City Life Starter

I. The Word: Romans 12:6-8

⁶ Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; ⁷ if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; ⁸ the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads,^[a] with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

II. Reflection Questions:

1. What are your gifts?
2. Are you using them in the body of Christ for Him or simply for yourself?

I love seeing people operate in their gifting that the Lord has given them. There is a genuine awe in the room with chill bumps and all when you see gifting on display. There is a sense of liveliness and purpose when you are the one displaying the gift. While I’m writing this I am watching the Houston Rockets versus the San Antonio Spurs and enjoying the gifting on display like many around the nation.

Paul recognizes that God is the author of each gift and has a copyright on everyone that He has freely handed out a gift to. They are given by Him and ultimately should be used with the purpose of advancing His kingdom and not our own. Unfortunately that is not typically the case. There is an individual and selfish agenda behind our gift, once recognized, that serves to advance ourselves in this world. What would it look like though if the receiver recognized the Giver and used their gift to advance His agenda? The church would do great things in advancing righteousness, peace and joy in our world.

Paul gives us a a list of gifts God has given in the church in these passages not as an exhaustive list of all gifts out there, but as over-arching gifts that each contain multiple kinds of gifts in them.

Prophecy (prophéteia) is defined in Strong’s Greek concordance as “the gift of communicating and enforcing revealed truth.” Our first thought on this gift depends on our background in church. If you’ve seen someone “give someone a word from God” it was typically spoken of as a prophecy. You do see this type of thing happening in the New as well as Old Testament and very much happens today, but is not limited to only those that tell people things directly from the Lord that they shouldn’t know about (See John 4 with the Samaritan woman).

This also involves proclaiming truth in preaching and communicating in general. There are many times, in my experience, that while I am preaching I can sense it turning more prophetic in nature as opposed to teaching or instruction. I might not say, “Thus says the Lord,” but I sense the Lord confirming His word in a very real, right-then-and-there, kind of way.

Service (diakonia) is defined as “waiting at table; in a wider sense: service, ministration.” Some people just have the get-ur-done gift and work tirelessly to serve others well. This greek word is where we get the word deacon as established in some churches as leaders who work at serving in specific tasks for the church (See Acts 6).

Teaching (didaskó) is defined, “to teach (literally, ’cause to learn’); instruct, impart knowledge (disseminate information).” This gift is evident in those that are able to instruct and teach the scriptures by rightly dividing the Word of truth.

Exhorting (parakaleó) this one’s a little different to define in Strong’s as it says, “(a) I send for, summon, invite, (b) I beseech, entreat, beg, (c) I exhort, admonish, (d) I comfort, encourage, console.” A more clear expression of this would be to encourage Christians to grow spiritually by teaching, discipling, and counseling others.

Giving or Contribution (metadidómi) is defined, “to give a share of.” We are all called to give, but some have the gift of giving in that they are equipped with greater resources and inclined to giving more so.

Leading (proistemi) is defined, “preside, rule over, give attention to, direct, maintain, practice diligently.” This is a specific gift for leading others and/or deleting tasks in order to organize and mobilize people.

Mercy ( eleeó) is defined, “pity, have mercy on.” Again, we all should have an element of this, but some have it to such a point of great care, tenderness and ability to meet needs and practice great counsel and hospitality.

The point to this passage is not just to have a list of gifts, but to activate believers to know and use those gifts to serve the church and ultimately the world.