When I was 10 years old, a professor from Westminster Theological Seminary came to visit our family. I had learned about Constantine in my fifth-grade world history class that day, and when I came home I immediately began telling my parents and the seminary professor everything my teacher had taught me. At one point, my dad stopped me and said that I didn’t need to relay everything I had learned in school. The professor, a family friend, turned to my dad and said, “Be careful not to quench the teaching gift God has given your son.” I have often reflected on this when approaching the subject of discerning gifts among believers. How are we to know what gifts God has graciously given us? The Scripture gives us several guiding principles to help us discern our gifts and their function.
Believers sometimes struggle to identify their God-given gifts because they misunderstand the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit. In the apostolic age, there was no question about the extraordinary gifts’ existence. The question was not about whether they were operative; rather, it was about how believers were to put them to use in an orderly and appropriate way (1 Cor. 14:26–40). With the burgeoning of the twentieth-century Pentecostal and Charismatic movements, many American Evangelicals have become confused about the continuation or the restoration of the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit today. People wonder about the gifts and talents God has given them because they’ve never spoken in tongues or prophesied.
Cessationism is the theological position that the supernatural gifts of the Spirit only functioned for a time until the completion of the biblical canon. This position is supported by the teaching of Paul in 1 Corinthians 13. The witness of church history is important regarding the cessation of the extraordinary gifts. Sinclair Ferguson writes:
Restorationism provides no generally convincing theological explanation for the disappearance of certain gifts during the greater part of the church’s existence. To attribute this to lack of faith is surely inadequate (if not spiritual and theological hubris) in view of the quality of faith possessed by many Christians of former eras, not to mention the
principle . . . that the Spirit distributes his gifts freely and sovereignly.
When we embrace the biblical teaching about the cessation of the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, we’re free to focus on the work of the Spirit in putting our natural gifts and talents to work in the church. The Holy Spirit takes what is a unique personal talent and sanctifies it to the service of his people.
However, even in congregations that hold to cessationism, believers can find it difficult to identify and utilize their gifts and talents. This may be due, in part, to the way in which some cessationist congregations have a proclivity to elevate the teaching and preaching ministry to such a place of importance that it gives the impression that no other gifts are needed in the church. Paul makes clear in Ephesians 4:11 that the gifts of pastors and teachers are necessary for “equipping the saints;” but it’s equally clear that every member of the body is to do his or her part so that the body is built up and edified in love (Eph. 4:16).
Identifying Marks of Spiritual Gifts
Every gift and talent God gives his people has certain identifying marks. There are internal and external indications of God’s gifts. Internal marks are often identified by one’s desires. If someone enjoys opening their home to believers and unbelievers, it’s almost certainly the case that they have a gift of hospitality. If another believer loves to help organize ministry events and schedules, he or she likely has a gift of administration. If yet others enjoy teaching God’s word in Sunday School or various other settings and they excel at it, they probably have a gift of teaching. If certain believers enjoy caring for the material or physical needs of others in the body, they may have a gift of mercy. The qualifiers “almost certainly,” “likely,” “probably,” and “may” safeguard against giving someone who doesn’t have these gifts a false sense of encouragement. Many have sought roles in the church they weren’t gifted to fill. Much harm has been done when a man who doesn’t have the gift of teaching or preaching seeks to stand in a pulpit and minister God’s word to his people.
This leads to the importance of external marks. While the internal desire to minister in some particular way in the church is good and right—and an important part of discerning the gifts God has given us—the external acknowledgement by officers and members of a church plays a role as well. When a believer has an evident gift of teaching or preaching, the people of God should recognize and encourage the use of this gift. When another believer is particularly hospitable, others in the body will almost certainly acknowledge this gift with gratitude. When the internal desire to use a gift in the service of other believers meets the external affirmation of others in the body, we’ll be more apt to rightly discern the gifts God has given us for edifying the body of Christ.
Just Serve
Sometimes, it’s important for believers to simply observe the needs of a local church. There are always more needs than there are resources in the life and ministry of a local church. While it’s important for believers to identify and utilize their specific gifts, it’s equally important to be willing to serve wherever there is a need. This may take the shape of asking those in leadership about the specific needs in the body. It may look like ministry team leaders identifying members who would be a good fit in a particular ministry. It may be that a local church has a greater need for someone to serve in the nursery or help with the youth ministry or greeter team than teach. Just because someone has a gift of teaching doesn’t mean that he or she can’t jump in wherever there is a need in the life of the church. The people of God need to be prepared to assist in whatever way they may be needed.
Footnotes
Sinclair B. Ferguson, The Holy Spirit, ed. Gerald Bray, Contours of Christian Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 223.
