Spiritual Gifts (2)

First and foremost, on this 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, take a moment to think about the sacrifices that all made during World War II. Every day we have fewer World War II veterans, so it's incumbent upon us to never forget.

I wrote about spiritual gifts not that long ago (you can view the post here if you wish), and will make it my primary point of discussion this Sunday, so I won't belabor items that I've covered before and will cover again, but Paul adds some very important points that we need to be mindful of every time we endeavor to use the gifts with which we've been blessed.

As important as the gifts, it's HOW we use those gifts that is as important. Romans 12:9-21 tells the manner we are to use these gifts, and it will be these verses that will be my primary point next Sunday. These verses tell us that we should be humble, gentle and kind, and not revel in our gifts or lord them over others. I made a passing reference to the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, but the point of that parable is a simple one--God humility over pride in ourselves and our abilities.

And why should we take pride in our abilities? Who gave them to us in the first place? As always, remember the audience to whom Paul is writing. He tells us clearly that he's writing to Roman Gentiles (he states it explicitly in Romans 11:13-14), which means people that were new to Christianity. Someone had to teach and lead them, but whomever that leader was had a level of knowledge of Christianity barely higher than the people being led. It's like when I golf with some of my friends, all of whom are just as horrible as I am at the game, and I take pride in shooting 99 when my friends can't shoot below 100--not exactly a high standard, so why should I take pride in it?

We're nothing compared to God, and to think otherwise sets us up for a dramatic fall. It's far better to adopt the attitude that Jesus suggested in the parable of the Lowest Seat at the Feast, where we're told to take a less desirable seat and then be invited to a better one by the host than to seat ourselves at the seat of honor and be asked to move. I won't speak for others, but I don't need others to tell of my abilities, since I'm more than willing and capable to do that myself, but that's the exact opposite of humility. Our response to the spiritual gifts that the Lord has given us shouldn't be to tell others how gifted we are, but instead to thank the Lord for the ability to serve him and to do so humbly.

Scott