1 Corinthians 12: Many Gifts But One Spirit

(NRSV, 1989)

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Paul ends chapter eleven criticizing those in the Corinthian church who are participating in Holy Communion with selfish and self-centered motives. Communion is meant to build up the Body of Christ so that the Body might go out and be God’s righteousness in the world; it is intended to make us one in the Lord. This is not what was happening in Corinth; they seem to have forgotten who they have become in Christ Jesus and have lost their way. Of course, this misunderstanding of the meaning and purpose of the Lord’s Table is merely indicative of Corinth’s overarching problem of self-centeredness and pride. They even are using the spiritual gifts with which God has provided them to jockey for position. 

Now concerning spiritual gifts: brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be unaware. You know that when you were pagans, you used to be enticed and led astray by mute idols. Therefore I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

Paul leaves the Corinthians no room to brag. Any positive assertion—any spiritual gift—is from the Spirit of God. They have come their faith in God through Christ Jesus and the presence of the Spirit. This is good-old prevenient grace: We can choose God only because God has made it possible for us to do so. It is unlikely that anyone in the Corinthian church as stating that “Jesus is cursed,” although no one can say for certain, one way or the other. Here, Paul is making the point that it is because of the presence of the Spirit that the Corinthians church even exists. The Spirit will make no one curse Jesus, and only the Spirit can allow one to bless Jesus. Paul couches this discussion on the differing gifts in that same Spirit.

Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different activities, but the same God works all of them in each person. A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good: to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another, the performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to another, different kinds of tongues, to another, interpretation of tongues. 11 One and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as he wills.

The Corinthians have used their wisdom, their baptism, their daily practices, and even the Lord’s Supper to separate and distinguish themselves one from the other. All in an attempt say, “I am better than you.” So, holier-than-thouism has been alive and active for a long time. So far, Paul has been able to stress oneness in Corinthian church: one baptism, one Lord, one table, one faith. But with differing spiritual gifts being present in the church—in fact being necessary in it—Paul may have his work cut out for him. Paul tells the Corinthians that although they possess different gifts, the foundation of all of them is in ONE Spirit. Like the ability to say that “Jesus is Lord,” none have a right to claim any special status, though they really want to. “A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good…distributing to each person as he wills.” Additionally, these differing gifts are active only because the Spirit remains active in Corinthians and that is only “for the common good.” 

Like Holy Communion which doesn’t even exist if it is not being used to build community, if a believer is attempting to use his or her gift for any other purpose than for the common good, the “spiritual” part will be missing, since the Spirit “is active…distributing to each person as he wills.” This is a serious problem in the Church today in my estimation. We often assume that the Spirit is with us, that God is on our side, regardless of our motivations and purposes. Only God gives us the ability to say yes, and only God can empower us to do what He wills. And if we aren’t seeking the same thing that God is, why would be reasonable for us to assume that He is going to send His Spirit, His power to us? 

When we list these gifts of the Spirit, these charismata, it is clearly evident how they could be used to elevate the status and standing of individuals within the church: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment between spirits, speaking different languages, and interpreting different languages. These gifts, it appears, have been present at one time or another in the Corinthian church—and have likely been misunderstood at best and abused at worst—particularly, it seems, the gift of tongues, or glossolalia. Interestingly, Paul lists faith as a gift of the Spirit, so it is something that every Corinthian has. So, like all the other gifts, faith is given by God for a purpose, and we should expect that if our faith is useless it, too, can be taken away. (Just something to think about.)

I will not go into detail about each, specific charismata here and now, because this is not Paul’s point for mentioning them. His point he makes evidently clear: All gifts that are given by God come with strings attached—and none of those strings are for any individual believer to lord his or her gift over others. This is made quite clear in verses twelve and thirteen.

For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all given one Spirit to drink. Indeed, the body is not one part but many.

Charismata have been given to the Corinthian church to bring it together to work toward a single goal. And they are given for reasons only God knows to whomever God desires, “Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free”. 

If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body.

Paul dishes out some pastoral theology here that we should probably heed. Why do we Christians insist on judging ourselves through comparison to other Christians? This applies equally to our own feelings of inadequacy and to our own feelings of superiority. 

If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted. And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!

Since all Christians are different, their charismata will also differ. And the Body of Christ requires all to function as they have been gifted for the sake of the mission of the God’s kingdom. I picture Mike Witkowski, but even there he is more than just an eye. Yes, the congregation’s members must be different and their functions distinguishable, but not one of them is b...