I want to introduce this article on Spiritual Gifts by observing an interesting verse: Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men –Ephesians 4:8. Throughout history, when a king went to battle against a city and conquered it, he and his army returned home, to be greeted by their people with great fanfare. They would march through the city with all the spoils of war, after which the king would hand out gifts from the stuff that was taken in battle, giving it to his people.
Likewise, when Jesus was crucified, through His death and resurrection, He conquered the enemy. He took the power from death, hell, the grave and from Satan himself for those who repent and believe in Him. When He returned home (ascended up on high) He gave gifts to His people— the Church. Here in Ephesians, we have a condensed list of spiritual gifts: And he [God] gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers –Ephesians 4:11.
We observe more detailed descriptions of these gifts given to the Church in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 both at the beginning of the chapter and the end of the chapter and in Romans chapter 12 verses 6 to 8. In 1 Corinthians we see the following gifts given—the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, tongues, discerning of tongues, helps, and governments. Then, in Romans, we have more gifts added to our list—ministry, exhortation, giving, ruling, and showing mercy.
If I did not miss any, there is a total of 19 gifts given to the church. What a wealth of gifts have been given to the church when Jesus ascended up on high! It would be good for us to do a thorough study on each one of these gifts so that we would be able to recognize them in our congregations. One thing that could be observed is that our Pentecostal friends have taken a select few of these gifts such as miracles, healing, and speaking in tongues, and have held them above the rest, making them a validation of whether a person is born again, baptized in the Holy Spirit, or if they are more spiritual than those lacking these gifts. Or we could consider how the evangelicals tend to do the same with the gift of evangelism, which has made inroads into many conservative Anabaptist churches. Finally, we might examine how some of us plain churches take only the gifts that have to do with Church government, leaving it only to those who are ordained to have gifts, while most all the rest of the gifts are left unrecognized.
This all leads me to ask the question, “Should we be lifting one or two gifts out above the rest and emphasizing them, or should all of the gifts be recognized equally?” The only time that I see one lifted above the rest is in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians in the last verse of Chapter 12, and the first verse in chapter 14, where he exhorts them to covet after the best gift which, with careful reading, we will notice is referring to prophesy. As we continue with our careful reading, we discover that prophecy should hold precedence over speaking in tongues since apparently the Corinthian understanding of speaking in tongues was being abused and misused and the Church might not have been edified by their behavior.
Spiritual Gifts Should Not Excuse Ungodly Behavior
A word of caution might be in order here. There is an emphasis by some, on “knowing what my spiritual gift is.” I think this can be good, but it should not be done to the fault of excusing myself for bad behavior because “I have this gift and not the other.” For example, the prophet might excuse himself for being harsh because his gift is that of a prophet; since he may not have the gift of mercy, people may be unnecessarily hurt. We will all probably have a primary gift or gifts. As much as we may try to be well-equipped with as many of the gifts as we can, some will still be more dominant than others.
I have asked numerous people which gift was primary in the life of our Lord Jesus and the short answer is that He was full of the Holy Ghost and without measure and had them all. True enough, but even so, since we all want to be like Jesus, maybe we should stop excusing ourselves to one limited gift and pursue to be as fully equipped as possible. I know, and you know, that in this flesh we will not master them all and yet we should be receptive to them all. Having said that, we must realize, we are meant to be interdependent; that is why Jesus handed out these gifts severally to each man and we will all have our primary gift or gifts. But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will –1 Corinthians 12:11. Nevertheless, let’s be careful that we do not excuse wrong behavior, or, on the other hand, negligence of doing good, because “Well, that is just not my gift”.
Spiritual Gifts Are Not The Christian’s Identity
A couple of cautions may also be in place when seeking to understand spiritual gifts. Our identity should not be the gift that we have but rather that our identity is in Christ. We are a child of the King; we are not primarily a prophet, a teacher, or an evangelist. However, in being a child of the King, we have been given a gift by Him, to do His work, with His power. Recognizing first and foremost who we are in Christ will keep us in a beautiful place of humility, but if our primary identity is “this gift that I have,” I suppose it would be hard not to fall into pride and thus we open ourselves up to many pitfalls and dangers.
Spiritual Gifts Are God-Given, Not To Be Sought After By Man
Could there be a caution given in how we seek this gift? What does it mean when the Scripture says that God gives gifts according to His choosing? For instance, God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will? –Hebrews 2:4. Or, But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will –1 Corinthians 12:11.
