(Personal actions of there Holy Spirit,) the Holy Spirit is not standing outside God waiting to be briefed, he knows the depths that already moves beyond the picture of an impersonal influence. But Corinth’s problem requires more than knowledge, the church is not only asking, who understands, it is asking, who matters most. Paul answers by placing every gift under the Spirit’s choice, there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. Different services, but the same Lord. Different workings, but the same God. And the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good, 1 Corinthians 12:11, as he desires, that phrase changes the room.
Another personal action is choice, the Spirit distributes according to his will, the gifts are not identical portions of a spiritual substance, they are not personal achievements, they are not evidence that the most visible person is the most mature. The Spirit gives differently, because the body has different needs, that means the person with a public gift cannot boast as though visibility proves rank and the person serving quietly has not been forgotten. For a Pentecostal believer, this is both an affirmation and a correction, the gifts are real, the Spirit still works, but expectation can drift into pressure.
People can begin to measure the Spirit’s presence by whatever is easiest to see. A person who does not display the same gift as someone else may begin to wonder whether God has passed them by. Paul moves the question away from performance, who chose the gift? Whom does it serve? One believer may speak in a way that makes truth clear. Another may bring unusual faith into a frightening situation. Another may quietly carry a burden the rest of the church would otherwise drop. If those differences become trophies, the room fractures, if they are received as the Spirit’s deliberate provision for the common good, the same differences become service.
The Spirit’s will destroys both pride and despair, there is another emotional side to that choice, some believers become proud of what they have received, others become ashamed of what they have not received, both reactions place the human comparison at the center. Paul places the Spirit at the center instead, if he chooses, then the visible person has no reason to boast, if he chooses, then the quieter person has no reason to conclude that invisibility means uselessness. The common good is not built by everyone displaying the same thing, it is built by different people serving under one will. No one can boast, because no one assigned the gift to himself. No one needs to disappear, because every gift is given within one body, that is not how an impersonal force behaves, it is how a personal agent chooses.
Another personal action is choice, the Spirit distributes according to his will, the gifts are not identical portions of a spiritual substance, they are not personal achievements, they are not evidence that the most visible person is the most mature. The Spirit gives differently, because the body has different needs, that means the person with a public gift cannot boast as though visibility proves rank and the person serving quietly has not been forgotten. For a Pentecostal believer, this is both an affirmation and a correction, the gifts are real, the Spirit still works, but expectation can drift into pressure.
People can begin to measure the Spirit’s presence by whatever is easiest to see. A person who does not display the same gift as someone else may begin to wonder whether God has passed them by. Paul moves the question away from performance, who chose the gift? Whom does it serve? One believer may speak in a way that makes truth clear. Another may bring unusual faith into a frightening situation. Another may quietly carry a burden the rest of the church would otherwise drop. If those differences become trophies, the room fractures, if they are received as the Spirit’s deliberate provision for the common good, the same differences become service.
The Spirit’s will destroys both pride and despair, there is another emotional side to that choice, some believers become proud of what they have received, others become ashamed of what they have not received, both reactions place the human comparison at the center. Paul places the Spirit at the center instead, if he chooses, then the visible person has no reason to boast, if he chooses, then the quieter person has no reason to conclude that invisibility means uselessness. The common good is not built by everyone displaying the same thing, it is built by different people serving under one will. No one can boast, because no one assigned the gift to himself. No one needs to disappear, because every gift is given within one body, that is not how an impersonal force behaves, it is how a personal agent chooses.
