Spiritual gifts do exist. Here are 4 ways you can pursue them responsibly
If you’ve been following the news about some recent exposures in the Western church, then you probably know that the last few years have been challenging for many, leading to some questions about spiritual gifts. Particularly, people are recognizing that we need to return to a more biblically responsible way to pursue and practice the gifts of the Spirit while still clinging to the fact that they are God’s idea and they are for today.
The Bible tells us to “earnestly desire (to strive for) the spiritual gifts” (1 Cor 14:1). What’s in view here are specifically the spiritual gifts listed in chapter 12: prophecy, healing, tongues, etc. But how do we desire and pursue these gifts in a way that is responsible and biblically grounded? I want to offer four simple ways:
1. Believers should consistently pray for spiritual gifts
This is not a needless thing to mention. Many believers take on a passive stance toward the gifts of the Spirit and, as a result, they never really experience much. As we already saw in Corinthians, God desires us to “earnestly desire” the gifts, and that we should actually seek to excel in them for the benefit of the church (1 Cor 14:12).
As we pray for spiritual gifts for the purpose of building His church (and not our own name), we align our hearts with God’s purpose for the gifts and will become more sensitive to how God may want to use us. We will become more aware of when we get those subtle “nudges” from the Spirit to go pray for someone or share a word with someone. Try adding praying for the gifts of the Spirit to your daily prayer. Prayer can also be a great time to reflect on your “why.” It gives us an opportunity to prayerfully consider our motive for desiring the gifts, bring any impure ambition before the Lord, and recalibrate our pursuit of the gifts so that all things are done in love and for the purpose of building up others.
2. Believers should seek to be theologically grounded
Just by becoming biblically grounded, we can protect ourselves from some of the pitfalls of “hyper-charasmania.” Biblical illiteracy is a very real problem in our generation, and it has led to some tragic departures from the historic Christian faith by those who profess Christ, not to mention some very real errors with very real consequences. It is crucial that we are a people grounded in God’s Word, so that we can discern the difference between what is true and untrue; what is in line with God’s nature and what is not.
In some modern charismatic streams, there is a popular idea that “prophets” are the prophetic ones who don’t care as much about doctrine, whereas “teachers” are the ones who care about being biblically sound. This is not biblical at all. If you study the prophets in the Bible, men like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, you will find that they were highly familiar and versed in the Scriptures that they had available to them in their day. In fact, a large majority of their ministry was calling the people of God back to faithfulness to God’s Word.
3. Churches should provide ways for believers to grow in spiritual gifts
Without intentionality, it is not likely that churches will get very far in seeing the gifts of the Spirit in operation. There are so many ways that churches can provide a consistent setting focused on growing in the gifts. It could be a once-a-week small group at a church leader’s home, or a designated time after midweek service.
At our church, we have what we call “EQUIP Group.” At the end of our Wednesday night service, we set aside about 45 minutes to share a very brief Bible teaching on spiritual gifts, and then we “practice” the gifts. By “practice,” I don’t mean that we make things up. We pray, wait on the Lord, and listen to the Holy Spirit. We wait for an impression, a picture, or a thought that seems to come out of nowhere. We pray about who it may be for and share it with the person. Sometimes people don’t feel like they hear anything at all. That is ok. If it is incorrect or doesn’t seem to be relevant to the person, they simply say so. By doing this, we are learning how to better recognize when God may be speaking. We also take time to lay hands on anyone who needs healing and ask God to heal them. Just in this simple group, we see more believers equipped for the work of ministry. People thrive when they learn that it isn’t only a few individuals in leadership positions who get to be “used by God.”
4. Don’t prophecy on social media
There is a case to be made that prophecy in the New Testament is primarily for the local assembly, and not for everyone on the internet. You don’t have to look far to find “YouTube prophets” making generalized sweeping prophecies over all of the thousands of people watching their video. There is no accountability for this method of prophesying and often no way to test whether the prophetic words were even true or not, leading many to despise prophecy and question its legitimacy for New Testament believers. As a general rule, we should keep prophecy within the local assembly for the purpose of building up those with whom we are in community with and not for the purpose of growing our social media channel.
Ultimately, we should remember that the gifts of the Spirit are something God desired for His New Testament Church. We should seek the gifts prayerfully and intentionally, we should make building up the people of God our aim, and we should “Let all that [we] do be done in love” (1 Cor 16:14).
Austin Perkins is a pastor at The Gathering in Springfield, Missouri. He is passionate to see the convergence of both biblical soundness and the power of the Holy Spirit in the Church and is hungry to see Christians mature as disciples of Jesus. He lives in Springfield with his wife Jessica and his three children.
