Unity

“I think a thorough discussion of unity should include God’s purpose in giving us spiritual gifts.”

But someone will say, “That’s too much content for our agenda, which is limited to the topic of unity.”

And yet another member of the group asks, “Which set of spiritual gifts would you have us include?”

Then, there is always someone who wants to socialize and share a plate of brownies while the other side of the table has an appointment with their television at home. At the very least, they’d rather be sitting in something other than a folding chair.

And unity just – got – complicated. The meeting we thought would last for thirty minutes? The theme we thought so important? It happens.

The person with the gift of administration might be quick to dismiss an idea that requires faith. The person with the gift of faith might disregard the one responsible for smaller details. The person with the gift of discernment wants to avoid trouble, but needs patience with those whose starting point is mercy. The gift of leadership keeps that person on edge sometimes, making sure that everyone else stays on topic and has signed on the appropriate line. And not everyone in the group with wisdom knows how and when to share it. Doers and givers get things done, but they forget to disciple their replacements, and then wonder why they are “abused.” The encouragers? They can overdo it, but we’ve so much to learn from them. And we forget that preachers and teachers are not always assigned a pulpit or a classroom.

We tend to have tunnel vision when it comes to practicing and caring for our own spiritual gift, which leads to difficulty appreciating what God has given to others. It can be hard to see where other Christians are coming from, and we’ve placed barriers to resist going where they feel led to take us. These spiritual gifts … are spiritual … for God’s purpose kind of spiritual. Too often, however, we attach a worldly label to a fellow believer and consider unity impossible. We work around and through the disunity. It’s quick and seems to satisfy in the moment. It’s not a male/female thing at all, but it sure does seem that for every gift that comes from Mars, there’s an opposing one that hails from Venus. We forget that conformity is not transformation and uniformity it not unity.

We were created by the same God who knew what he was doing when with our spiritual birth he gave us individual spiritual gifts.  He gave the same commands to each of us for the benefit of his kingdom. Then, he put us together, under the same steeple!

“Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God.” (1 Peter 4:10, CSB).

The spiritual gifts are not talents we can develop, but gifts to be discovered, polished and shared. I’ve heard them called motivational gifts. I like that modifier because when we recognize our own motivation, whether it’s to preach, teach, administrate, lead, serve, be generous, encourage or show compassion, our gift is likely to shine and give God glory. And when we take the time and offer grace and space for a brother or sister in Christ to express their motivation, we can be blessed with a complimentary partner.

“Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17, CSB).

In his book S.H.A.P.E: Finding & Fulfilling Your Unique Purpose for Life, Erik Rees offers a brief discussion of four common traps that Satan sets for us where it comes to the use of our spiritual gifts.

1. The trap of comparison: Each gift is an individual “masterpiece,” but we can get tangled by thoughts and comparisons of things like numbers, abilities and being seen when none of those things adds to or subtracts from our giftedness.
2. The trap of projection: We assign our expectations to others, and do harm to a ministry when we apply standards of performance based on what others are doing or what we have done. Just as troublesome, we fail to explore the source of the conflict—together.
3. The trap of rejection: Christians can get discouraged when exercising their spiritual gift gets difficult. That can lead to rejecting their giftedness. The truth? Following Jesus isn’t always easy. Doing things his way, using a spiritual gift according to his purpose works out well for us, but payday is seldom today, and growing pains really hurt!
4. The trap of deception: Personality, personal desires, and even inherited talents and generational expectations can cause us to believe we have certain spiritual gifts that, in fact, God did not give us. That’s a problem because that trap will hold us when we would otherwise be exercising our true spiritual gift. Seven members of a praise band might all be quite talented musically, and the best of praise bands will typically have a variety of instruments and a variety of spiritual gifts. Music is the talent … the tool, not to be confused with their spiritual or motivational gifting. There’s trouble in paradise when that’s misunderstood.

Yes, I think a thorough discussion of unity will include some mention of the spiritual gifts.