To be Christian is to be charismatic. “To each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” However, the individual believer does not need to seek to identify what his or her particular charism is. He does not need to name it and classify it. The Pentecostal-Charismatic movement, while rightly emphasizing the charismatic nature of the Church’s ministry, has gone wide of the mark by attempting to identify a definitive list of the gifts of the Spirit. As if “apostle” and “prophet” or “tongues” and “word of knowledge” were timeless charisms to be sought, found, and implemented. The Spirit is more dynamic than that! The church does not need to rediscover the “five-fold ministry” or the “power gifts.” The Church needs to re-submit herself to the sovereignty of the Spirit. If the Christian will busy himself with proclaiming the word of Christ and practicing His love, then the Spirit will provide the impetus for that proclamation and service. As he is obeying, the Spirit works through him. The believer does not need to know if he is an “apostle” or an” evangelist.” He does not need to know if he has special powers of wisdom, knowledge, or faith. He simply needs to love his neighbor in sacrificial, concrete ways. He needs to pray and worship wholeheartedly confident that God is present, hearing him, as well as bearing Him up so that he might pray and worship. There is no good in knowing what one’s charism is, only in knowing that the Spirit is upon one for service, as one serves.
We discern our charism (“gift”) when we serve others. There is no other way to discover what it is. No test can help us, really. And neither will introspection, if it is not coupled with charitable and compassionate involvement with others in their need. We cannot read 1 Cor 12, Rom 12, and Eph 4 as providing an exhaustive list of all the gifts the Spirit gives, and then try to find which one (or more) of these the Spirit has given to us. All of these lists are representative; they do not work like manifests detailing the inventory of the Spirit, but like examples of the kinds of ministries the Spirit inspires.
The Pentecostal-Charismatic movement has also erred also by taking the ministry of the Spirit to be characteristically extraordinary and spectacular. It is true that Christ does continue to do “wonders” by the Spirit. Nonetheless, the Spirit is at work no less in the quiet work of conversation than He is in the public work of preaching. He is no less at work in a word of kindness spoken over a meal than He is in a word of prophecy spoken from a platform. He is at work in subtle ways amid ordinary circumstances. We have to learn this.
Ministry is simply being there with and for another. It is holding one’s tongue. It is listening. It is common helpfulness. When the believer is involving himself in serving his neighbors, the Spirit is working through him, revealing Christ, convicting the conscience of those served. This happens best, I believe, in the midst of ordinariness and not in massive “crusades” (Why would we ever use this word?) or “outreaches.” These have their place, but far from being the best or primary, they should be one small part of our work on God’s behalf.
