How do spiritual gifts differ from individual talents?

When it comes to spiritual gifts and individual talents, some believers may clump the two into one category as though they are synonymous with one another.  In reality, there are several scenarios where people may have individual talents similar to their spiritual gifts.  For example, a church leader may be described as a great teacher and leader, but does this refer to his or her individual talents or gifts or both?  In this scenario, the believer could possibly have the individual talents of teaching and leading as well as the spiritual gifts of teaching and leading.  As a general statement, gifts and talents do have their similarities, but overall there are major differences between the two.

 

People are born with individual talents at their physical birth.  As a figure of speech, some people are referred to as natural-born plumbers and carpenters while others are naturally gifted singers and artists.  Individual talents are virtually unlimited as people continuously keep finding new avenues to express their natural passions for almost everything imaginable underneath the sun.  Obviously, people have physical and cognitive limitations to their talents as newborn infants.  However, as they grow and become exposed to different situations and environments, people tend to have natural inclinations toward certain hobbies and interests as their individual talents manifest themselves.  Due to various circumstances, it may take some people years, or a lifetime, to find their passions.

Concerning spiritual gifts, the Holy Spirit entrusts each believer with a gift or gifts at his or her spiritual birth.  In similar manner to individual talents, believers will normally have natural inclinations to different areas of the ministry, while others may need more exposure to different scenarios and environments to find their true callings.  For example, in a typical church service someone may find him or herself restricted because he or she does not have any musical or speaking talent, but that same person could move to another part of the country and find out that the Holy Spirit has entrusted him or her with the gift of evangelism.  So the hypothetical question arises, did this person receive the spiritual gift of evangelism after moving to the new location or was the gift lying dormant from the day of his or spiritual birth?  In similar manner to talents, spiritual gifts may lay dormant in a believer’s life until the Holy Spirit opens the door of opportunity for their unique service in the ministry.

 

Unlike the virtually unlimited number of individual talents, spiritual gifts are broken down into about eighteen different categories…give or take a number or two, depending on how you classify them.  The spiritual gifts can be summarized as follows: apostleship, discernment, encouragement, evangelism, faith, giving, healing, interpretation of tongues, leadership, ministering, miracles, prophecy, shepherding, showing mercy, speaking in tongues, teaching, word of knowledge and word of wisdom. (Romans 12:3-8; I Corinthians 12:1-10, 28-30; Ephesians 4:10-16)

 

Spiritual gifts are for helping others.  In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he explains how the Holy Spirit gave believers various spiritual gifts for the purpose of building up the church as a whole.

“But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.  This is why it says:  ‘When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.’… It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:7-8, 11-13 NIV)

“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.  From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:14-16 NIV)

In a nutshell, the Holy Spirit uses spiritual gifts as a way to empower our individual talents for the ultimate purpose of glorifying God.  For example, take someone who may be a talented builder and the Holy Spirit empowers that person with the gift of helps and apostleship to serve as a missionary builder for God by building churches – at the cost of materials – for congregations around the country.  If one believer could have that much impact for God’s service, envision what an entire body of believers could do for the glory of God…simply by allowing the Holy Spirit to empower their lives for God’s will. 

How do spiritual gifts relate to the church?

When you go to a church service, what do you see?  Does one person run every aspect of the church, be it the deliverance of the message, direction of the worship program and the ministration of the small groups?  Or are many people involved throughout the entire church service?  Do you find yourself in an environment where you are actively encouraged to participate in almost every facet?  Or does the leadership subtly discourage you from participating in the church service, due to your perceived lack of qualifications or experience in the ministry?

Overall, churches are supposed to help reach out to people with the message of salvation and help people grow in their relationships with God.  Churches are an ideal place to help people grow in their faith, so they can apply the message of God’s love to their own lives as well as their own individual spheres of influence, such as their families, friends and others around them.  In the same thought, church leaders hold a great responsibility in ensuring they provide an environment that fosters spiritual growth for all people, where God has each of them in their spiritual walk.

When people are looking for a church, you can often hear a wide variety of comments concerning their impressions of churches such as, the pastor gives great messages or the worship team is awesome.  On the surface, these sound like great things in a church, but you often have to look beyond the silver lining to see the whole picture.  In some churches, you may have a talented pastor who can do almost every aspect of the church service each week by giving the message, leading the worship and teaching the small groups.  Other churches may have a similar scenario where the same person preaches each week, the same worship group performs every week, and the same person teaches the small groups.  As a result, you may begin to realize there is something wrong with the picture when you notice a pattern of everything revolving around one or two or three persons, even though you have a church full of able-bodied congregants.  What happens when you decide to make the plunge and jump in with both feet in getting involved with the church?  Will there be a place for you if you want to help preach, get involved in the worship team or teach a small group?

So what do you find beyond the silver lining of the church?  Consider what you see when attending an orchestra.  Do you focus on the conductor for the entire show or do you end up listening to the beautiful sound of many instruments harmonizing with one another?  The conductor and instrumentalists play an important role in the performance.  However, the sound of the music does not revolve around any one individual or instrument, but rather as the whole group coming together for one purpose or goal.  The same premise basically applies to the church.  Does the congregation perceive that the church service revolves around one leader or small group of leaders, or instead, do they see the church coming together for the purpose of sharing the message of God’s love in an unadulterated manner?

In the Apostle Paul’s epistle to the Corinthians he explains this same concept about spiritual gifts in the church.  The Apostle Paul explains that every believer plays an important part within the church, no matter how major or minor his or her role.

 “Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.  If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.  And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.  If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?  If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?  But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.  If they were all one part, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts, but one body.” (I Corinthians 12:14-10 NIV)

Overall, we need to remember that every single believer plays an important role in God’s church, regardless of his or her stature.  As the Apostle Paul says, we can speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but if we do not have love, we are like a resounding gong or clanging cymbal. (I Corinthians 13:1)  Likewise, the importance of genuinely loving others is of vital importance to our churches, since each and every believer has been entrusted with a spiritual gift or gifts according to God’s purpose.