In law there is a curious thing called a “bailment.” It is when property is delivered to another, who is to utilize or keep the property for the good of the owner until the time of trust is complete.[1] For a bailment to occur two requirements must be met:
1) knowledge of the object
2) actual change of possession
For example, let’s say you own a beauty shop. A customer walks in and hangs her coat. You see her hang her coat; in fact you have to wait for her to finish hanging her coat as you invite her to have her hair washed. Hanging it on the hanger (which your shop provided) she says, “Now I’m trusting you with this, dearee.”
But, you’re not the only one who saw her hang her coat. So did another customer, who decided to help herself to it on her way out. Under the law of bailment, you, the shop owner are liable for the stolen coat because there was 1) knowledge of the object, and 2) it was in your shop and on your hanger—you took possession.
So it is with spiritual gifts. We could think of them as spiritual bailments rather than spiritual gifts in that they are God’s which He entrusts to us for a time. There is knowledge of them, for every believer has a spiritual gift—“to each one there is given a manifestation of the spirit” (1Cor 12:7). So we know we all have one. There is knowledge of the object.
There is also a change of possession—God gives them to us, and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we know we possess them. Like a bailment, we are responsible for what we do with the spiritual gifts the Lord has entrusted to us.
