What Else Happens When We Worship?

This week, we've been answering the question: "What happens when we worship?" On Monday, we learned that our souls get recalibrated so that we can function as true worshipers rather than as imitation worshipers. On Tuesday, we learned that when we truly worship, God blesses our service for Him with 3 kinds of fruitfulness.

On Wednesday, we learned that when we truly worship, we begin adopting God's agenda, His plan, for our own; that is, we live for His glory rather than living a self-centered existence. On Thursday, we learned that when we truly worship God, our view of the world changes radically. God simply does things differently than man, and we begin to do things differently, too.

Today, we will learn that true worship generates a burst of variety released in worshipful service. As we worship individually and collectively, we will roll up our sleeves and do what we sense He wants us to do about what we observe around us.

Romans 12 tells us that as part of our worship, God wants us to serve Him with gifts that He graciously gives us through God the Holy Spirit. Verses 6-8 say:

Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

I Corinthians chapter 12 continues this theme. Beginning in verse 7, it says:

.The manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith be the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

Ephesians 4, verses 11 and 12 say:

And He Himself (meaning God) gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry..

1 Peter 4 is the fourth passage of scripture that presents spiritual gifts. Verses 10 and 11 say:

As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Why does God give us this variety of gifts? It's because ministry in His church and ministry through His church take lots of teamwork. Effective service requires more capabilities than any one type of person can embody. So while God has given us the privilege of being one body, He has also given us differing, complementary Spiritual gifts. We activate and develop our different gifts as acts of worship to the One who gave us these gifts in the first place.

As you can imagine, that in itself breeds plenty of variety, but there's more: God has also given us each a number of other "natural" abilities and tendencies. Now if you multiply these natural gift combinations by those "Spiritual" gift combinations, and it's clear that God has given us have unlimited variety.

It's fascinating to watch: As we begin to pay attention to the way God designed each of us, we find that each of us is sensitive to somewhat different needs and opportunities around us. We each draw on our own unique group of natural and Spiritual gifts as we respond to those needs and opportunities. We apply these differing resources to meet the needs we see. In this way, we unite in serving God—even while serving Him in different ways.

Picture us as an orchestra. We who perform in this concert will be alike in attitude and different in action. Not only that, we will be pleased to play our complementary parts. Why? Because our various parts call on us each to operate from our particular strength; that is, we'll exercise those built-in gifts God gave us. Cellists will play cello, not bassoon. Percussionists will play timpani, not trumpet. Isn't it just like God, the Master Orchestrator and Conductor, to create such a dynamic symphony? Hallelujah!

© 2007 John Garmo. If you would be interested in using this article, please contact us at Info@MissionToChildren.org.