Spiritual Gift Categories: Overview
The human brain is amazing. Neurologist R. Restak estimates that the bits of information the brain can remember is 2 to the 10th billion power. To understand how large this number is “grab a piece of paper and write a zero for every second for 90 years.”
The late Carl Sagan estimated that the brain can store the equivalent of 10 billion pages of an encyclopedia. He wryly observed that “the brain is a very big place in a very small space.”
Your brain is daily bombarded with millions of pieces of information – sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches. Yet it efficiently and effectively processes and stores the raw data by evaluating and sorting it into categories. The use of categories makes it easier to understand and use information as needed.
Teaching about spiritual gifts has been an important part of my ministry for almost 20 years. To better understand the topic, I’ve found it helpful to organize the spiritual gifts into categories. But it’s important to point out that the Bible itself doesn’t categorize the gifts. Instead, the 21 spiritual gifts are listed in these main chapters: Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12-14; and Ephesians 4.
So why categorize the spiritual gifts? As discussed earlier, this is the way God designed our brains to process and store information. There’s a lot of information presented in the New Testament about spiritual gifts. Using categories makes it far easier to understand this complex, and at times, confusing topic.
Several years ago I started organizing information about spiritual gifts into five categories: Equipping; Behind the Scenes; Relational; Sign; and Support. The Equipping category includes five gifts specifically mentioned in Ephesians 4:11. The other categories each include four gifts.
EQUIPPING
- Apostleship
- Prophecy
- Evangelism
- Shepherding
- Teaching
BEHIND THE SCENES
- Administration
- Giving
- Helps
- Intercession
RELATIONAL
- Encouragement
- Hospitality
- Leadership
- Mercy
SIGN
- Healings
- Interpretation of Tongues
- Miracles
- Tongues
SUPPORT
- Discernment
- Faith
- Knowledge
- Wisdom
In this series we”ll take a look at each of these five categories one at a time. Hopefully, by the end of the series, you’ll have a much clearer picture of spiritual gifts.
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Dr. Steve Lake is a retired educator with over 30 years experience in the American public schools. He has served in a variety of position, including teacher, elementary school principal, junior high principal, Associate Superintendent, retired from public education as Superintendent of Schools in Lincolnwood, IL. He has his Bachelors, Masters and Doctor of Education degrees from Northern Illinois University. For the past 25 years Steve has attended and been a member of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington and Northfield, IL. At Willow Creek Steve has taught adult classes on spiritual gifts, life purpose, and spiritual disciplines. He has ministered overseas in Angola, Zambia, Honduras, Germany, and Russia. Steve is co-founder of Designed to Serve, a ministry that equips Christians to live out their unique God-given calling. Steve is married and has two adult children who are married.
