This week we consider 1 Corinthians 12.  The last time I preached on this chapter was back in the late 80’s when the charismatic renewal movement was in full swing.  This period of time in my life brings back a lot of memories—some sweet, some painful, and some bordering on the bizarre.  I know you really don’t want to hear about any of my sweet memories, and for sure you’re not interested in the painful ones, but the bizarre ones are always a little entertaining. 

Early one Sunday morning I received a phone call from someone I had never met.  “God told me he has a message for your church, and he wants me to deliver the message” the agitated voice blurted out.  Taken aback, I stammered “And who are you?”  “A messenger from God” he replied.  Curious, I decided to play along.  “OK, what’s the message?”  “I can’t tell you over the phone. I have to tell it to the whole church.”  “Write it down and mail it to me, and I’ll get back to you later,” I replied, then hung up.  This misguided man was obviously more interested in feeding his own desires than he was in serving the body of Christ. 

I could go on and on about the misuse and the abuse of spiritual gifts.  But I won’t.  It is enough to understand that when spiritual gifts are used correctly, the body of Christ benefits.  And when spiritual gifts are used incorrectly, the body of Christ suffers.  This was the case in Corinth. It was the case in Nashville, and it is the case everywhere.

When spiritual gifts are used incorrectly, the results are disastrous.  You have divisions.  You have strife.  You have jealousy.  A worship service can turn into a circus.  The Spirit of God does not give gifts so that you can do sensational things and get plenty of public attention.  The purpose of gifts is simple.  They are to be used for the common good.  They are to be used to build the church body through ministering to the body or through helping the body do ministry.  But the Corinthians didn’t understand this.  They were too wrapped up in feeding their own desires than they were in serving others.

The lack of a servant spirit among the Corinthians has, of course, already been addressed on several occasions in the letter to this point. This is yet another instance of the same fundamental problem.   The Corinthians were abusive and self serving.   They abused the communion service.  They took an act that was designed to bring unity in the body and turned it into an agent of division.  And they were doing the same thing with spiritual gifts.  They took what had been intended for the common good and used it to draw attention to themselves.  At Corinth there was no servant spirit.  There was no spirit of sacrificing for the sake of others. 

So what does this have to do with us?  We can look at the Corinthians and simply say, “Wow, were these people ever misguided and self-centered!”  Or we can use this study of 1 Corinthians as an occasion to ask ourselves some penetrating questions.  Do we have a servant spirit?  Are we looking for ways to serve or are we looking for ways to be served?  We cannot pretend to be a healthy church if we are not ministering to one another and ministering with each other.  What are you doing to help this church?