Last night when I got home, I noticed that most of my neighbors had their “curbies” out by the street, reminding me that today is trash day. Which also reminded me that I needed to take out the trash. Last night the weather wasn’t very good, though, so I wheeled my curbie out to the curb before I went in the house, knowing that I wasn’t going to want to come back outside. I went ahead and bagged up my trash, and left it sit by the door, so that I could drop the trash in the curbie on my way to work this morning. I got up this morning, got ready for work, grabbed my stuff, grabbed the trash on the way out the door, and my curbie was gone. After a little research, I discovered that someone had wheeled my curbie back up to the house. Obviously, they thought it was stupid to have an empty curbie down by the street. I can’t blame them too much (although I kind of wonder who was looking in my curbie to start with—but I don’t really feel like my privacy was invaded, so I’m not too worried about it). Clearly, they were trying to help. It occurs to me that not everyone has the gift of helps.
Apostle Paul wrote about spiritual gifts on several different occasions. In 1 Corinthians 12:28, he lists gifts of healings, helps, governments, and diversities of tongues.
I think we all understand the concept of gifts of healings. Do they still exist? I believe that they do, but they are not nearly as common as they used to be. They certainly don’t seem to be nearly as prevalent in this day of modern medicine. I have heard of faith healers, of course, but I tend to believe that most of them are really just taking money from people that are either desperate or gullible or both.
The gift of helps is more common. Some people just find themselves helping other people. Most of the time, there doesn’t seem to be anything at all supernatural about it; they are just doing whatever they can to make things better for those around them. There are also a lot of people that try to help other people, and their intentions are good, but, in the long run, they really aren’t much help. That’s really how you can tell the difference.
The gift of governments? That’s a gift? It must be, the Bible says so. Unfortunately, those people almost never actually get involved in politics. Seriously, though, some people have a natural talent for organizing things, for making sure things get done.
The gift of diversities of tongues. That’s a really rare gift. It would really come in handy for someone doing missionary work, to be able to hold a conversation in a language that one has never studied, but, like I said, that’s really rare. There are some people that put a lot of stock in speaking in tongues as part of worship. I don’t think that’s what it’s about. Two chapters later, in 1 Corinthians 14:22, Paul says that tongues are a sign, not to them that believe, but to then that believe not. In the very next verse, though, he turns around and says that if all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? If you stop and think about it, though, if somebody comes to visit on a Sunday morning, and one person is praising God in Russian, another in Greek, and another in Farsi, and so on, and our visitor doesn’t know or understand any of these languages, what is he going to think? What would you think, if you went to church and a whole bunch of people that you don’t know are speaking languages that you don’t know? Don’t tell me that you wouldn’t at least be tempted to call for the whitecoats to come and take these people away. On the other hand, though, what if you are praying and seeking God, and you’ve been praying and seeking God, and it just doesn’t seem like you are getting anywhere. Are my prayers even getting past the ceiling? If you haven’t been there, just wait, it happens to the best of us. So you’re praying and seeking God, and getting discouraged, and the thought comes to your mind, “Is God listening? Is God even real?” but you keep praying and seeking anyway, and at some point you break through, you know it, you feel, it, but there are some lingering doubts, and then you start speaking in a language that you don’t understand. You know what you’re saying, because the words are forming from your thoughts, but the words don’t make sense, even to you. Doesn’t that erase any doubt that you had? Don't you know, at that point, that it has to be God? That’s what tongues is about; it’s for those times when we, in the body of Christ, have unbelief.
Paul also told us in 1 Corinthians 14:12 that spiritual gifts are for the edifying of the church—the body of Christ. That applies to all spiritual gifts, not just the ones I have listed here.
Apostle Paul wrote about spiritual gifts on several different occasions. In 1 Corinthians 12:28, he lists gifts of healings, helps, governments, and diversities of tongues.
I think we all understand the concept of gifts of healings. Do they still exist? I believe that they do, but they are not nearly as common as they used to be. They certainly don’t seem to be nearly as prevalent in this day of modern medicine. I have heard of faith healers, of course, but I tend to believe that most of them are really just taking money from people that are either desperate or gullible or both.
The gift of helps is more common. Some people just find themselves helping other people. Most of the time, there doesn’t seem to be anything at all supernatural about it; they are just doing whatever they can to make things better for those around them. There are also a lot of people that try to help other people, and their intentions are good, but, in the long run, they really aren’t much help. That’s really how you can tell the difference.
The gift of governments? That’s a gift? It must be, the Bible says so. Unfortunately, those people almost never actually get involved in politics. Seriously, though, some people have a natural talent for organizing things, for making sure things get done.
The gift of diversities of tongues. That’s a really rare gift. It would really come in handy for someone doing missionary work, to be able to hold a conversation in a language that one has never studied, but, like I said, that’s really rare. There are some people that put a lot of stock in speaking in tongues as part of worship. I don’t think that’s what it’s about. Two chapters later, in 1 Corinthians 14:22, Paul says that tongues are a sign, not to them that believe, but to then that believe not. In the very next verse, though, he turns around and says that if all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? If you stop and think about it, though, if somebody comes to visit on a Sunday morning, and one person is praising God in Russian, another in Greek, and another in Farsi, and so on, and our visitor doesn’t know or understand any of these languages, what is he going to think? What would you think, if you went to church and a whole bunch of people that you don’t know are speaking languages that you don’t know? Don’t tell me that you wouldn’t at least be tempted to call for the whitecoats to come and take these people away. On the other hand, though, what if you are praying and seeking God, and you’ve been praying and seeking God, and it just doesn’t seem like you are getting anywhere. Are my prayers even getting past the ceiling? If you haven’t been there, just wait, it happens to the best of us. So you’re praying and seeking God, and getting discouraged, and the thought comes to your mind, “Is God listening? Is God even real?” but you keep praying and seeking anyway, and at some point you break through, you know it, you feel, it, but there are some lingering doubts, and then you start speaking in a language that you don’t understand. You know what you’re saying, because the words are forming from your thoughts, but the words don’t make sense, even to you. Doesn’t that erase any doubt that you had? Don't you know, at that point, that it has to be God? That’s what tongues is about; it’s for those times when we, in the body of Christ, have unbelief.
Paul also told us in 1 Corinthians 14:12 that spiritual gifts are for the edifying of the church—the body of Christ. That applies to all spiritual gifts, not just the ones I have listed here.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment