Devotion #2: Using Your Gifts

“Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” Romans 12:6-8 (NKJV) 

“We don’t go to church, we are the church” are words that I have heard often throughout the years. They are true words. They are meant to remind us of something that is often missed in our Western way of thinking about the Church: we need the Church and the Church needs us. 

Many Christians see church attendance as just that, attendance. Many see church as going to some religious building, attending the service or gathering, listening to the music (if we get there in time for that!), listening to the message, getting what we can from what is offered, and then leaving as quickly as possible to get to lunch or whatever the day holds. What a small (and poor) view of the Church! The Church is so much more than just an endless rhythm of getting up on Sunday mornings with just enough time to hurry into the building, get what we can, and hurry back out.  

“Church” is not the program. It is the people. It is not the music, the message, or the building. It is the people within that building (whatever building that may be). The “program” (often called a service or gathering) is just a word we use to describe some of the Church “members” (not talking about membership here) using their specific gifting to serve the rest of the Church members. The service or program is just one aspect of “Church.” The rest of “Church” occurs before, during, and after the program. When you arrive and interact with others, using your gifting to impact people, you are being the Church. When you stay afterward to interact and engage with others, asking God to use you to encourage others, you are being the Church. When we engage in conversation and care for others, using the gifts we read about here in Romans to encourage and minister to others, we are contributing to the Church in very significant ways! As an example, your hug may mean more to the person who has felt unseen and unimportant all week than the sermon will that day. Your prayer for someone going through difficulty might have more impact than the music will that morning. 

Do you have the gifting to teach? Use it to help others see the right way to go or the biblical way to think about something. Do you have the gift of feeling what others feel? Use it to encourage those who are hurting or to celebrate with those who are rejoicing. Do you have the gift to help counsel and comfort? Use it to encourage the discouraged. Have you been blessed with resources to give? Give to meet the needs of others. Are you a leader? Come into the Church and lead others in the things of the Lord. We could go on and on, but the point is we must see ourselves as a part of what makes “the Church” the Church. We must come, not only to receive but to give. It is to give of ourselves to the help and benefit of others. Practically speaking, this means that we need to get up early enough to get there early enough for God to use us. This may mean we need to go to bed sooner on Saturday nights. This means that we do not rush out of church as soon as the program is done; rather, we choose to stay for a bit and let the Lord use us in the lives of others. This means that before we leave the house, we ask God to use us today to bless, help, and encourage others. We need to give rather than simply receive.