Do you notice in both verses the WILL of God being very involved in the giving of gifts in the Church? Maybe our “seeking spiritual gifts” should be done alone in our closet, asking God to make me humble and endue me with whatever gift He wants me to have to make me a useful tool in the church body that I am a part of—“Not my will, but thine be done”. Maybe He has given me a gift that I am not recognizing or using, and what I actually need is to stir up that gift and not neglect it, but rather use it in the place I fill in the church. Could it be possible that, if I were to seek enough after another spiritual gift, I just might get myself a counterfeit?
Also, it would be good to mention very directly again that when there is a focused seeking after spiritual gifts usually there is some resulting negative problem. Sometimes a select few are lifted out and taught to be more spiritually important, such as speaking in tongues, miracles, and healing. Some will promote that there is little to no value in the teaching of spiritual gifts and that the only ones which are for our day are the ones pertaining to the ordained church leaders such as government, pastors, and teachers. While some people use their understanding of spiritual gifts to become individualistic and they see little value in being a part of a body. This is wrong, since a careful reading of these Scriptures show us that ALL the gifts are essential so that God will have the ability to make use of all the gifts by a collaboration of all the people. Could it be possible that where certain gifts are elevated above the rest, whether it is speaking in tongues, healings, and miracles; or if it is evangelism; or if it is those more suited for the ordained among us, that there could be an unrecognized element of pride in our midst? We are so prone to disillusionment that it would be good to check our hearts thoroughly when seeking after spiritual gifts.
Spiritual Gifts Are Not Included In The Biblical List of Qualifications For Church Leaders
Paul told Timothy, Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery –1 Timothy 4:14. Maybe rather than seeking out a gift, we need to stop neglecting the gift that has been given to us. Rather than seeking something new and exciting, we should stir up the gift we do have. It has happened that men in leadership have been removed from their post, because they do not have the gift for that which they were ordained. I would be very slow and very prayerful before removing an ordained brother from his office for that reason. Would it not be better to pray that God would increase that gift that had been given him by the laying on of hands? To quickly conclude that he does not have the gift may just be the easy way out.
We would never do that in a marriage. How often has it happened that a wife was more gifted in leadership than her husband? Disannulling the marriage is not an option, nor is it an option to add a third person to the marriage union to bring balance to the perceived lack of a proper balance of gifting. We have often seen that when prayer and the Holy Ghost was involved in a situation like this, God gave the husband what he lacked (1 Corinthians 12:24-25), and the wife learned to yield her gifting in a way that allowed her husband to be the godly head of the home.
God can also give the necessary gift to those in such a marriage and in such a ministry team if they find themselves lacking. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: That there should be no schism [division] in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another –1 Corinthians 12:24-25. Is there ever a time to remove one from an office because of the lack of gifting? Maybe so, but let’s be very cautious, slow, careful, and prayerful.
In the case of church difficulty that seems to be due to the lack of gifting among the ordained, we need to consider the following verses. Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. –James 3:13-18. Very rare is the case of church trouble involving church leadership when there is not a major lack by one or more of the ordained to be fully living out of God’s will and wisdom as defined herein.
The biblical answer to solving church problems that involves church leaders is three-fold. (1a) The leaders in question must humble their hearts in repentance before God and His Word, before the rest of the ordained, and where necessary before the local church. (1b) If the situation has deteriorated too much, then the wisdom of outside overseers should be sought. (2) The leaders who may be lacking in a specific gift should seek God through fervent prayer, both personally and of the local church, and should seek God’s provision for enabling ability through …the laying on of the hands of the presbytery –1 Timothy 4:14. (3) Then AFTER stability is restored the local brotherhood is at a good place to seek God’s will together about ordaining another brother to assist.
God’s Goal for Spiritual Gifts
I would see two main reasons for the gifts of the Spirit to be given to the Church.
The first reason is for the benefit of the church. In Ephesians we read: and he gave… [various spiritual gifts to believers] [to some this gift and to others a different gift] … For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: –Ephesians 4:11-12. First Corinthians chapter 12 has a long dialogue on how the gifts are to be utilized so as to benefit the body of Christ (the local church) and in verse 25 in particular, that there should be no schisms in the body, but that the members should have the same care one for another.
There are those who are going about preaching the need to have spiritual gifts, encouraging specific gifts such as evangelism, healing, miracles, and tongues, and it can be seen in many cases that this focused teaching actually causes divisions rather than unity. The Bible says that the gifts were given to bring the Church together and if it is not doing that, we should consider whether it is the real thing or if it is a counterfeit. I realize divisions happen for many reasons, but if the gifts in the body are not bringing together but dividing, we had better seek God for answers on why, because the gifts were meant to bring unity, oneness, and edification.
