NO HIERARCHY IN SPIRITUAL GIFTS -

One of the most problematic churches planted by Apostle Paul was the church of Corinth. The church of the Corinth was the church where people are spiritual, yet too carnal. They adopted their carnality into every spiritual activity they engaged in.

Without looking at the level of their carnality, God endowed them with the gifts of the spirit. They were so endowed that Apostle Paul marveled at the manifestation of the power of God amidst them. Unfortunately for them, they adopted their carnality again.

Those who has the gift of the Spirit started feeling important and superior, and thought those who didn’t have are less Christians and unimportant. On the other hand, those who didn’t have began to envy and jealous those who had. So, there was chaos in the church that called for urgent attention.

In their pursuit to resolve the matter, the elders wrote a letter to Apostle Paul, seeking for his counsel on how to address the matter. Towards Paul’s curiosity to address the matter, he wrote to them the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 12.

Apostle Paul explained that there’s no hierarchy in the spiritual gift, all spiritual gift are of the same value and importance. The fact that someone is so much endowed with the gift of the spirit, doesn’t make the person a superior over those who are less endowed or those who are not endowed at all.

It should be known to us that one of the reasons for the division in the body of Christ today is caused by the hierarchical value placed on the gifts of the spirit. God, in His own ordinances, places no hierarchical value on the gifts of the spirit and He didn’t give it to demonstrate our level of importance to Him. Rather, He gave it to us for the unity of the body of Christ and the advancement of God’s kingdom.

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Apostle Paul, while speaking to those who are feeling less important because they are not much endowed, said in verse 15 of the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 12 that the foot is not less important than the hand. And while addressing those who are feeling too important in verse 21, he said that the eyes cannot say to the hand that I have no need of you.

The moment we begin to place hierarchical value on the gifts of the spirit, we’ll deviate from God’s intention and thereby begin to separate as a body. Apostle explained that the division in the church should stop because concerning the gifts of the spirit, there’s no hierarchy.