Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 6
Using kudzu as a warning, he says a biome becomes destructive when one element “begins to serve itself” rather than the balance of the whole. What are the “kudzu-like” versions of spiritual gifting in a congregation (including your own gifts), and how can a church recognize when a gift has shifted from serving the body to feeding itself?
Another way to ask: What are “kudzu-like” ways spiritual gifts can take over and start serving themselves in a church, including your own gifts? How can a church tell when a gift stops helping the whole body and starts feeding itself?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
“Kudzu-like” gifting happens when a person’s ability or role starts pushing itself—seeking prominence, control, or self-benefit—rather than serving the church’s shared health under Christ the head. A church can recognize it when gifts produce imbalance: domination, envy, control, and loss of unity.
- In ecosystems, he warns that if any element “begins to serve itself… rather than… the whole thing, we have a problem,” like kudzu that “destroys everything because it’s pushing itself.”
- He applies the same principle to church/body life: gifts must “blend… in humility and submission” to help the body grow.
- He says a gift’s purpose is “to make a functional body,” not to be “the world’s best nose.”
- Gifts “must be subjected to the good of the body as directed by the head,” bringing submission back as central.
- He connects “kudzu” dynamics to abusive leadership: modern “apostle” claims can become “control,” “bullying,” and unaccountability.