BIBLE STUDY: I Corinthians 12:4-13
by Kristen West McGuire
I Corinthians 12: 4-13
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;
and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;
and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one.
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and
to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,
to another faith by the same Spirit,
to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,
to another the working of miracles,
to another prophecy,
to another the ability to distinguish between spirits,
to another various kinds of tongues,
to another the interpretation of tongues.
All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
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 by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body– Jews or Greeks, slaves or free–and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
(Excerpts from Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.) Context: St. Paul was in Ephesus on his third missionary journey when he received word that the Corinthian church had “issues.” Its membership was quite diverse, so much so that many members were literate enough to seek their own answers to some of the questions they posed to Paul. This passage on the unity of the “Body of Christ” comes after a key section on the centrality of the Eucharist in the life of the faithful Christian.
Translation: St. Paul was a typical Jewish Pharisee of his day. He read the Old Testament in the Greek Septuagint, but his written Greek betrayed his Hebraic origins. St. Jerome later complained of his lack of elegance as a Greek stylist. His theological insights, however, were first-rate.
Vocabulary:
gifts: Greek charisma - a spiritual endowment, given by God
service: Greek diakonia attendance as a servant, aid, service, ministry
working: Greek energema – an effect, result of working, or operations that have effects, derived from energeo to be active, effectual, to just do it!
utterance: Greek logos the word as in spoken word (refers to Word in John 1)
wisdom: Greek sophia wisdom won through skill; insight; understanding
knowledge: Greek gnosis, spiritual/experiential aspect of knowledge, connotes a systematic treatment or a proof
Meditation: There are indeed talented Christians out there, and the gifts strewn at the altar are amazingly diverse. It’s easy to see how disputes might arise about the relative worth of the gifts, and even the givers. Humility is a necessary gift from every giver.
In many parishes, about ten percent of the people do ninety percent of the work. But is it fair to say that the rest are merely freeloading off the efforts of the few? Sometimes. But what if the “work” simply isn’t suited to the gifts that the other members bring to the altar? What if we are missing out on many gifts, simply because the frenetic pace of modern life is keeping us ignorant of the gifts that others are too busy or too overwhelmed to share?
If God wants the job done, He’ll send the workers to the vineyard. But we must be sure that the hours of the vineyard are conducive to work, and that the overseers are sensitive to the needs of the workers. And, sometimes, we might have to redefine “necessary work.” Will we spend less time in purgatory if the annual chicken dinner gets bumped off the calendar one year? I’m not sure, but it’s worth asking the question.
Discussion Questions
- Have you ever felt that your gifts were not appreciated in the parish? Has Jesus helped you find somewhere else to share your gifts?
- The unity we seek is offered to us in the love of Christ Jesus. Thank someone in your parish this week for his/her gifts, especially if you suspect that the person often isn’t noticed. Then, pray for unity in your parish, whether it already exists or not
- Because men have most of the authority in parishes, some strange power dynamics can happen with female staff. For example, even though the church secretary is not ordained, sometimes she has a powerful role as a gatekeeper for the pastor. What are the positive and negative effects of such relationships? How can women effectively exercise leadership in the parish?
