I find myself returning to 1 Corinthians 12-14 again and again in my ministry. These and the spiritual gifts passages in Ephesians 4:11-13 and Romans 12:6-8 are critical in our understanding of the proper stewardship of time.

Of all the contributions C. Peter Wagner made in the past, a major one was his discussion of the relationship between church growth and spiritual-gifts discovery.

Concerning time management and spiritual gifts, Wagner says, "While the church is subject to many principles of human organizational management, it is much more than a mere human organization. It is the Body of Christ. It is an organism with Jesus Christ as the Head and every member functioning with one or more spiritual gifts."

When a church functions according to spiritual gifts, the work of ministry is distributed to every member. No church member, including the leader, has an excessive burden.

Says Wagner, "God does not bring people into the Body of Christ as spectators. He expects them to participate in ...