Life Group Resources
Cor: 1 Corinthians in the 21st Century
“” (1 Corinthians 12:4-27)
March 16/17, 2013
Coming Together
1. Think about the last time you received a really nice gift. How did you feel once you received it? What
did you do with it and what did the gift communicate to you about the one who gave?
Read and Consider 1 Corinthians 12:4-27
2. Whereas we tend to think of gifts as things that are primarily about the receiver, Paul speaks of the
gifts of the Spirit as being for others. How does this help us to understand the use and purpose of
spiritual gifts?
3. As we’ve seen from earlier passages, the Corinthians are particularly proud of their gifts of wisdom and
knowledge. How do you think placing these gifts within the context of a broader list, as Paul does in
verses 8-11, add perspective to the Corinthian’s concept of spiritual gifts? To ours?
4. Where does Paul insist is the source of the Corinthians gifts (and where is it not)? Why is it important
enough for him to repeat it constantly throughout this passage?
Going Deeper
5. Does it strike you odd that the very same Corinthian Christians who prized philosophically informed
wisdom and knowledge also displayed enthusiasm for speaking in unknown tongues? What do you
think this suggests about our cultural assumptions about wisdom and knowledge?
6. How does thinking of other Christians as members of Christ’s body change the way you see them?
What does it mean that the privileged are bound in one body with the weak?
7. Given Paul’s body analogy, do you think there can be spiritual gifts unmoored from the bonds of
community?
R.E.A.L. Life Together
8. In light of verse 26, what are some of the ways your Life Group has suffered when one part suffers and
rejoiced when one part is honored?
9. Spend some time telling each person in the group how you’ve seen them use their gifts for the
edification of the community.
Background:
Spiritual Gifts (1 Cor. 12: 4-11)
Spiritual gifts had become symbols of spiritual power, causing rivalries in the church because some people
thought they were more “spiritual” than others because of their gifts. This was a misuse of spiritual gifts as
their purpose is to help the church function more effectively, not to divide it. This can be divisive if we insist on
using our gift our own way without being sensitive to others. Gifts were not meant to be used as a means of
manipulating others or promoting our own self-interest. The word “gifts” in Greek is charismata; it comes from
Life Group Resources
Cor: 1 Corinthians in the 21st Century
“” (1 Corinthians 12:4-27)
March 16/17, 2013
the same root word as the word “grace” (charis). Freely bestowed by God, gifts are special endowments given
to believers to enable them to do extraordinary work for God. Paul did not want believers to be uninformed
about these gifts, but, rather, to understand and use them for God’s glory. All gifts come from one source and
are to be used for one purpose. The one source is the Trinity – God the Father, the Lord Christ, and the Holy
Spirit. The one purpose is the building up of the body of Christ – which happens as the gifts are used to their
fullest potential.
Spiritual gifts reflect the Trinity and show the diversity and unity of the body. Every member of the body of
Christ has been given some spiritual gift that is an evidence of the Spirit’s working in their lives. All the gifts are
intended to build up the members of the Christian community. They are not to be used for selfish advantage, as
some in the Corinthian community apparently were doing. Not everyone has the same gift or all the gifts. The
Holy Spirit sovereignly determines which gift or gifts each believer should have.
Unity and Diversity in the Body (1 Cor. 12:12-27)
The metaphor of the body illustrates the unity and diversity of the different spiritual gifts exercised by God’s
people, who are all members of the body of Christ (Christ’s body, being the church, of which He is the head). All
have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and united with Christ as part of his body. In Christ there is no ethnic,
cultural or social distinction.
12:14-20 Was addressed mainly to those who feel that their gifts are inferior and unimportant. Apparently the
more spectacular gifts (such as tongues) had been glorified in the Corinthian church, making those who did not
have them feel inferior.
As the human body must have diversity to work effectively as a whole, so the members of Christ’s body have
diverse gifts, the use of which can help bring about the accomplishment of Christ’s united purpose. Paul
stresses the sovereign purpose of God in diversifying the parts of the body; by implication he is saying that God
has arranged that different Christians in the body of Christ exercise different spiritual gifts, not the same gift.
And this diversity is intended to accomplish God’s unified purpose. God’s method employs diversity to create
unity.
12:21-26 Was addressed mainly to those who feel that their gifts are superior and most important. These
verses provide another indication that some gifts, like tongues, had been magnified as being preeminent.
There is an interdependence of the parts of the body in the one whole. Christians in the body of Christ are
mutually dependent as they exercise their distinctive functions. Christians who seem to have less important
functions in the body of Christ are actually indispensable. Christians should give “special honor” and support to
those in the church who have ordinary gifts. Persons with more spectacular gifts do not need to be given
special honor. In the body of Christ if one Christian suffers, all the Christians are affected. Each local church is
the body of Christ, just as the universal church is Christ’s body.