The Apostle Paul writes about the spiritual gifts in a number of his letters to various churches, at which time Christianity was beginning to spread throughout the world (1). The gifts are divine, given by the Holy Spirit, in order to support the church, which is referred to as the body of Christ (2). They are given not for the benefit of the recipient but for the overall health of the body. Some churches today see the gifts as something that was only active during biblical times and not relevant to the modern church. As a result, they do not focus on the teaching of the gifts, identifying gifts in members, and the use of the gifts in the missions of Christianity. Let’s discuss in more detail the three most common misconceptions about the Spiritual Gifts I hear today about the spiritual gifts not being cultivated within the church.
1. The gifts are mystical super powers
“I see those ‘gifts’ being used in the media. It’s all fake or a bunch of showmanship.”
Perhaps the biggest misconception is that people see the gifts as some sort of miraculous power given to individuals to work wonderful miracles or impart great wisdom or knowledge to those around them. Some modern day “evangelists” propagate this belief in their “ministries”.
A Divine Ability
This is not an accurate representation by any means. The spiritual gifts are a divine ability and not a rare mystical superpower. If you take the time to understand and open your mind to the existence of these gifts you will be surprised at just how common they are. Of the three misconceptions of the spiritual gifts, this is generally what I hear from people outside of the church looking in.
For example, let’s take one of the most misunderstood spiritual gifts: healing. When you think of the spiritual gift of healing, I imagine the first thing that pops into your mind is a preacher smacking people on the head, declaring them healed and watching as they throw their crutches down and start dancing in the aisles. This is not what the gift of healing is all about. Any miracle of physical healing comes from the Holy Spirit in answer to prayer and God’s will, not by the will of someone with this gift.
The gift of healing is about the restoration of the mind, body, and soul. It is an “ability to channel God’s grace and healing love to those who suffer physical, emotional, or spiritual pain.” (3) Those with this gift feel compelled to render aid and alleviate distress, which is far greater than what could be consider normal empathy or compassion. They have a special ability to help people cope with their situations and offer comfort.
With this description in mind, think about the people you know. Do any of them show these characteristics? If so there is a good chance they have the gift of healing.
Now some of you may be thinking that just because someone has compassion for people who are sick and are good listeners doesn’t mean they have this divine gift from God. They may be the furthest thing from a Christian or not even religious at all. The Apostle Paul discusses this when he relates the gifts being used improperly as a nothing more than a “clanging cymbal” (4). Remember that God has given all of us freedom of choice. He gives the gift, and we choose how to use it. We cannot possibly begin to understand why God chooses some to have a specific gift and not others. We are not smarter than God.
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2. The gifts are obsolete
“The spiritual gifts were only needed during the life of the early church. We don’t need them anymore.”
This is one of the three misconceptions of the spiritual gifts I hear frequently: The church was just beginning, they had different challenges, so they needed the Holy Spirit’s help. We don’t need that kind of help anymore. The gifts are outdated.
A lot of the same problems and challenges faced by early Christians are still alive and well in our modern society. Christians are persecuted, vast numbers of people do not know Christ, people need help. Essentially nothing has changed. Now more than ever we need the Holy Spirit’s intervention in our lives and in our churches.
Gifts Are A Part of the Church
Don’t make the mistake of isolating the gifts into their own little corner of the church, pulled out when times get tough or special help is needed. They are so much more than that. Think about the spiritual gifts as an extension of a church’s regular prayer life. In prayer, we often ask God for his help with certain matters, anything from healing of the sick to guidance on tough decisions. The gifts are one way God chooses to answer prayers. God, through the Holy Spirit, provides members of the body with divine abilities to answer prayers.
Let me give you an example of this from my own church experience. There is a group of people in my congregation that are part of a mission to build cinder block homes in Mexico. They build several homes a year for families that currently live in extreme poverty, usually in a home made of pallets and cardboard without running water or electricity. These volunteers give a week or more of their time, several times a year to this ministry, working and sleeping in very poor and sometimes squalid conditions, and all with a smile on their face and love in their heart.
This is the gift of compassion at work in answer to a family’s prayers. Their focus is on alleviating the sources of pain and discomfort in suffering people. God did not answer the family’s prayer by waving His hand and having a house appear. He answered their prayer by taking a group of people with the divine ability to love and tolerate poor conditions in order to improve a family’s life.
Pause and reflect on that for a moment with relation to your own life and church. Can you see the people with special gifts at work within the different ministries? This brings me to the third argument or excuse.
3. The gifts are not being used in my church
“The spiritual gifts really are not a factor in my life or within my church.”
Are you sure? I am willing to bet the gifts are very much present in your church but not identified as such. Of the three misconceptions of the spiritual gifts, this one is generally staring people in the face and they just cannot see it.
Think about the different groups of people that make your church function on a Sunday morning. Exclude the pastors and other paid positions (although they also have gifts). Look at the volunteers: the greeters, those energetic people who are not afraid to walk up and meet new people and exude friendliness to anyone (gift of tongues), members of the choir and others who sing and lead hundreds of people in worship activities (gift of exhortation), the people behind the scenes who open the doors, turn on the air conditioning and get the building ready for the day (gift of administration), those that lead various classes and make the Bible clear to all of us (gift of teaching). I could go on, but I think you get the point. Just because you may not be identifying the gifts in your church does not mean that they are not there.
Now what?
Have I got your attention? Do you see more clearly these misconceptions of the spiritual gifts? Are you starting to come around to the fact that the spiritual gifts are still very much alive and well in the body of Christ? My next article will be on how you can discover your own gifts.
In the meantime, if you are curious what your gifts might be, the Spiritual Gifts Project offers a survey that can help point you in right direction. There are also explanations of each gift in easy to understand, modern descriptions. You can find it HERE.
Thank you for reading, and I welcome your comments and questions below. I would also love to hear about your experiences with the spiritual gifts.
Please feel free to share this article with your church family.
