Book 1 of Musings Gifts and Ministries or Human Talents?

The reason there is a paucity of gifts and ministries operating in the Christian churches is that we find it easier to plan our own way and employ our own abilities and talents rather than to live in close interaction with the Spirit of God.

I would assume numerous Christian ministers would like to have more of the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit operating in the churches. We understand from the writings of Paul that the Body of Christ is built up by the gifts and ministries issued to His Body by the ascended Christ. The gifts and ministries are to work until we all come to the unity of the faith, to the knowledge of the Son of God, to the stature of the fullness of Christ.

The Body of Christ cannot come to maturity until there is widespread operation of the gifts and ministries.

Why, then, is there such a lack of these gifts? Have you ever wondered about this?

Being a pastor of a denominational church, I am concerned about this lack. We have much prophecy in our church and have substantial exercise of the word of knowledge coming from visiting ministry and also from within the congregation.

It seems many ministers of the Gospel now have the ability to give personal prophecies over people. This is very encouraging. Perhaps the prevalence of this word of knowledge given through prophecy indicates that more supernatural events are on the way. I hope this is the case.

I am thankful for what we are seeing today. There certainly is more prophetic utterance in the churches than was true when I came into Pentecost, in 1948. However, I believe much more is needed. I don't believe the gifts of healing or of miracles are to be in the possession of just a few evangelists. They are available to whoever prays intensely for them. Yet it is true that gifts and ministries are not assigned to a local assembling but are for the building up of the entire Body of Christ.

Perhaps the main reason for the scarcity of the operation of gifts and ministries in the local assembling is the unscriptural idea that man is to be in control of the building of the Kingdom of God. The current rage seems to be to find out what formula we can employ to accomplish what we desire. We are not to be looking for keys to spiritual success. We are to be praying and confessing our sins to the Lord.

We need to hear from Jesus, as I have said so often. He is the one who is building His own Church. He wants to use people to do this. But they are to be listening to Him and doing what He directs, not looking to their own energies, wisdom, and talents.

The congregation is to be an orchestra. Everyone is to have something to contribute. It is not a case of "God's man of faith and power" demonstrating how spiritual he is. We have altogether too much of this today.

As long as we are willing to employ our own abilities and talents to "run the service," then there is not going to be an increase in spiritual gifts and ministries among the believers.

We have a lot of music and pageantry in our church, as part of our worship. But music can be used to take the place of the gifts and ministries, if we are not careful. We must keep in mind that music of itself cannot possibly build up the members of the Body of Christ. Music is of use only as it brings us onto a spiritual plane where the Spirit operates. Choir numbers and musical "specials" often are a waste of time, and tend to take the place of the work of the Spirit.

Paul exhorts us to pray earnestly for the greater gifts. Given the context and the general sense of his writing, I think he is referring to the more spectacular gifts, which were employed on the earth in his day, such as those of healing, of miracles, or of speaking miraculously in a foreign language.

Jesus said the believers would do the same and greater works than He performed on the earth. Perhaps outstanding miracles are the greater gifts, and we should covet them earnestly.

We ought to use every technological advance that appears on the market, including the Internet and wireless technology. These give us the opportunity to contact vast multitudes of people - and more so each day.

However, we ought not to fall into the temptation of thinking that the Gospel is a product we can market. The Gospel of the Kingdom is a seed that is planted in the heart, and we do not have the ability to monitor its growth. Counting how many "accepted" Christ is not an indicator of how the Kingdom is growing. We know this is true because of the parable of the sower, in which three-fourths of those on whom the seed falls bring forth no lasting fruit.

Only the Holy Spirit of God can build the Kingdom of God. Therefore our task is to find out what Christ is doing so we can obey Him strictly. The Holy Spirit is given to those who obey Christ, the Bible says.

It is so much easier on the flesh to plan and develop a gospel program using our own abilities and talents than it is to look unceasingly to the Lord for His directions. But the end is Ishmael, a wild man. Religious people have been the murderers of Christ from the beginning of time.

Let's you and I look to Jesus, following Him each step of the way. If I am hearing correctly, He is ready to perform mighty miracles of salvation and healing in our day.

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:15-16)