Spiritual Gifts: An Encouragement to the Church

I’ve been on a journey the past few years. Which seems silly to say, because we all have, haven’t we? Life since 2020 has been so different. Having to navigate this pandemic has changed us all, in one way or another. I truly believe that God has used this time of change and pressure and anxiety to shake up old foundations; allowing them to crumble so that we can rebuild upon Him, and Him alone. It’s been a season of stillness that has forced me to really take a closer look at what walking with Him looks like. And to reconsider my priorities, to process through what true worship really looks like, and how the body of Christ and local church should be functioning. 

Looking back, all of this reflection and processing was so needed. But in the midst of it, I got myself lost, in a way. There was a time of fear and anxiety that began to settle in when churches shut down and life as we knew it, got put on pause. All I knew church and community to look like was being shaken out from under me. It was frustrating and disorienting for me, as someone who has been in a local church since I was 3 years old… it was a challenge for me to figure out how to function without it. I remember feeling so frustrated and uncomfortable and confused. And I felt lost and isolated – as a member of the local church and body of Christ – everything felt disjointed and messy. But little did I know… that this was only the beginning of a sanctifying journey the Lord had set in motion. God promises to use our sufferings and these seasons of pressing. Romans 5 says that we “rejoice in our sufferings because they produce endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”  

It can be so hard to see in the struggle, but this is always such an encouragement to me. Our suffering isn’t pointless. It’s DOING something. It’s PRODUCING something in us.

After the initial shock began to fade, I moved into a phase of wandering… not away from Christ or from the body of believers, but rather it was a wandering and muddling through what I had built my foundation upon all these years. I came to a point where I asked myself, “If the local church shut down forever, and we no longer had the four walls of a church to facilitate our faith, what would be left?” Or in other words, as Christians I believe it is so important to ask ourselves “what is the substance of my faith?” Do we depend on a pastor, a ministry leader, a worship team, a church building, our ministry roles, or even our friends to be the source and substance of our Christian life? Are those things what we cling to and focus on? Do we allow those GOOD things to be the MAIN things in our walk with Christ? What would walking in step with the Spirit and your Christian life look like without those things?  I fear that for so many in the body of Christ, we would be completely lost.

 This is such a challenge for us in the western culture church. We focus on production and miss His presence. We focus on our roles in ministry structure and we forget about the people out in the world that we were meant to minister to. We have made church something it was never meant to be. We have made it about us. I’ve heard this concept to likened to a “drive thru” like culture. In America we have such a consumer mind set. We come to church to be filled up, encouraged and validated. And the extent of our outreach in the world is the  “come and see” model. Come and see my church. Come experience how we do church. But Jesus said “go and find”. Make disciples. You. Not just your pastor or your church. Its a call to US as believers. As a church we need to be awakened to the function of the body of Christ, rather than being so dependent on the function of the church establishment itself. We have to figure out how to do both. Be IN the church and BE the church in our day to day lives. Living in community and ministering to the world around us. 

During this time of muddling through these messy convictions and difficult realizations, I found some beauty that God wanted to show me in the waiting. With churches either shut down or online, and with mandates in place that I could not align myself with, God began to show me the beauty He created in true community with believers. I began to learn about Sabbath rest – not the rules and regulations of the Old Testament Sabbath, but rather the incredible value in rest, worship and breaking bread with my brothers and sisters in Christ. Some friends and I started to meet regularly to worship, pray, minister to one another, and eat a meal together. It was some of the most rich and blessed days I’ve had in my nearly 30 years of walking with Christ. I remember looking around at the beautiful people God put around me, with laughter and tears and worship by candlelight, and I remember feeling, “This is the most genuine expression of ‘church’ that I’ve ever experienced in all my life.” It reminded me of the early church. How they must have gathered and shared life together. How they taught and admonished one another. How they worshipped and prayed and served one another. And how together, they were one unified body of Christ.  It’s the Acts 2 church . ““They devoted themselves to Apostles teaching, fellowship and breaking of bread, and prayer.” 

It was so beautiful. 

And I came to see there’s such a beauty in the simplicity of connecting and worshipping in our day to day lives rather than keeping those things for the four walls of church. Not that I never worshipped outside of church of course but rather the concept of making worship and community a lifestyle. It was a beautiful reminder how we need each other. People with the gift of encouragement would encourage and worshippers helped lead us in song, those who were gifted in hospitality would host the nights. People with wisdom would teach, those with words of knowledge would give words. We would share how God was working in our lives and give Him glory. It was such a beautiful picture of what worship and community can look like stripped down. 

Now that things are opening back up, and the local church is gearing back up to function as it once did… I found myself feeling rather conflicted.  Where do I belong in this westernized church structure? What should I align myself with and how can I serve the local church in a way that brings about depth in community and a more true dependence on Christ alone? 

At the end of the day, I had to be reminded of these three things:

1.) The local church is valuable and important. Being part of a community of believers and under the headship of wise and gifted pastors like we have at Mission is crucial to our walk with Christ. The point is, Church structure itself isnt the issue. It’s how we function within it and outside of it. It’s a perspective switch that’s needed in our hearts and minds of the body of Christ.

2.) The local church should function as a launching pad into mission focus in our lives.  It is a place where we can be taught, a place we can be counseled and connected, and it’s a place to serve our community and be served by one another. And it’s a place where we find our local community of believers to walk through life with. And that’s a beautiful thing. But it’s meant to be a launching pad, not the full substance of our lives as Christians. Are we connected to other believers in a real, and meaningful way? Are we ministering to the people around us in our day to day lives? We cannot use local church to facilitate our faith for us, we have to  live it out ourselves. 

3.) And finally, I do have a place at this table. We all do. I’ve come to understand more and more this year, the beauty in the body of Christ functioning as one. God has given every single one of us talents and gifts that we were made to use for His glory. And how beautiful it would be, if we all came to a church setting, ready to walk out those callings? We all need each other if we want to function the way we were meant to. There are teachers and evangelists and encouragers and truth speakers. There are worshippers gifted with songs to sing and counselors filled with words of wisdom. There are shepherds that can function as pastors or even as elders to disciple others into deeper relationship with Christ. The point is, we all have a gift. And the church would be more effective and more useful if we came ready to use our giftings, not only within the four walls of a church, but also out in the world, and thereby bring glory to our father in Heaven. 

And that’s our hope in this podcast series as we move onto spiritual gifting specifically.  That you would be encouraged and emboldened in your faith. That you would truly hear in your heart of hearts that you have a seat at this table. The local church needs your gifts and so does the world around you. We need to remember the Acts 2 church. They didnt just do church on the sabbath at the temple. They lived a lifestyle of community and sharing and sharpening and living their lives as an offering. 

This is what I truly think Christ intended his church to be and to look like. And partly why I also love the name of our church. We are Mission. We are a people on a Mission. Each and every one of us, ya know?

Yet will be only effective and bring such glory to our Lord and Savior so long as we build upon the firm foundation of Christ alone. For Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone. Keeping our hearts humble and our eyes fixed on the Lord. 

I’m ready to be a part of a church like that. Aren’t you?