What's the Point of the Gifts?

I remember the first time I heard someone speak, as the Scriptures refer to it, in tongues. I was a young teenager, and I was standing with a group of other young teens. We were praying together, and one fervent young man at the back of the group began praying in a different language -- quietly, because there was already someone else praying in English. But he seemed to be agreeing with the speaker in this other language, and it startled me, because up until that point in my life, I had always just sort of assumed that -- while spiritual gifts were "out there" somewhere -- they were rare and belonged to "famous" Christians like Billy Graham (gift of evangelism) and C.S. Lewis (gifts of knowledge and wisdom), etc.  

I might perhaps step on the toes of my Pentecostal brothers and sisters here, but I do not believe that speaking in tongues is a requirement for the Holy Spirit-filled follower of Jesus. I do believe it is one of many gifts that the Holy Spirit uses to do His work in the church. And I have found (to my delight) that this gift (and others) are far more common than I understood as a child.

So today in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, Paul dives into a discussion of spiritual gifts. It's fascinating to me, because I love this about the Holy Spirit: He is multifaceted. I wrote about this concept in "What Does Family Look Like?" -- a powerful word about the shape of the church that the Lord gave me in January and is still quite relevant. The Holy Spirit is One Spirit, but the gifts He offers are manifold, multifaceted. They appear in a multitude of different ways in the ones in whom He lives. 

So... about the Holy Spirit living in us, Paul says: "Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, 'Jesus be cursed,' and no one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:3).

When I was a kid, I used to be afraid I'd accidentally commit the 'unforgiveable sin,' found in Matthew 12:31-32, where Jesus says: "And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come." 

When I was a kid, I asked my mom why this would be the case, since Jesus died for all, and His blood covered all our sins. (Poor Mom; I always came up with fun questions.) Her answer amounted to this: The Holy Spirit is the part of the God-head Who convicts us of our sins, and when we blaspheme Him... He no longer convicts us. So then we aren't repentant, and we have no wish to be forgiven.

In my childish understanding, I took that super seriously. I didn't want to flub up my words so that they came out wrong, and in the process, blasphemed the Holy Spirit. 

Thank the Lord that He looks at the condition of our hearts, right? And not at our faulty words. He showed me that I was relying too much on the "letter of the law" and not the "spirit of the law," and that with this concept laid out in 1 Corinthians 12:3... the pressure is off. I can speak by the Holy Spirit whenever I open my mouth, because the Holy Spirit lives in me. He works through me. He gives me gifts to do His work in some pretty spectacular ways that bring me to my knees over and over again.

Does that mean that I'm not going to flub up my words as I was afraid I would do when I was young? No. I've tangled things up pretty badly at times. But the Holy Spirit transcends my mistakes. He buries them and then turns them around to make them right. "You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ" (Romans 8:9). 

The Holy Spirit intercedes for us when our words are not enough, when our words are broken, flawed, and ineffective. The Holy Spirit takes the deepest prayers of our hearts and brings them before the Father with perfection. "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And He Who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will" (Romans 8:26-27). 

Do you realize how freeing that is? He carries our prayers before the Father and makes them perfect. The Holy Spirit speaks to the Father on our behalf. "So, about Tamara: She's can't even think of what to say about this situation, but boy, she's feeling it. So here's what the real deal of her heart is..."

And then Paul dives into the generous gifts of the Holy Spirit. "There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men" (1 Corinthians 12:6).

Gifts of the Holy Spirit aren't rare, like I used to think. They are given freely to every believer. "...But the same God works all of them (those gifts) in all men."

"Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good" (1 Corinthians 12:7).

So... I know at times in my walk of faith, I've wanted to point to a gift of the Spirit like prophecy or miraculous powers or healing -- you know, the really juicy ones -- and say, Ooh, I pick that one.

But the manifestations of these gifts are given for the common good. To build up the church, to edify the church, to bring glory to God, to bring faith to unbelievers, etc. So, the gifts aren't supposed to be toys to play with. 

And they aren't necessarily one per customer. They are given for the common good, meaning that a person might have the manifestation of these gifts... but not all the time. 

If you look back at my blog posts, the Lord woke me up with a clear word on the morning of January 6, 2021 that there would be physical evidence in the natural world of a spiritual battle unfolding in the heavenly realms. He told me this before the news unfolded for the day. The Holy Spirit made this prophetic foretelling so very sure in my heart that morning that I wrote out what He'd shown me and posted my blog about it that morning, hours before anything began to happen (this was the day of the insurrection at the Capitol building). 

Did the Holy Spirit give me the gift of prophecy? Or the gift of wisdom? The gift of knowledge? 

In all honesty... I don't know. The Holy Spirit has shown me many things, and that occasion was one of the most clear. In that instance, I believe He showed me what was going to happen so that I could send out a clarion call to intercede. That afternoon, as events were unfolding, my prayer group and I had an intense time of intercession. It was awesome and amazing, all at the same time.

The Holy Spirit has shown me things that proved to be true, the "Biblical test" of a prophet... but at other times, I've thought I heard things from Him that didn't come to pass (or haven't come to pass yet). So... I don't know. 

What I do know is this: "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the Name of the Lord" (Job 1:21). When the Lord gives me a gift, I will use it for His glory. If the Lord gives it to me only "for such a time as this," I will use it for His glory. If the Lord gives me a gift to continually use for Him many times over, I will use it for His glory. If the Lord says: Once is enough, I will lay myself before Him as an empty and very leaky vessel and wait for His filling. 

In other words, hold everything lightly. The Holy Spirit orchestrates the church. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. "In Him, we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him Who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory" (Ephesians 1:11-12).

Why are we here? Why does the Holy Spirit work His gifts in us? Here's our answer: "For the praise of His glory." 

Church, this is our purpose! Reciprocal relationship with God: His Holy Spirit living in us, and us worshiping Him, and praising His glorious Name.

The Holy Spirit gives us gifts for the praise of His glory. All gifts working together for the common good, so that the church can be in relationship with the Father.

That's the whole point. So, while we might eye the rack of spiritual gifts like a soldier eyes his arsenal of weapons, we must remember the point behind it: The gifts are nice. But the only reason we have them is to glorify God. 

I thought the gifts were to edify the church. An edified church brings glory to God.

I thought they were for use in spiritual warfare. When we fight against the spiritual powers of darkness, God is glorified.

I thought they were for the common good. The Holy Spirit works all gifts in all men... for the praise of His glory.

Let's not lose sight of the destination in our desire for the vehicles that get us there.