THIS IS PART OF AN ONGOING SERIES ON THE GIFT OF PROPHECY
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The seven different gifts that are listed are found in Romans 12:6-8:

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.

Each particular gift has a very different application to service. Here are the meanings of each gift in the original language:

Prophecy

prophēteia (G4394) - feminine form of prophetes, means a discourse emanating from divine inspiration, revealing things hidden, especially by the future. This person will be compelled on some level to be involved with prophetic ministry. They will be intensely concerned with how God is being portrayed in everything the community does.

Ministry

diakonia (G1248) - service, those who execute the command of others. This person sees the need in a community and strives to fill it, often times thinking through the practical ways in which they can be involved. What are the things that need to be done in order for the vision of leadership to be accomplished? In what ways am I serving that vision?

Teaches

didasko (G1321) - the prolonged form of the verb to learn (dao). To hold discourse in order to instruct. This person sees things through lens of a teacher. They may be filled with constant questions about what is taught and how it is taught. Instruction in the basic principles of life and faith are very important to this person.

Exhorts

parakaleo (G3870) - from the compound para and kaleo meaning to call to one's side. To comfort, console, admonish, strengthen, instruct, to strive to appease by entreaty (the negative would be to seek appeasement through others). The exhorter thinks about how we are moving and motivating people to progress in the kingdom of God. They constantly encouraging others in what everyone can do and how they can do it.

Giving

metadidomi (G3330) - to impart, Paul spoke of this imparting in Romans 1:11 (imparting a spiritual gift). The one who imparts must impart without thinking of themselves. The grace of giving is about what God wants to release. This person considers what they have that would be a benefit to others. Whether that it time, money, or energy, they always have something to give. I consider the needs of others and find ways to meet them. A giver will tend to show up whenever a helping hand is needed.

Leadership

proistemi (G4291) - to preside over, protect, guard, give aid, care for. Paul admonishes leaders through Timothy and Titus to be leaders in their house and to be leaders in good works. We are to give double honor to those who operate well in this grace. This person would be concerned with how the community functions in a way that invites everyone to grow. They may ask the question, “How are we creating a safe environment for each person in our community?”

Mercy

eleeo (G1653) - to have mercy, to help the afflicted, to have compassion, Jesus says blessed are the merciful for they shall be shown mercy. To someone carrying this grace, it is vitally important that they are involved with kindness ministries. They are the first person to cheer on a soup kitchen or food drive. They also tend to empathize with the plight of others.

An important thing to note is that these gifts are not given based on character, love, and integrity. They are given and Paul then spends the last part of Romans 12 telling us how we ought to use these gifts to serve and love one another. Just because someone is a gifted teacher does not mean their lifestyle matches the strength of their gift.

We must learn to discern between the way in which a person carries themselves against the gift they carry from God.

In the previous chapter, Paul states that the gifts of God are not given based upon our merit:

Romans 11:29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

The gifts and the calling are not revocable because they were given without your earning them. If they were payment for righteousness, they would no longer be called a gift, but rather a payment for service.

God gives us gifts that serve as filters for us to see an area of need in the people we are involved with.

Where someone gifted with mercy sees the impoverishment in the community, the teacher may totally miss it. This is by design so that “we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another (Romans 12:4-5).” 

This is a very different context for the usefulness of gifts in the body of Christ than what is stated in 1 Corinthians 12. We must learn to see ourselves as being gifted to fulfil a particular area of need in the churches God has given us. Too often we have become passive observers, or as leaders, we have tried to fit square pegs into round holes and burnt people out. When there is synergy between the area of need, the type of gift, and the place of service life abounds. When you fulfill your function it is difficult to burn out. Sure you may become physically tired, but the thing you do resonates deeply with your heart because it is a reflection of the Father’s heart for you.

I suspect many people leave a church because they never discover the way their gift fits in the community. That is not entirely the purview of leadership to establish, but some of the responsibility lies with them. The problem seems more fundamental. We don’t tend to see ourselves as a gift to the community to release a grace that has been given to us. We tend to see ourselves as a consumer of a particular brand that gives me meaning and acceptance.

But that is a problem to address at another time.