In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul introduces the gifts of the Spirit and what they are used for. Verse 7 tells us that the purpose of these gifts is to produce what is beneficial. Although all of the gifts are important, there is not one that is more important than another. They are all given to us by the same Holy Spirit so the one that is needed in the moment is the one that will bring comfort, healing, encouragement or even instruction. Paul continues to explain that the body of Christ is also made up of many functioning parts that do different things, so none of us are able to say to each other that we don’t have need of someone else. Each of us brings something different and functional to the church, and we need every person and their unique function. This sounds simple and self-explanatory, but many people struggle with trying to find their place or their purpose in the church because they see others with more prominent looking gifts and they feel like they are not gifted, or maybe don’t know what their gifts are. Not only do we have people who don’t know their gifts, but we have those who feel their gift is more important and are prideful in their position. A few chapters back Paul was addressing the disunity within the church of Corinth and in just the last chapter they were celebrating the Lord’s Supper, but the wealthy and those who believed themselves to be more dignified or important were selfishly demanding the best seats at the dinner and the poorest among them didn’t even get a seat at the table. It seems to me that this just might be what Paul was trying to address here. The main point that I pulled out of this is that everybody has a seat at the table and we all are needed.
