The Power - Love Gifts

We spend so much energy pretending we have it together. But the reality is that the people around us probably are not doing much better than we are. We are all a bunch of mess-ups. Nobody's life, marriage, job, or personal choices are great all the time. It's not a country club for the perfected; it's a hospital for the broken. The church is a place for sinners, for marriages that are shattered, and for people stuck in addiction.

You will only grow as much as you bring your real self into this place.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13)

It is time to get your helmet on and get in the game.

God is intentional

God in his sovereignty has ordered and put together the body of Christ. He arranged the members in the body, each one of them exactly as he chose. Nothing about you is an accident. Consider the reality of that. You are intricately designed and specially arranged for an assignment only you can complete.

Outside of Christ, we are like an arm cut off from the body. A disconnected arm has no life, no direction, and no fulfillment. People try to shove themselves into relationships, money, and success, anxiously trying to find a place to fit in. But until you come to Christ, you do not have your assignment. Once connected, we realize God has perfectly placed us in the backyard of his kingdom. We are like strategically arranged sprinklers covering the exact ground he intends for us to water.

God has brought you here on purpose, with your specific experiences, gifts, and resources, to advance his kingdom.

Spiritual growth is relational

We love the idea of independence and self-sufficiency. Let's reframe that for a second. That kind of thinking belongs in the trash, not in the kingdom of God. You cannot just exist as you and Jesus alone.

It requires humility. It requires patience. And it requires engagement.

A healthy body requires all the members to be functioning. If one member suffers, we all suffer together; if one is honored, we all rejoice together. We are completely interdependent. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you". When people say they love Jesus but hate the church, they are telling the groom they hate his bride. That does not fly in the kingdom of God. We are not super Christians. We are needy sinners who desperately need other messed-up sinners around us to help us grow.

Spiritual gifts are practical

It is easy to believe that advancing the kingdom of God only requires highly visible, deeply spiritual actions on a stage. But spiritual gifts are fiercely practical. While word gifts clarify God's purposes and power gifts demonstrate God's reality, it is the love gifts that manifest the love of God in practical ways. When these work together, they create amazing harmony, unity, and clarity in our church. Are you with me?

Without them, the church becomes lopsided and unbalanced.

Often, our gifts are revealed through the rule of dots—recognizing the recurring ways we naturally step in to help. Gifts are also revealed through what bothers us. If it incessantly bothers you that a problem exists in the church or the world, that is actually an opportunity for involvement. You must be what you want to see.

This practical engagement takes shape through four vital love gifts. The first is administration, or guidance. This is the special ability to plan and execute procedures that accomplish the goals of the ministry and support leadership. Nothing spiritually wonderful happens without those who are administratively gifted to structure it and move it forward.

The second is helping, or serving. This refers to the capacity to unselfishly meet the needs of others through very practical service. It means being the literal hands and feet of Jesus, stepping into the mess, and eagerly carrying the practical burdens of the community.

The third is mercy. While we are all called to care for the suffering, those with the gift of mercy possess the special ability to have genuine compassion for those who are hurting, resulting in cheerful deeds to alleviate that pain. They ensure the church moves forward without leaving anyone behind.

The fourth is giving. This is the capacity to give freely, cheerfully, and more regularly to God's work, springing from a deep sensitivity to meet the needs at hand. We cannot advance the gospel or run our mission without this joyful generosity.