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All Spiritual Gifts as Needed as Others?

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Ministry Functions by Spiritual Gifting
Click image to enlarge it in Pinterest & repin.

What do the circles in this image have in common?

They are all spiritual gifts, but only 9 of the potential 25 spiritual gifts listed in the Bible.

Within these nine gifts, some have more in common than others.

Speaking GiftsSome of the spiritual gifts function more as speaking gifts.

teaching
prophecy
exhortation

Leading GiftsSome of the spiritual gifts function more as leading gifts.

leadership
administration
pastor

Serving GiftsSome of the spiritual gifts function more as serving gifts.

service
helps
hospitality

Though they all have different functions, they are all needed within the Body of Christ. They are all important.

I’ve heard some people bemoan the fact that they didn’t appear to have leadership or speaking types of gifts. Their function was more along the lines of clerical, communications, facilities and grounds maintenance, hospitality, staff support, technical services, or other service-oriented types of ministries like usher, transportation, or working in the church library.

The thought was that they didn’t have as important or as impacting of a ministry. Leadership types of gifts help provide direction and coordination in the church. Speaking types of gifts are used to nurture and build us up. What real difference will they, with serving gifts, ever make?

But, look at God’s assessment in 1 Corinthians 12:22“On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.” Serving types of gifts are actually used in ministries that tend to hold church life together. As it states in the Nuts and Bolts Ministries training section of this site, so much of the church’s life would tend to fall apart or be less effective without these gifts.

The image above purposely mixed the gifts up rather than listing each of the same color in a row to illustrate that there is no hierarchy when it comes to ministering with our spiritual gifts, just different functions. We all work side by side. Everyone is needed and everyone is important.

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2 Replies to “All Spiritual Gifts as Needed as Others?”

  1. It baffles me that the gifts of the Holy Spirit continue to be restrained, limited, even put out of churches today. Yet, it is likely why most churches are dead and dry bones. Most church pastors keep the living work of the Holy Spirit in the broom closet or shoved out of the church … much like the government has pushed God out of the public place. Those who do this are known as cessationists, while those who continue the living work of the Holy Spirit – as living as He was in the first century Church – are called continualists. Wake up people of God and allow the work of God into your lives and become the true Christian alive in Christ as the Holy Spirit should be alive in you.

    • This is something that has been debated through the ages among Christians. There is much about the Holy Spirit, even in regard to spiritual gifting, that both “sides” can agree on and that is where we must find our fellowship together in Christ rather than let it divide us. Let’s focus on that!

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