts, he argues, matters more than how we’re gifted.
Open your Bible and read 1 Corinthians 13.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 says, “If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And If I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing."
Here are a few conclusions we draw from these verses in their context:
First: We are all supernaturally gifted by God.
Second: All gifts are equally valuable to Him, but we all are not designed to serve the same purpose.
Third, and the main point of this section: Our gifts serve a specific purpose within the church – to build His kingdom in love.
But what do I mean by “build up His kingdom in love”?
Paul doesn’t exactly mean the love between a husband and wife here. The love that Paul is referring to is the brotherly or familial love meant to build up other believers.
What Paul really wants us to realize is that without love, our gifts don’t work; they’re not effective. The ultimate purpose of our gifts is to love one another, not to love ourselves. Paul is encouraging us to reflect on our own motives in serving and make sure that we are using our gifts to serve God and His Church.
Take a serious look at your goals in serving. Not just on Sunday mornings, but the talents you display at every moment throughout the week. Whatever your gifts may be, follow 1 Corinthians 13 by evaluating your priorities and making sure you’re using your gifts and talents to build up others and point to God.
Reflection Questions:
In what ways can/do you serve the body (the church) with your gifts?
What other motives besides loving others do you see in yourself when using your talents?
In what ways would your talents appear different if used in a loving way rather than a self-serving way?