Have you ever wondered why there’s so much controversy regarding certain spiritual gifts? Have you thought about why certain Christian denominations don’t believe that many of these spiritual abilities are no longer required or used? 

Seeking the Truth 

When I was a teenager seeking out answers to some of these questions, I asked a youth camp pastor about the spiritual gifts demonstrated in the book of Acts in the Bible. He told me that those gifts died off with the Apostles, that we don’t need them anymore because we have the Bible. He said it with such conviction and an air of superiority. I didn’t believe him. And I walked off quietly and deep in thought. 

Why would I not believe my camp pastor? Well, because I had personally witnessed someone speaking in tongues. How could I believe that speaking in tongues was “not a thing” if I had actually heard someone pray in tongues for me personally?

What Do You Do with Testimony?

And if there is plenty of testimony concerning people speaking in tongues or praying in tongues, why would a very knowledgeable pastor not believe it? Surely he had heard of someone performing in this gift of God between the time of the Apostles and the current time. I don’t know. Does this seem strange to you too?

Perhaps he forgot to read 1 Corinthians chapters 12 and 14? Surely that’s it. Maybe he never saw this verse:

“Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.” (1 Corinthians 14:5 ESV)

Are God’s Gifts Good?

The Apostle Paul spoke highly of speaking in tongues as well as prophecy. Why then would these things be disdained? Are God’s gifts good gifts? I mean, if God wants to give something good to us, why would we refuse? 

“Sorry God, I don’t think your gifts are very good.” Ouch! How many people have said this in their heart? “God, I don’t understand your spiritual gifts. So, I don’t think I need them. I’ll be fine just reading the Bible and going to church.” And there you have it: the introduction of religion. “I’ll keep doing what I want to do, and I believe I’ll be good enough to get to Heaven. I checked off your list, God, right? I prayed that prayer. That means I’m good right? Wait, you want to be Lord of my life? Well, I don’t think I’m ready for that yet. Maybe later. This religion thing is easier.”

Spiritual Gifts Reveal the Heart

One of the things I love about spiritual gifts is how they reveal the heart very quickly. What a person thinks about spiritual gifts reveals if they’re living in belief or unbelief.

But someone may say to me, “Brett, I believe in spiritual gifts like prophesying or speaking in tongues, but I don’t think we should use them in the church, because someone may abuse or misrepresent them.”

OK, let’s follow this line of thinking. Perhaps people could get hurt if I don’t get the prophetic word 100% right. Or I might offend someone if I speak in tongues. Oh, and if I pray for miraculous healing and it doesn’t happen right away, what will that do to the person’s faith? And, we wouldn’t want to inconvenience a funeral procession by raising the person from the dead, right? That’s not very respectful. And if the Lord reveals to me that a Christian brother is being oppressed by a demon, I guess I shouldn’t tell them about it, just in case they get mad at me.

Can you see the ridiculousness of this line of thinking? “I’d rather not believe in God for anything supernatural, just in case it doesn’t work out perfectly in the way I’ve understood and imagined it.”

What if we take this logic one step further? What if we decided we might misquote the Bible so we no longer see a use in using the Bible to teach others? “I might not say the right things in the right ways and offend someone, even if I use scripture to back up what I’m saying.” Does this mean that all teaching of scripture should cease? Of course not! That would be ridiculous. Is it any more ridiculous to throw out spiritual gifts just because someone might not use them perfectly each time? 

Hear But Never Understand 

I guess this verse from Isaiah still rings true today, quoted by Jesus in the books of Matthew and John, and also quoted by Paul in the book of Acts:

“Go to this people, and say, ‘You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.’ For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.” (Acts 28:26-27 ESV)

These verses give us great clues as to what’s going on: a lack of spiritual hearing, a lack of spiritual sight, a hard heart, unbelief, and a need for healing. My friends, we in the Church have a heart problem. We in the Church have an unbelief problem. Perhaps we in the Church have a hard time believing God is good. It seems many people are afraid of operating in spiritual gifts because of what might happen. “Surely God can’t know or understand what people might say!” Fear of the unknown and fear of man are rampant in Christian circles.

Deep Conviction of God’s Goodness 

I believe at the core of this problem is a lack of the deep conviction of the goodness of God. One of my favorite verses that I pray back to God often is this one:

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17 ESV)

I love declaring it this way, “Lord, I believe every good and perfect gift is from you, the Father of Lights!”

Spiritual Gifts are Good

Are spiritual gifts good? Well, if the gifts are from the Lord, then they have to be good. Everything that proceeds from God represents His character. God is good. Every gift from Him reveals a new aspect of Him. Since God is good, His gifts are good. His gifts actually draw us closer to Him. And the side benefit is this:

“To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” (1 Corinthians 12:7 ESV)

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-13 ESV)

When we operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit that God generously gives, we see a raising of the level of common good around us. We see the building up of the Church, the Body of Christ. You see, there are benefits to God’s gifts. Goodness and encouragement result from His gifts. Life results from His gifts.

Afraid of the Holy Spirit?

Some people in the Church seem afraid of the Holy Spirit. A few years ago, I was writing a lesson about the Holy Spirit. I thought, “Maybe I’ll just ask the Holy Spirit what He wants me to tell these men.” So I prayed, “Holy Spirit, what would you like people to know about You?” It did not take long for the answer to pop in my head. I felt very strongly that the Holy Spirit answered me in my mind with this phrase, “that I’m good.” “Oh,” I thought and prayed, “I guess people don’t really believe you are good. OK, that’s what I’ll talk about.” So I titled the lesson, “The Holy Spirit is Good.”

