Peter J. Leithart notes that the spiritual gifts in the church are rarely the same as the skills valued in the secular world:
Brian Brock argues that the church’s diversity of gifts should not be understood as a “division of labor.” That conforms the church to the social models of technological society in which “individuals [are] so organized that they can productively live out the fully formed gifts (skills) they bring when joining the social group.” That suggests a notion of gift as a form of “expertise.”
Rather, in Paul’s model, each individual member of the body is only whole “in delighting in and taking part in the expression of others’ gifts.” No one brings pre-formed gifts to the body, but is equipped by the Spirit with gifts that are perfected in union with the whole body.
Paul’s conception also differs because he emphasizes the delight that members of the body should take in their own weakness, weakness that allows other members to exercise gifts in service to them.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
