Are some gifts greater than others?

1 Corinthians 12:1-31

Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. ² You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. ³ Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.⁵ There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶ There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

⁷ Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. ⁸ To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.¹¹ All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

¹² Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴ Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

¹⁵ Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” ²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty,²⁴ while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it,²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.²⁸ And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. ²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰ Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹ Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way.

This is such a well-loved passage about the body of Christ and how one is not less important than the other, we all have a part to play in the service of God and each other. But right at the end is a seemingly contradictory statement… “desire the greater gifts”.

Certainly I have puzzled at this over the years. If there are no body parts more or less honourable in the eyes of God, then what are these greater gifts? Is being an eye more important or greater, than being a little toe after all?

Should one seek to be an apostle seeing they are placed first in the list that precedes this statement?

As we know, the wonderful chapter on Love immediately follows this section, Love being the most excellent way. It is interesting to see from this wording that whatever these greater gifts are, Love will trump them all as the most excellent, the ‘greatest of these’.

I think that if we look at the question that Paul was answering in this passage, we will see that he was writing to a church where everybody wanted gifts. They wanted to show how spiritual they were, how advanced in their faith they were. This passage is saying that gifts are not given for one’s own edification and exaltation, Instead, they are to minister to others. The heart of the Corinthian church had been in the wrong place, wanting impressive gifts like tongues, healing, prophecy, like some kind of merit checklist.

Paul just about plays them at their own game, but makes it very clear that in the list of gifts and ministries, it is God who brings them about and the Spirit grants them. He basically tells them, by all means, desire those great gifts, but let me show you something even better.

So by the time we get to the end of the next chapter, we see that the greater gifts are those where we have decreased and Christ has increased. As impressive as some of the gifts are that the Corinthians had been eagerly seeking, they were but clanging cymbals if not enacted with love.

Christ who gave His body for us in the greatest act of Love that history will ever know, now calls us to be His body, to be eyes and ears and hands and feet for each other and love one another as He has loved us.

Head: In the body of Christ, He is the head. This means that while we all have different parts to play, we submit to His will and direction. How can we find our capacity for the greatest gift, Love, comes from our Head?

Heart:  Love for others must come first from a love for God. How can you draw closer to God to fill up on the ‘greatest of these’?

Hands: What can you do this week that is using the gifts that God have given you to serve others? Make time to show someone you care in the ‘most excellent way’.

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for giving your Heart and making us your Body. Help me to keep you as the Head of my life and share your gifts with others. Amen.

A song to listen to: The One Who Made Us One

Nicole Davenport

This Grow Daily was first posted as part of our Love My Church Series.