12 Theses on Spiritual Gifts

1. Jesus, the victoriously wounded one, is the giver of the charismata. This is what Ephesians (4.7-11) tells us: “It was he who gave…” Jesus’ gifts are from the Father through the Spirit to the church for the world. The charismata are manifestations of Jesus himself and in the realest possible sense his action in the world. Through the gifts, Jesus’ incarnate ministry continues through us. 

2. The exercise of the gifts signals and – in some ways and to a limited degree – effects Christ’s victory over sin and death. In this way, the charismata draw our attention to Christ, to his already-accomplished passion and his yet-to-be parousia. As we exercise the gifts, we participate in God’s work of the redemption of all things. 

3. The use of the charismata must remain always grounded in the sacramental and confessional life of the church. Whenever Paul talks about the gifts, he always also makes reference to the “one body.” His understanding of the church as “body” comes from the sacramental (“one bread,” “one baptism”) practices of the church, which witness to the embodied Lord,  and the church’s saving confession of faith (“one God,” “one Lord,” “one Spirit”).

For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink (1 Cor 12.13).

There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all (Eph 4.4-6).

Whenever the church is charismatic without also being deeply sacramental and confessional, we lose all ability to discern what is from the Spirit of Christ; we open ourselves to false and evil spirits. 

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world (1 Jn 4.1-3). 

Conversely, when the church is sacramental and confessional without being charismatic, Christ becomes an ideal, an object, and Christianity is reduced to a way of thinking, rather than a way of living.

4. The gifts belong not only to church’s inner life of worship and fellowship, but also to her missional life in the work of evangelism and the work for peace and justice. This means that the charismata should be plentifully evident both in our worship gatherings and in our “everyday” lives at work or at home, with family or friends or neighbors.  

5. Every Christian is by definition charismatically gifted. God’s saving grace (charis) overflows in our lives as gifts (charismata). This is the same as saying that to receive Christ is to receive the Holy Spirit; it is impossible to have one and not the other. Whoever has the Spirit, is indwelt by Christ. Whoever belongs to Christ, has the Spirit (Rom 8.9-10).

Christ is everywhere equally present in his Body. No member is less Christ than all the other members. It is nonsense to talk of having more or less of God, more or less of the Spirit. From baptism, all of Jesus’ followers are full of the all the fulness of God. Our prayer should not, therefore, be “God, I need more of You” but “God, take more of me.” 

6. Not every Christian is charismatically active. This is due to any number of causes; some of these include:

•  Structures that inhibit the exercise of the gifts; e.g., liturgies (whether high- or low-church) that don’t make room for them
• Confusion about how to exercise them
• Fear of “getting it wrong”; this is especially true for those who’ve seen abuses and excesses done in the name of being charismatic
• Lack of motivating love for others

There are other reasons, too, that I have not listed. And most of these can be addressed rather simply and easily. Some, however, will take great effort and intentionality over a long period of time before they are overcome. 

7. There are different types of gifts. Generally speaking, we can identify (at least) three types:

• Vocational gifts (e.g., apostle, prophet, teacher, pastor)
• Residential gifts (e.g., teaching, leadership, prophecy)
• Occassional gifts (e.g., glossolalia, insight, extraordinary faith)

Though this is an oversimplification, it might be helpful to read the gifts in the Eph 4 list as vocational, the gifts in Rom 12 as residential, and the gifts in the first 1 Cor 12 list as occasional.

Regardless, I think the point stands. Each believer has a role, a vocation, in the Body of Christ and for the world; and each believer has certain residential gifts that serve this vocation; finally, each believer, if sensitive, is a candidate to be used by the Spirit in the exercise of certain occasional “gifts” (though this term might not really apply here; perhaps “manifestation” or “activity” or “service” would work better; cf. 1 Cor 12.4-7).    

8. The number, if not the type, of gifts is incalculable because of the Spirit’s infinite creativity, the irreducible complexity of human personality, and the countless variations of circumstances in which we find ourselves, moment to moment and day to day.

9. The differences between natural ability and spiritual gifting, between natural and supernatural realities, between being “in the flesh” and “in the Spirit” are effaced for Christians who give the whole of their lives to following Jesus in whom God and humanity, eternity and time are one.

10. We do not need to discover, identify, or catalogue our gifts before we begin to use them. The Spirit’s work is not released by increasing our self-awareness. If there is minimal charismatic activity it is not due so much to a lack of knowledge of which gifts we possess but to a lack of acknowledgment of the command to love one another concretely. 

It seems to me the desire to catalogue the gifts arises from a need to establish or exert power over things. Giving something a name brings it under our control, objectifies it, takes the mystery out of it – at least to some more manageable degree.  To be sure, this is not an evil desire; the innocent Adam named the animals.

Nonetheless, it can, and often does, occasion temptations to uses of power that are destructive. Trying to determine which gifts we possess can become a way of controlling one another, and, inadvertently, a way of stifling the work of the Spirit, who can’t be named in this way. 

11. Only “faith exercising itself in love” (Gal 5.6) surfaces our gifts. As I said, we don’t need to first discover our gifts and then put them to use. Instead, we need to see needs and see to them, trusting that as we obey, the Spirit is working through us to accomplish Christ’s work. We need to put ourselves at the service of others for their benefit, for the strengthening of their faith in Christ and hope in God’s future. The gifts will take care of themselves. What we see when we observe others and their needs and how we see to these needs is determined by the work of the Spirit in our lives; it is because of the vocational and residential gifts I have received from God, that I see the way I see and act the way I act. 

12. Our gifts operate best in our weaknesses (2 Cor 11.7-10). This does not refer to our sins or our sinfulness, but to our frailty, our insufficiencies, our inadequacies. The use of the charismata should be an act of faith expressing itself in love. So there will be no time that our faith is stronger than when we are weak, when we are truly aware of our need for God’s mercy. Our lack – of whatever kind – leaves space for God’s grace to work in our lives, and, therefore, through our words and actions.

Incidentally, praying in tongues (glossolalia) teaches us that when we are at a loss for words, we can still speak to and for God. This is one of the best reasons to practice praying “with the spirit” (Rom 8.26-27; 1 Cor 14.2, 14-15).