How do we distinguish our Christian responsibilities, or duties, from the spiritual gifts of the same name. Most spiritual gifts are also duties that all Christians are expected to perform. We are all exhorted to have faith (Gal 5:6), show mercy (Mat. 9:13), encourage one another (I Thes. 4:18), and practice discernment (Heb (5:14); but the bible is also clear that we cannot each have all of these gifts (I Cor. 12:12-29).
One lesson from this is clear: It must be possible to encourage, have faith, show mercy, and practice discernment without having the matching gifts. Based on I Cor. chap. 12 it cannot be concluded, for example, that showing mercy requires some degree of the gift of mercy. It is a logical impossibility. Fulfilling a Christian duty associated with a spiritual gift requires no amount of that gift, otherwise, we would all be expected to have most of the gifts, and that would be a violation of the principles of I Cor. 12.
The implications of this lesson, however, are not so clear. Many authors make an error when assigning the action of a biblical character to the outworking of a specific gift. For example, John Packo[1] attributes two gifts to Barnabas: Giving and exhortation. The example of giving comes from Acts 4: 34-37 when he sold his land and gave the proceeds to the apostles. This is, though, a one-time event in the life of Barnabas and not necessarily evidence of a consistent ability. It could be, but we don’t have the evidence to show that it is, so assigning the gift of giving to Barnabas is highly speculative.
In contrast, the attribution of exhortation to Barnabas has stronger evidence. It is based on Acts 4:36 where Joseph is renamed Barnabas by the Apostles. Barnabas means “son of encouragement.” The traits and abilities to exhort and encourage were an obvious and consistent part of the ministry of Barnabas, enough so that he was renamed along the lines of his probable gift.
Discerning the gifts of historical figures is notoriously difficult, and seldom is there agreement on the issue. The insight of Peter into the deception of Annanias and Saphira (Acts 5:1-10) has been attributed by different authors to the gifts of prophecy[2], discernment[3], and word of knowledge[4]. The same logic will apply when we look for gifts in ourselves and others. Occasional or sporadic displays of an ability do not constitute “a portion” of that gift. A gift is what makes us part of the body of Christ, and body-parts do not perform their function only occasionally, but consistently and with ease.
References
[1] Packo, 38, 41. Packo is one of the more careful thinkers among writers on spiritual gifts and takes care to distinguish gifts and duties, “Just because a believer does not have the gift of mercy does not mean that he has no obligation to display mercy,” John E. Packo, Find and Use Your Spiritual Gifts (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1980), 28. Most authors, even other careful scholars such as Michael Griffiths, make similar errors when analyzing the gifts of people in the bible, “When Barnabas first appears he is exercising the gift of giving while his nickname reminds us that he is a supreme example of the gift of encouragement.” Grace-Gifts (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.), 22.
[2] David Ireland, Activating the Gifts of the Holy Spirit (New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 1997), 155.
[3] Michael Griffiths, Grace-Gifts: Developing what God has Given the Church (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. 1979), 57.
[4] David Yonggi Cho, The Holy Spirit, My Senior Partner: Understanding the Holy Spirit and His Gifts (Orlando, FL: Creation House, 1989), 150.
One lesson from this is clear: It must be possible to encourage, have faith, show mercy, and practice discernment without having the matching gifts. Based on I Cor. chap. 12 it cannot be concluded, for example, that showing mercy requires some degree of the gift of mercy. It is a logical impossibility. Fulfilling a Christian duty associated with a spiritual gift requires no amount of that gift, otherwise, we would all be expected to have most of the gifts, and that would be a violation of the principles of I Cor. 12.
The implications of this lesson, however, are not so clear. Many authors make an error when assigning the action of a biblical character to the outworking of a specific gift. For example, John Packo[1] attributes two gifts to Barnabas: Giving and exhortation. The example of giving comes from Acts 4: 34-37 when he sold his land and gave the proceeds to the apostles. This is, though, a one-time event in the life of Barnabas and not necessarily evidence of a consistent ability. It could be, but we don’t have the evidence to show that it is, so assigning the gift of giving to Barnabas is highly speculative.
In contrast, the attribution of exhortation to Barnabas has stronger evidence. It is based on Acts 4:36 where Joseph is renamed Barnabas by the Apostles. Barnabas means “son of encouragement.” The traits and abilities to exhort and encourage were an obvious and consistent part of the ministry of Barnabas, enough so that he was renamed along the lines of his probable gift.
Discerning the gifts of historical figures is notoriously difficult, and seldom is there agreement on the issue. The insight of Peter into the deception of Annanias and Saphira (Acts 5:1-10) has been attributed by different authors to the gifts of prophecy[2], discernment[3], and word of knowledge[4]. The same logic will apply when we look for gifts in ourselves and others. Occasional or sporadic displays of an ability do not constitute “a portion” of that gift. A gift is what makes us part of the body of Christ, and body-parts do not perform their function only occasionally, but consistently and with ease.
References
[1] Packo, 38, 41. Packo is one of the more careful thinkers among writers on spiritual gifts and takes care to distinguish gifts and duties, “Just because a believer does not have the gift of mercy does not mean that he has no obligation to display mercy,” John E. Packo, Find and Use Your Spiritual Gifts (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1980), 28. Most authors, even other careful scholars such as Michael Griffiths, make similar errors when analyzing the gifts of people in the bible, “When Barnabas first appears he is exercising the gift of giving while his nickname reminds us that he is a supreme example of the gift of encouragement.” Grace-Gifts (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.), 22.
[2] David Ireland, Activating the Gifts of the Holy Spirit (New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 1997), 155.
[3] Michael Griffiths, Grace-Gifts: Developing what God has Given the Church (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. 1979), 57.
[4] David Yonggi Cho, The Holy Spirit, My Senior Partner: Understanding the Holy Spirit and His Gifts (Orlando, FL: Creation House, 1989), 150.
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