19th January 2025

I must admit, I don’t often go to live orchestral events but when I do I love it. To hear so many instruments playing together sounds incredible, and I am often stuck by the skill of the players as I watch each person play their part under the watchful eye of the conductor. Different instruments play different melodies, yet somehow each part harmonises and complements the whole.

I found it interesting that the Apostle Paul, when speaking about spiritual gifts, used the words ‘for the common good.’ The words translated into the phrase ‘common good’ is the Greek word sympheron, from which we get the English word symphony. David Francis in his book Spiritual Gifts – A Practical Guide to How God Works Through You, suggests that this is a useful analogy when thinking about the gifts of the Spirit. 

The Apostle Paul states that he doesn’t want us to be ‘ignorant’ or ‘uninformed’ about these gifts and he reminds us that it is the triune God of grace who is the gift giver: ‘Now there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit, and there are varieties of services but the same Lord,  and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.’ (1 Corinthians 12:4-6). Paul’s use of the words ‘God,’ ‘Lord,’ and ‘Spirit,’ is another way of saying ‘Father, Son and Spirit.’

As Christians we don’t get to choose our gifts, neither do we earn them. It is God who gives the gifts by his own wisdom and choice. Instead, we can be grateful and choose to use them or not. We can also choose how we use them. Spiritual gifts are to be used in the service of others ‘…as each part is working properly, [it] promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.’ (Ephesians 4:16). God gives the gifts in order to benefit all, not for self-promotion. 

Just like in the symphony, each musician plays his or her individual part in service to the whole orchestra, and in doing so they contribute to the greater good of all. No matter how skilled an individual musician may be, he or she cannot create the same magnificent sound that the whole symphony can create together. 

And similarly, when people use their spiritual gifts for the good of others, they are sharing in the very life of the triune God. When the Spirit gives us gifts, he is essentially giving us more of God to share with others, and when we do we enter into a beautiful communion of sharing. We cannot do this on our own. We need God first and foremost, but we also need each other too. We are all working together in ‘sympheron’ – for the common good.

Local congregation:
Grace Communion International Central Glasgow 
Garnethill Room
Conference Suite
St Andrews West
260 Bath Street
Glasgow
G2 4JP

Meeting time:
Sunday 11:15 am

Local congregational contact:   
Peter Mill
Email: edinburgh@gracecom.church

Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church