If only we had more people in the church with this gift!  In Romans 12, Paul explains that people who are gifted in each area of the Spirit are placed within the church to act as one unit.  Paul uses the metaphor of a healthy body whose parts work together toward a common purpose.  The church should be one body whose different members function in different ways toward the same goals.  So often in churches today, the balance is lost, particularly in reference to those individuals with the gift of mercy.  Those gifted in prophecy and leadership seem to monopolize the church’s attention, and each of us forget our God-given responsibility to be merciful.  If we will look to those in our body with this gift, we might be reminded of this responsibilty, and the church will function much more healthfully.

Those gifted with mercy are not simply sympathetic to those in spiritual or physical need;  those with this gift turn their simpathy for others into action.  These people are likely to go out of their way to uplift someone who is hurting or helpless.  A merciful person desires to give everyone a second, third, and fourth chance to redeem themselves, because they see into the heart of someone’s problem instead of just the surface manifestations of that problem.  A person with the gift of mercy is ready to forgive and forget, and through their example, powerful lessons can be learned by the whole church.

Mercy must guide our worship.  A worship leader would do well to consult with someone with this gift each week regarding his setlist.  Worship is meant to draw men and women to the Gospel, and often we fail to do that because we don’t include songs and recitations that remind us that although God is holy and magnificient, He desires a relationship with fallen mankind.

It is also useful to have those gifted with mercy on your worship team for the sake of fallen team members.  When a member of the team falls out of line morally or otherwise, a team member gifted with mercy would be the best person to minister to the fallen person, in hopes for reconciliation.  Without the merciful, it is likely that this team member would never have the courage to address the problems within their life.

What do you think?  How has the spiritual gift of mercy shaped your worship ministry?

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