Paul says:

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members,  and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Paul instructs the Church in Rome to use the gifts given to them “by grace”. Now this may seem pretty obvious; however, today this is not the case. Often times the structure prevents us from serving others, or more, we allow the structure to dictate the flow of service that we extend to others, which seems to be the exact opposite of what Paul is conveying here.

In Ephesians 4:1-13, Paul begins to talk about the gifts given to us by Christ when He ascended. These gifts were given for the purpose of building up the body. These gifts are not to be used for any other purpose, than to help the church grow up into Christ so that He can dictate how the body moves. Whenever we decide to not use our gifts, we are going against what the Head desires. Whenever we decide to use our gifts in a way that causes disunity (both 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4 are promoting oneness) then we are going against the Head and whenever someone else oversteps their boundaries and usurps the authority of the ONLY HEAD by not allowing others to serve, then they too are being disobedient.

If Paul tells the saints to “use them” then the Spirit expects us to use them. We can not allow things to get in our way of serving others. We also can’t be an obstacle that prevents others for serving and we shouldn’t allow our structures/organizationalism to prevent others from serving.

Rather that is in prophecy, leadership, love, giving, administering, acts of service, compassion, teaching, exhorting, healing or any other gift. Leaders have the responsibility of providing an atmosphere that encourages others to “use them” and others are commanded personally to “use them”.

Finally I think these gifts can only be recognized in the context of relationships. Not only that, the optimal working out of these gifts are in the context of loving relationships. The only prerequisite for “using them” is that you have them. So regardless of others response to using them, you are to use them anyway and let God deal with others. Serving is every Christian’s responsibility; however, leaders can be an obstacle, hindrance and even snuff out service if they are not careful, though they seem to be the ones who are responsible to stimulate.