Questions on spiritual gifts
Duncan at Pacific Highlander asks some probing questions on the topic of spiritual gifts. Among them:
Good questions.
Why do we talk about 'spiritual' gifts? Aren't all gifts from God? Do we need to have a distinction between a natural inclination to provide backup help and a supernatural capacity to provide backup help?
Do individual Christians possess spiritual gifts? Or do they belong to the whole church and get shared around as the Spirit enables people to respond to need?
Should we stick with the inventories provided by Paul in Romans, Ephesians and 1 Corinthians? Or can we start recognising the huge varieties of giftedness that God creates in the 21st century church?
Good questions.
posted by Milton Stanley at 5:11 AM
4 Comments:
Stick with the basics, I say. When everything is important, then nothing is important. My initial reaction is that when everyone is gifted, no one is gifted, and we run the greater risk of trivializing the concept of giftedness. The fact that the scriptures identify certain gifts in relation to edifying the body of Christ suggests to me that there are certain things the body needs above and beyond the spiritual gift of putting away the folding chairs in the fellowship hall after Bible study.
Sounds right to me, Mike. I'm reminded of the criticism of certain attitudes in childhood education: "Of course little Johnny is special, just like every other child."
Hi Milton... I like what I heard someone say years ago: "Which is the most important spiritual gift? Whichever one is most needed at the time." That puts it into perspective for me in a simple way I can understand. :) God bless... Debra
Thanks, Debra, for joining the discussion. Peace.
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