Thoughts on gifts and fruit of the Spirit

I can’t help but be drawn to the charismatic/evangelical movement at times. I understand that side of Christianity has made its share of mistakes, but I am overjoyed to know them. In case you wonder, not all of them are the crazy people you might think they are. I was listening in my class studying Galatians, where my professor, Dr. Witherington, mentioned the fruit as opposed to the gifts, and I got to preview Gordon Fee’s Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God. He mentions the idea of gifts and how he thinks the idea is portrayed in 1 Corinthians.

I really enjoyed Fee in that he stated that the “gifts” or “manifestations” are not a systematic listing at all and does not cover every base. I can’t help but cringe at the idea of a spiritual gifts assessment (this is more general evangelical as I do not want to put this on the Charismatics) in that most of them are limited and some do not allow for these things to be manifestations of God’s Spirit to His people. It’s hard to define a list of gifts because the lists in the letters are never exactly alike. It must be known that God does not always work in the same way and that he might shell shock our preconceptions of how God gives gifts to His people through His Spirit. Needless to say, Paul would be confused.

Realize that it is not about us having a gift as if it is our own…

but that. supernaturally, it is about God showing us that He is here…

IN POWER…

BEYOND OUR WILDEST IMAGININGS!!!

We get prepared to live out the future reality in this present age.

The other thing to remember is that Galatians 5 shows us the fruit of the Spirit and not the gifts. There is a distinct difference. The gifts are what are given to encourage and prepare us, but the fruit is what is produced by the presence of the Spirit. Paul’s community ethic under the Spirit would have put so much emphasis on the fruit and the gifts have to be secondary and subject to the existence of the fruit. Read the difference. Where one is about the supernatural happenings and the things that are given in affirmation, the fruit is about the life of the community, which is what the letters of Paul are quite repetitive about.

If we forget the fruits of bringing true blessings of God’s love to the community, then the gifts will not matter. “If I do not have love, I am just a clanging cymbal.”

I heard a story once of a woman who led in a ministry. Many were blessed by her musical gifts and she loved what she was doing. She was married to a man, but happened to find romance with another man who was not her husband. She asked her pastor, “Would this require me to give up my musical gifts in this ministry?” The pastor replied with compassion, “Daughter, it is not your gifts that are in question, but your character that is in jeopardy.”

Remember to tend to the fruit (your character) and the gifts will be given to you. And be ready if you live this out. God may give  you a gift that was never in your community before.

And to close, all are gifted.

I say that again with greater emphasis added…

ALL are TRULY gifted BY GOD’S SPIRIT.

Grace and peace to you all.

 

Beginning the Semester

I am starting off my semester off with a blast. I am taking an interesting mix of classes: Exegesis of Galatians, Theology and Practice of Healing, Life of Prayer, and Non-Canonicals (auditing that one). I can say that the one I am reading for today is the Healing class. The book is Authority to Heal written by Ken Blue. I find it very helpful that he has described the fallacies of theologies of “name it and claim it” healing and the ones that accept sickness as the will of God. (He actually makes a distinction between the words suffering and sickness, which he claims is not the same to the Biblical writers.) He also points out that the modern western world is too “secular” and that our infatuation with science as the savior has dismissed God and the miraculous. His proposition is that science and healing is not incompatible, but that secular humanism and Christianity is. There are many cases where the turn away from death is unexplainable and at this point is only explained as an act of God.

I think he might be wrong in saying that the western world is completely that way, though this was written 1987. There is too much spirituality involved in the current setting (just watch Oprah). I have to say that people still understand that death is a negative thing. The overarching point of the entire Bible is that Death is defeated. It points out that 1) we must seek things that move away from death (healing, peace efforts, medicine, counseling) and 2) we do not use death to push our agenda as Christians (war, abuse, degradation, rape).

My challenge here is that if you believe in a physically risen Jesus, the first of Humanity, and our same resurrection in the end (which is part of the Christian hope), then you must defy death and hope that despite death we have a hope of bodily resurrection (though we will be glorified and will actually rule over the earth in a way becoming of love and peace as commanded by God).

So go out and seek to make life better, despite your urges fed to you by Satan himself to use death.

Grace and peace to you all.

 

Next book

I am actually on two books. Umberto Eco’s The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana, N. T. Wright’s Paul, and Henri Nouwen’s In the Name of Jesus. I am almost done with Eco’s book, very unique and yet quite enjoyable. I will be starting Nouwen’s book tonight. Many do not like him (much like those people who do not like Rob Bell and call him a flaming liberal when he tends to be a very conservative Christian). I have heard the rumors about Nouwen being a homosexual. I have not confirmed that, but if you know me, I won’t believe until I see the proof. This will be more than just someone telling me they read it somewhere (“I read somewhere…” is one intro to myths that I hate and I usually have trouble having respect for those people). And such an argument does not ruin the truth found in writings. One mishap of one’s life only shows humanity. Look at Ray Bolts. His life has taken turns for the gay persuasion, yet none can challenge the fact that his music has touched the lives of many Christians and have encouraged them to continue on there path.

All that is to say that I will read his book with an open mind and heart. I hope others will consider the same.

Grace and Peace.