Check out what Jesus says about the Holy Spirit in Luke chapter 11:

“And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:9-13 ESV)

The Holy Spirit is Good

Did you notice how Jesus calls the Holy Spirit a “good gift” from our Heavenly Father? And if anyone knows what the Spirit is like, it’s Jesus! This passage also gives us insight into what people fear: serpents and scorpions. What was Jesus really talking about? According to Luke 10:17-20, serpents and scorpions represent demons. People are afraid of evil spiritual forces. And no wonder, for they are depicted in movies as ferocious and powerful, and many people have been oppressed for years and years by evil spirits.

As an aside, Jesus has given us authority over evil spirits, through His name and His blood.

“Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” (Luke 10:19 ESV)

What If I Don’t Understand It?

Can a person operate in something they don’t understand? And another good question: is understanding required to operate in spiritual gifts? Let me tell you, I believe from experience that a full and complete understanding is not required in order to operate in spiritual gifts. So many times I’ve prayed, “Lord, I don’t know how this works, but I’m just gonna go for it!”

A Step of Faith

One of my most favorite stories happened in October of 2018 when our church decided to dedicate the month to prayer. I had been learning about how the Holy Spirit talks to me, and I remember a pastor saying in a sermon, “If you don’t know what to pray, just ask the Holy Spirit.” It makes so much logical sense, but I had not actually done it. And it’s Biblical: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26 ESV).

My buddy was praying out loud for someone in the church, and so I joined in prayer silently. I didn’t know what to pray, so I asked the Holy Spirit. “What should I pray for this guy?” I heard the word in my head, “Confidence.” I had no clue if this was from the Lord or not. It sounded like my own thought.

I had also been taught to stay within the K-LOVE boundaries: keep it positive and encouraging. Well, praying for someone’s confidence sounded positive and encouraging enough. So I prayed silently, “Holy Spirit, I don’t know if you gave me the word ‘confidence,’ but that’s what I felt like I heard after I asked, so I’m just gonna go for it!” This was a step of faith for me. Not knowing if what I heard was from the Lord or not but choosing to believe is an act of faith. God loves this, by the way.

He Started Praying Confidence

Well, no sooner had all of this transpired in my mind than my friend started praying the word ‘confidence.’ He used ‘confident’ and ‘confidently.’ Pretty much every form of the word ‘confidence’ was used, something like 7 times. And my friend is not a person who randomly uses language; he’s a language pro. What he says he means. It was no accident that he used the word ‘confidence’ over and over. It was intentional. And I knew this, and I became excited!

After my friend stopped praying out loud, I jumped in and prayed for the Lord’s confidence to fill the man. It was glorious. 

I didn’t get a chance to touch base with my buddy until about 9 hours later. I called him on my way home from work and asked him, “Hey, when you prayed the word ‘confidence’ and all the related words, what was going on with that?” He told me something along these lines, “Well, I was praying, and I felt the Holy Spirit telling me to pray ‘confidence.’ So I did. When I tried to move on, I felt like He wanted me to pray over it again. So I prayed every form of the word I could think of.” 

Testimony 

I relayed the testimony of what had happened in my head immediately prior to that, and we rejoiced at how the Lord confirmed the word, and our faith was built up in a big way. Plus, this story has lived on to teach others that, sometimes, you’re just not 100% sure, and it takes a bit of faith and some risk to just go for it. The Lord loves it when you step out in faith. In fact, we read from Hebrews:

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6 NIV)

Put another way: God is pleased by your faith. It takes faith to believe that His gifts are good. We must step out in faith to receive spiritual gifts from Him. It’s about belief, especially belief in His goodness.

Faith into Action

What about you? Are you currently walking in God’s spiritual gifts? If no, why not? What’s holding you back? If you are exercising your spiritual gifts, good! Ask the Lord for more and to teach you more. He’s an amazing teacher. In fact, He will disciple you if you want Him to. 

It may be time for repentance. Repentance is not a one-time thing. No, repentance is the process of changing your mind to conform to God’s truth. Repent from believing that God is not good. Declare that you believe He is good. Repent from believing that God’s spiritual gifts are scary and will make you lose control. Declare that you believe His spiritual gifts are for the common good, for the building up of the Body of Christ. Declare that the fruits of the Holy Spirit include goodness and self-control, not out-of-control. 

It’s About Trust

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding. In all of your ways, give Him acknowledgement, and He will lead you down the right path. Earnestly seek Him and desire spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. Seek love and to be filled with His love for yourself and the people around you.

Find some Holy Spirit-filled people who can teach you how to operate in spiritual gifts. In my experience, growing in His gifts are like learning any new thing. If I am learning the piano for the first time, my music will sound like child’s music. But, the more I practice and learn and devote time into playing piano, the better the music will sound. If I neglect practicing, I will regress in my skills or make mistakes. It’s the same with spiritual gifts. The more we press into the Lord and learn and practice our gifts, the better we are. Will we be 100% perfect right away? Nope. Will it sometimes be difficult? Yep. Will we learn and grow and be more convinced of God’s love for us? Definitely, yes!

The Invitation 

So I invite you on a journey of learning and growing in your spiritual gifts. Ask the Lord what they are. Ask Him to bring people around you who have already started the journey, people who can help you. He will bring someone into your life, make no mistake about that! He loves answering these prayers, and it’s very possible that the person is already in your life, just waiting for you to ask!