Gift of Governing

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

GIFT OF GOVERNING

1 Cor 12:27-31

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts.

And now I will show you the most excellent way.

NIV

What about this gift of administration? The Greek word might better be translated as govern or governing, as in to steer, to direct the course. Some have seen this as a dictatorship in the church, figuratively. If we were to take this translation of administration, then we might think of a church secretary as being the organizer, the admin of the church. But that would be wrong in the sense that this is not a position of employment or is it a position of dictatorship, such as some might think a pastor might be, or in the catholic faith, the pope. Because this is a gift it has to be the choice of the Spirit as to who he manifests governing in. Now, we also should consider because of the context that includes what we would think could be permanent manifestations, this could be seen in one person over a period of time, such as apostles, prophets, teachers and pastors, and evangelists. Those are gifts to the church and it would appear they are somewhat of a permanent gift. It is possible the Spirit could withdraw his manifesting any gift if there was a reason. Nevertheless, maybe we should see this gift of governing as somewhat of a permanent gift so that someone performs the duties of directing the church. This seems to be what had happened in the early church when the apostles decided the church needed deacons, to manage the businesslike affairs of the church, while they focused on the spiritual matters of the church. The Greek word used in the 6^th Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles when they decided the church should select seven men who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom to serve or see to the distribution of food, is diekoneoo, which is where we get the English word deacon. So, it might be that deacons should be seen as having the gift of administration, but then they would also need to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. Still, it may be that this gift is placed within people for extended periods of time, so governing or administrating can take place within the church. Maybe all the gifts should be seen in this manner. Maybe even all those gifts mentioned before could be semi-permanently manifested in certain people for the benefit of the common good. If this were the case as with those gifted with administration, such as those we use the term deacon for, would not have manmade terms of office, as this would be a gift of the Spirit, determined by the Spirit. This would apply to all those gifts to the church. Instead of having a vote of confidence, as some churches do for the pastor, the Spirit has control of this, and not the people. Then pastors or deacons in this case could be hired or fired at the whim of man, ignoring the Spirit. So, once again, let us yield to the Spirit and see this gift of administration as it should be, one used for the common good.