The second reason is for the benefit of the unbeliever. Some of the gifts were given as a sign for the unbeliever. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe –1 Corinthians 14:22. We see that throughout the New Testament tongues, miracles and healings followed the gospel in places where it was being presented to those who had never heard it before. This was a way that God used to solidify and validate in the hearts and minds of the unbeliever that this gospel must be of God because of the supernatural manifestations. We see that tongues also followed the spreading of the gospel so that all could hear it in their own language as on the day of Pentecost.
I would consider these to be the two main reasons and are the primary purposes of the gifts. We would do well to evaluate our gifts in light of these two main reasons to be sure we have the real thing and are using them according to the purposes for which they were given.
It is interesting that of the 19 gifts we are considering, most of these will be best utilized in the local Church. Remember, God uses the church to reach the world. Some of the gifts given to the church are for reaching the world, for instance, the evangelist has a more unique calling to reach the world. Gifts like healings, miracles, and speaking in tongues are some of the gifts that are more prevalent on the frontier of the gospel. This is not to say that these gifts are never seen in the local church. My prayer is that if someone came into our services who cannot understand a word of English, and there is no one who can interpret the preaching of the Word into their language, then may God give us the gifts of tongues so that they might hear the gospel and be edified.
We have seen where there was sickness, and the elders of the church were called and there was anointing and prayer. At times God chose to miraculously heal. However, just because we (believers) have this wonderful gift of healing it does not necessarily mean that God wants all of us to be healed of every illness. The apostle Paul prayed three times to be healed from his recurring illness (2 Corinthians 12:7-12), yet God told him no. If he was not healed when he had healed many others, why would I think it needs to be different for me? So, it is with all the gifts that are given to the church; they are allowed by God to be exercised according to His will, not ours. It is absolutely essential for me and you to be a part of a local body so we will have the gifts of the Spirit working together through all the members, for the work of the church, in bringing unity, oneness, and edification, and for the ongoing work of the Church in calling men from a world of sin and calling them into His kingdom.
The Gift of Tongues
It is important to consider for a moment the spiritual gift of tongues and specifically the place it fills in the Kingdom of God. The Apostle Paul tells us they are given for a sign. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe –1 Corinthians 14:22.
It is not a sign to the believer that he really has the Holy Spirit, but it is a sign to the unbeliever that the gospel message is real. The classic example was on the day of Pentecost. We do not determine Peter’s credibility because he spoke in another language. We all would agree without any doubt, that Peter was born again, and that the many different languages were not for his approval but rather so that the ones hearing would know that this speaking in many different languages was supernatural. It would have taken a stubborn soul to scoff at the message being preached that day.
Recently, I was made aware of studies that have been done by recording the gibberish that comprises most of what is called tongues today. Interestingly, they found that English speakers used English syllables in repetition, and that Spanish speaking people used Spanish syllables, thus, they deducted that most of what is called tongues today is a counterfeit where the person, in their own language, repeats syllables of their native tongue in repetition. I believe that in many cases it is done innocently because of the vast amount of deception that follows the speaking in tongues.
What I understand as the real thing is the example of a lady in Canada, who only knew French and did not understand any English. This woman happened to come to a revival meeting where the revivalist was preaching in English with no French interpreter. She responded in repentance to the message and those who counseled with her asked her how she understood the message, which was in English. She responded that what she had heard was shared in the most beautiful French she had ever heard. Clearly a miracle took place so that she would hear the message of salvation and be able to respond to it. I am sure it was heartwarming to know how it was supernatural that she was able to hear it. I suspect there is a good possibility that at times, the one speaking in tongues may not even be aware of it. Surely, if God could confound the languages of those working on the tower of Babel, He can also cause the words of an English-speaking preacher to be converted into French words before entering the ears of a French-speaking hearer.
The reason we find in scripture for the gift of speaking in tongues, is twofold, and is for the unbeliever who comes among us. The first reason is so that he would hear the gospel message in his own language. The second reason is that when he hears it miraculously in his own language and the one speaking does not know his language, it is a sign for the unbeliever to cause him to acknowledge that the message he is hearing is of God, and by God.
In conclusion, we find that two of the main purposes of God giving gifts to the church, giving them severally as He wills, is for the unity and edification of the body of Christ, and for the unbeliever to hear and be persuaded of the gospel message. Let us seriously consider whether the spiritual gifts we have and those gifts that are evident in our churches are fulfilling the purpose for which they were given.
