Lately
I’ve been thinking about spiritual gifts. Back in the 90s there was
a big push for spiritual gift tests, which has largely died down now.
Coming of age in that era, I remember taking several different tests,
not because I was all that concerned about my gifts but mostly
because I enjoyed tests that had no wrong answers. Each test seemed
to have a slightly different list of the gifts. Some of them included
teaching on how the gifts apply to the church today and how the test
results might be used.
Although
I agreed with the idea of gift assessments at the time, I now
approach them with far more skepticism. For one thing, in the primary
passages used to justify these tests, Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12,
the Apostle Paul makes no claim to be providing a comprehensive
listing. The Greek word used here is χαρίσματα,
literally meaning a gift of grace. The root χαρίσμα is used
elsewhere such as Romans 5:15-16 to refer to gifts in a very
different sense, so I’m not convinced that Paul was intentionally
setting apart these “spiritual gifts” as unique abilities divvied
out to every believer. I believe that every Christian does have
spiritual gifts, of which these lists are just a sampling. Therefore,
spiritual gift assessments have a very limited application and can
actually lead to faulty thinking.
One
peril is that of thinking of the gifts as prescriptive rather than
descriptive. In taking those tests I always got the feeling that the
results meant I needed to change my major and pursue a different
career. I did in fact end up in a far different career than I’d
planned on, but that was because God kept giving me new experiences
and changing interests, not because some test said I was suited for
something different. If I were using a spiritual gift test today, I
would be sure to interpret it as “If these are activities you
enjoy, here are some ways they might contribute to the Body of
Christ.”
Another
pitfall that I’ve witnessed on more than one occasion is pride.
People I loved basically said, “I have the gifts of discernment and
wisdom, so you have to agree with my views on everything.” Only
later did I find out that their views were highly colored by the
benefits they received. I think pride often plays a role in the
groups that insist that Christians must be able to speak in tongues.
Then
there is the danger of segregation of gifts. One might come to the
conclusion, “Service is not my gift so I don’t need to help with
that project,” or “I don’t have the gift of generosity so I
don’t need to give more than the bare minimum.” As a result,
people and things get neglected. As Alistair Begg pointed out on
today’s broadcast,
if you think you can claim “I don’t have the gift of
hospitality,” read 1 Peter 4:9.
Some
of the gift tests include the gift of celibacy, based on 1
Corinthians 7:7. A recent Gospel Coalition podcast by Sam Allberry, 5 Misconceptions about Singleness, points out the problem with this
view. If someone is single but longing for marriage, they conclude
they don’t have the gift of singleness, which only compounds their
discontentment. In addition, a correct reading of that Scripture
would imply that marriage is also a gift. So if a married person
decides they don’t have the “gift of marriage,” what are they
supposed to do? How far should we take the language of “gifts”?
I’ve
written before
about the idea of a person’s calling, and I think gifting falls in
the same category. Gifts and calling are best revealed by responding
to our current circumstances in whatever way God may lead. If you see
a need and have the ability to respond, just do it. Henry Blackaby
wrote in Experiencing God,
“I believe many people today are seeking God’s call to ministry or an assignment backwards. We teach people to discover their spiritual gifts and then look for an assignment in which they can use their gifts. That can be a frustrating experience... When God gives an assignment, a person obeys and God accomplishes what He intended through the person” (46).
The
way forward is usually discovered one step at a time, not by
following a road map (or Siri) that has each turn laid out. No two people have identical gifts and calling, and every person is needed to serve the Body of Christ. Ironically the June issue of Christianity Today has an article on the
subject of spiritual gifts. Andrew Wilson wrote,
“Spiritual gifts, like manna, point forward to the day when they will no longer be needed. So believers, in the meantime, should receive and rejoice in God’s gifts, but without fixating on them as the primary tests of spirituality. Love, not the gifts, is the mark of the Spirit’s work that will last forever.”
“And
I will show you a still more excellent way... So now faith, hope,and
love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1
Corinthians 12:31b-13:13 ESV).
©
2017 Dawn Rutan. Unless
otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.
