For the Common Good
by Sarah Wooten Corinth Missionary Baptist Church
Last week we looked at how God is the giver of all spiritual gifts. He gives the ability, the opportunity, and the outcomes. While there are a variety of gifts, it all comes from the same Person – God. Therefore, He receives all the glory for the work He is doing within the Body of Christ.
This week, we see another unity within the spiritual gifts.
Not only do they all come from the same Person, they are also all for the same purpose.
As Paul writes, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7, ESV).
Why a variety of gifts?
Why did God not just give everyone the same gifts?
In God’s design, we all are incredibly unique.
We have different personalities, experiences, thoughts, and abilities.
This also means we have different needs.
Each one of us is unique; therefore, a variety of gifts are needed to meet a variety of needs.
God works through the individuals that He has gifted in different circumstances in order to meet the spiritual need of a different individual for their upbuilding.
This is where the Corinthians were getting things wrong.
Their focus wasn’t on the common good that God was doing within the body through His various gifts. Instead, the gifts were viewed through the lens of pride.
They saw one gift as more important than the other.
The gifts that highlighted an individual were seen as superior rather than the gifts that were exercised quietly in the background.
And those people with “superior gifts” were considered superior.
But this misses the point entirely.
The gifts aren’t given to create classes within the body of Christ or to show who is the most spiritual. Rather, the gifts are given for the common good of everyone.
God is taking care of our needs as He gives gifts to His children.
We should be thankful for the ways in which God has gifted Christians; it’s a manifestation of His grace!
But how much more thankful should we be for the good things God is doing through His gifts in the lives of His children.
Our heavenly Father generously provides for all our needs.
Which leads us to another important point in verse seven.
God hasn’t only gifted a select few within the body of Christ.
The text says that each individual is gifted by the Holy Spirit.
Every person within the local church has been uniquely gifted by God for a task, a purpose, for the good of the entire congregation.
The pastor, deacons, teachers, and musicians aren’t the only ones that God has blessed with the opportunity to serve the body for the common good.
All are gifted by the Spirit for the purposes God has planned for them to do.
There are no insignificant members within the body of Christ.
In Ephesians, Paul wrote concerning the members of a church, “when each [member] is working properly, [it] makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love,” (Ephesians 4:16, ESV).
God designed for us all to need one another within the body for our spiritual growth.
What does this look like practically? Lord willing, we will look at the varieties of gifts that God has given to His Church next week.
