Today we are continuing our sermon series on spiritual gifts. In weeks prior, you heard how the Lord gives Christians varying spiritual gifts and how believers are to use them as part of the body of Christ with love. Today the sermon text will answer the question, “How are we to use our spiritual gifts?” We are never to use our gifts to impress, but rather to build up.

The Corinthians were eager to have and to use their spiritual gifts, but Paul’s encouragement to them had to unsettle them at least a little bit. It seems that the Corinthians had become quite good at speaking in tongues – sort of. Speaking in tongues was a special gift that was given to Christians. This gift enabled them to speak in languages that they had never studied before. Imagine if you had never taken a day of Spanish and one day you were able to preach God’s Word in Spanish to others who could understand it. That’s what it was like.

However we are given the impression that the Corinthians were doing something different. They were speaking in languages that nobody understood. And if no one understood it, then no one was being served by their spiritual gift. They were basically showing off what they could do and they were doing it in worship. Is this how God wanted them to use their spiritual gifts? Of course it was not.

But what about us? God has given us all spiritual gifts. Has our sinful pride caused us to misuse them? Have you ever used your talents from God to show off? Maybe you made someone feel dumb because you knew something from the Bible that they didn’t. Maybe your sinful pride fills you up because you have certain musical abilities? Maybe you have knowledge to be used for the good of the church, but instead you use it to undermine the mission of the church? Are you showing off with your spiritual gifts? Are you misusing them?

Or on the flip side of that, has your sinful pride led you to not use your gifts at all? Have you been asked to serve the church and declined because you thought it was beneath you? Have you thought of yourself as too good to do the little things for God? Has your sinful pride led you to complain that your gifts aren’t being used correctly in the church?

Listen to what Paul wrote, “But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than then thousand words in a tongue.” You see, Paul was probably smarter and more gifted than all the Corinthians combined. He could speak in tongues with the best of them. But he said that it was far more important that he instruct clearly with a few words so that people were built up in the faith.

Being a Christian is humbling. We may think we have so much to offer. But in reality, we are just humble servants with gifts given to us by God. Let’s ask God for forgiveness for when we have let our sinful pride run wild. Let’s ask God to show us mercy when we have thought ourselves to good to use our spiritual gifts or used them to show off. We have sinned and need his grace.

Paul did not ridicule the Corinthians or the gift of speaking in tongues. Instead he instructed them how the gift of speaking in tongues was to be used. He wrote, “For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says. Tongues by themselves built up no one else.

The interpretation was useful because it built up peoples’ faith. It was the five useful words that Paul was talking about that instructed. This is important to note because the Corinthians were caught in the emotions and feelings of worship. Worship can easily become a show for the person in church. Music, lighting, incense, candles, church architecture, and different liturgy forms can be used to manipulate people’s feelings. This can easily serve a purpose in worship, but if all these tools are used only to bring about emotions in those worshipping, we have missed the point.

Paul’s emphasis was that we should first and foremost seek to engage the mind. Paul expressed this by saying that a person could pray and sing without the mind actually working. Think about how we might fall into this trap. A choir uses its gifts to praise God in song for our worship service. We can sit back and have our emotions stirred because the music is beautiful or you can see your children or grandchildren up in front of church. But what about the words? Did the words engage your mind so that you thought about what they were singing? As Pastor I could stand up here and try to impress you with a really flowery and entertaining sermon, but when you go home, do you remember the spiritual point that I was making to you?

This was Paul’s emphasis that we ought to use our spiritual gifts to build one another up, even if all it takes is that we speak five intelligible words that instruct. And you know what? Paul did just that when he said in the beginning of 1 Corinthians, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” Did you catch that? Paul used five words that were the heart and soul of the gospel. These were five words that mean everything to a Christian. These are five words that instruct. These are five words that you need to know – Jesus Christ and him crucified.

Those words give us not only emotional lift we need but even more so they give us the mental lift that we need. Jesus Christ is our Savior. While we can be selfish and filled with arrogant pride, Jesus was humble and became one of us to live a perfect life. While we were damned to hell for our sins, Jesus allowed himself to be crucified in order to pay for all of our sins. When we were eternally lost, the crucified Savior became the risen Savior so that we could be declared free from death and given a place in heaven. Five simple words used to instruct – Jesus Christ and him crucified. That is your instruction.

Now Paul gives you encouragement. “Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.” Small children are very much impressed with their own accomplishments. “Mommy! Daddy! Look what I can do!” The Corinthians were so caught up in the fact that could speak in tongues they were acting like little kids. They wanted others to see what they could do and admire them for it. Paul said that was childish.

Adults don’t do things just to show off. A real grown-up uses his gifts to help others, not impress others. Paul says that this is the attitude that we should have in using our spiritual gifts in the church. It should be a mature attitude.

So let’s strive to be grown-ups when it comes to using our gifts. Look carefully at the gifts that God has given you and evaluate them. Forget the idea that tells you to use your gifts to make yourself look good or feel better. Rather look at your gifts and see how you can use them to build up those around you in faith. Maybe you do know everything there is to know about construction. How can you use that gift to serve and build up? Maybe you have incredible gifts in the area of music? How can use those gifts to best serve this congregation? Maybe you do have a remarkable knowledge of the Bible? How will you use that gift to build up the body Christ.

One of the hardest things for us as human beings to do is realize that it is not all about us. Let’s take a lesson from Paul who would literally put aside his remarkable spiritual gifts and intellect to just share the message of Jesus Christ and him crucified with people. May God bless you as you strive to use your gifts to build one another up in the faith. AMEN.