Gift Envy

We read in the word of God that every Christian has at least one gift (Rom. 12:6-8).  God the Holy Spirit has implanted at least one gift to take up residence in us and to be exercised in the body of Christ.  The Scriptures also teach that different measures of this gift are distributed (Rom. 12:3).  For instance two people can have the gift of teaching while one is a better teacher.  This is the reality of how God works!  Imagine of all of us were the best teachers in the world...there would be no one to teach!  In addition the Bible reveals that some have more than one gift when the Lord imparts a ministry gift(s) to them.  These ministries gifts are commonly referred to as the evangelist, pastor and teacher (there are a few more, but we will just focus on these three).  The Lord calls a few men within the local body of Christ to take on one of these public ministry gifts.

There is a strong tendency in this day and age to elevate the public ministry leader in an unhealthy way.  There seems to be this idea that those with ministry gifts are more spiritually committed than those without.  This is nonsense!  A person who is given the GIFT to be an evangelist, pastor or a teacher is simply being obedient to the Lord.  They are not doing something extraordinary!  Now, the office they are filling is extraordinary, but they themselves are servants of the Lord just attempting to follow the calling of the Lord like every other believer.

Another tendency is to view those with public ministry gifts as more important than others that serve in the local church.  Now, I must be clear on another point again.  These offices as vitally important to the church and certainly do rank higher than others, but the person filling these offices should never be viewed as some spiritual elitist.  A person who works their job during the day and cleans the toilets of the church at night is just as important in the body of Christ as the public minister.  Every member of the physical body is important and is there for a reason just as every member of the church is.  Our duty as members of the body is to figure out which part of the body we are at and begin to use it!  Seek out your gift, exercise it and thank the Lord for the gift(s) He has given to others.