Stewarding Our Gifts: Serving the Body of Christ

Paul’s picture of one body begins with a plain truth: believers are not all the same, but God has put them together. The body has many parts, and every part matters. The church carries different backgrounds, abilities, resources, experiences, and ways of serving, yet Christ joins all of them into one body for the good of the others.

Romans 12 names gifts like serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leading, and showing mercy. Paul does not give that list so anybody can say, “Well, that’s not my gift,” and step away from responsibility. Encouragement, mercy, generosity, and service may come easier to some than to others, but every believer still needs to grow in those areas. Gifts show where somebody may be especially strong, not where somebody else gets excused.

God’s grace stands behind every ability. Gifts do not leave room for arrogance, because God distributes them as He determines. Paul’s call to sober judgment guards against thinking too highly of oneself, but it also guards against thinking too lowly. God sees His church as Christ’s bride, a royal priesthood, and children of the living God. Christ also calls that honored people to be servants, following His obedience, humility, and care for others.

Peter calls believers faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. God gives skills for making a living and providing for families, but God also gives those skills, time, money, strength, relationships, wisdom, and life experience to serve other people. The bags of gold in Matthew 25 press that point home: God expects an account of what He has entrusted. Faithful servants do not all receive the same amount, but faithful servants use what they have and share in the master’s happiness. The servant who buries his gift shows the danger of refusing stewardship.

The rich man and Lazarus give the same warning in another form. The rich man had resources, opportunity, and a suffering man at his gate, but he did not serve him. God places opportunities in front of His people, often in relationships already close at hand.

First Corinthians 12 calls even the parts that seem weaker indispensable. Every member is important. Every gift is needed. The church needs the gifts God has placed in it, and each believer needs brothers and sisters as well. Gifts should not be buried, minimized, or used for pride. Gifts should be given back to God by serving others, receiving help when it is offered, and letting God, the Giver of every good gift, receive the glory.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Gifts never excuse neglected obedience. Romans 12 identifies different strengths, but it does not create spiritual lanes where believers can refuse mercy, encouragement, or service. A person may need more growth in a particular area, yet weakness is an invitation to ask God for help, not a reason to withdraw. God’s commands still call for obedience where natural ability feels thin. [12:28]
• 2. Grace leaves no room for pride. God gives gifts according to His grace, so no ability becomes grounds for looking down on another person. God also refuses the false humility that says a person has nothing worthwhile to offer. Sober judgment receives God’s gifts humbly and puts them to work as a servant. [14:57]
• 3. Stewardship means using what God gives. The bags of gold show that God does not measure faithfulness by equal amounts, but by faithful use. Resources, skills, time, and experience belong to God before they belong to the individual. Faithful stewardship turns entrusted grace into service for others and joy in the Master’s presence. [20:10]
• 4. Every part of Christ’s body matters. First Corinthians 12 refuses the idea that any member is unnecessary. God has placed each part in the body as He wanted, including the parts that seem weaker or less visible. The church becomes healthier when believers stop minimizing their gifts and stop pretending they do not need one another. [24:29]
• 5. Receiving help also glorifies God. God blesses both the giver and the receiver when one believer serves another. Pride can hide behind independence and keep somebody from allowing others to use their God-given gifts. God receives the glory when His body gives help freely and receives help gratefully.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [07:42] - One Body, Many Different Members
• [09:44] - Romans 12 and Different Gifts
• [11:21] - “That’s Not My Gift”
• [12:57] - Gifts Given by God’s Grace
• [14:24] - Sober Judgment and Humble Service
• [16:34] - Stewards of Grace in Various Forms
• [18:53] - The Parable of the Bags of Gold
• [21:18] - Resources Entrusted for God’s Purpose
• [22:09] - The Rich Man and Lazarus
• [23:47] - Indispensable Parts of the Body
• [24:57] - Questions for Using God’s Gifts
• [26:29] - Do Not Bury or Minimize Gifts
• [27:18] - Letting God Receive the Glory

Bible Reading

Romans 12:4-8
For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. [09:44]

1 Corinthians 12:12-27
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. [23:47]

Matthew 25:14-30
For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, “Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.” His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” And he also who had received the two talents came forward, saying, “Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.” His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, “Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.” But his master answered him, “You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” [18:53]

1 Peter 4:10
As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: [16:40]

Observation questions

1. In Romans 12:4-8, what does Paul say believers have in common, and what does he say is different about them? [10:52]
2. What specific kinds of gifts or areas of service are named in Romans 12 and 1 Peter 4:10?
3. In Matthew 25, what did the first two servants do with what the master entrusted to them, and what did the third servant do instead? [19:25]
4. According to 1 Corinthians 12, what two wrong statements do the body parts make about themselves and one another? What does Paul call the parts that seem weaker? [24:05]

Interpretation questions

1. Romans 12 says gifts differ “according to the grace given to us.” How does this truth address both pride in a strong ability and discouragement over a less visible ability? [13:39]
2. Paul includes encouragement, generosity, service, leadership, and mercy among the gifts. Why does having less strength in one of these areas not remove a believer’s responsibility to grow in it? [11:21]
3. In Matthew 25, the master gave different amounts to different servants but gave the same approval to the two faithful servants. What does this show about how God measures faithful stewardship? [20:10]
4. First Corinthians 12 says the weaker-looking parts are indispensable. How should this shape the way a church treats members whose gifts are quiet, ordinary, or often unnoticed? [24:12]

Application questions

1. What ability, resource, experience, relationship, or amount of time has God placed in your hands right now? Where might there be a real opportunity to use it for someone else’s good? [25:01]
2. Is there an area such as encouragement, mercy, generosity, prayer, or service where you are tempted to say, “That is not my gift”? What would one small step of growth look like this week? [12:23]
3. Have you ever minimized what you could offer because it seemed small compared with somebody else’s gift? What does it look like to receive your place in the body with sober judgment—neither proud nor discouraged? [14:24]
4. Is there a need close at hand that has become easy to pass by—at home, in the church, at work, or in the neighborhood? What would it mean to notice that person and respond with the resources God has given you? [22:09]
5. Who in this group or church has strengthened you through prayer, encouragement, practical help, wisdom, or mercy? How could you thank God for that person and encourage them in their service?
6. Receiving help can be difficult when independence or pride gets in the way. Is there a burden, need, or area of weakness where you need to let another believer serve you? What would graciously receiving that help look like? [27:18]
7. What is one gift you do not want to bury this week? Name one specific person or situation where you could put that gift to work for God’s glory. [26:29]