Want to share a thought…
People like to talk a lot about spiritual gifts, doing what you’re good at - what God has made you good at - for the good of His kingdom.
Filling pews is not a spiritual gift.
Romans 12:6-8, I Corinthians 12:8-10, I Corinthians 12:28-30, and Ephesians 4:11 make up a pretty decent laundry list of spiritual gifts. Here’s a gee-whiz table to show them off:
| GIFT | NUMBER OF TIMES MENTIONED |
| Prophecy | 4 - ⚫⚫⚫⚫ |
| Apostleship | 2 - ⚫⚫ |
| Healing | 2 - ⚫⚫ |
| Miracles | 2 - ⚫⚫ |
| Service | 2 - ⚫⚫ |
| Teaching | 2 - ⚫⚫ |
| Tongues | 2 - ⚫⚫ |
| Administration | 1 - ⚫ |
| Evangelism | 1 - ⚫ |
| Faith | 1 - ⚫ |
| Giving | 1 - ⚫ |
| Knowledge | 1 - ⚫ |
| Leadership | 1 - ⚫ |
| Pastoring | 1 - ⚫ |
| Wisdom | 1 - ⚫ |
| Pew Filling | 0 - |
If you’re not convinced, do some looking yourself - God doesn’t want us to be pew warmers. He wants us to be actively involved in ministry, either at church or outside it or both. I Corinthians 12:11 says each believer receives a spiritual gift. So if you’ve received Christ, you’ve received a spiritual gift. I guarantee you that yours isn’t “making the pastor feel better by keeping church attendance up.” That’s not in there.
There are a lot of spiritual gifts mentioned in the Bible - like in I Chronicles 25:1, where some King David sets aside some dudes to prophesy with musical instruments. Or Luke 10:38, where Martha (who gets a pretty bad rap for some very understandable frustration) opens her home to Jesus and the disciples. If you read the whole Bible, and talk to the believers around you, I’m sure you’ll find a spiritual gift that requires more of you than sitting (somewhat) quietly for an hour on Sunday morning. If you can’t think of anything, email me or leave a comment and I’ll point out a few you’ve missed.
INAGOTABLE,
Stick