The gifts of the spirit

Imagine you were a virgin and went to a talk about sex. The talk was very dry and dull, and given by someone who spoke in a monotone voice, staring down at his notes the whole time. If that was the only thing you ever learnt about sex, it would hardly fill you with any enthusiasm, and could put you off for life.

Now, many people, (myself included, until recently) think the same about Christianity. It’s dull, it’s boring, it’s an old man, staring down at an old book, talking in a monotone voice and putting us off. Since I never went to church as a child, except to sing carols on the odd occasion, I’m not exactly sure where this idea that it was boring came from, but somehow it snuck in.

I was forced to confront my prejudice about Christianity, when I realised there was some truth in that old book, a whole lot of truth. I read that old book, studying it alone and with the help of the internet, and at some point, it became clear to me that I did, in fact, need a church, or at least to connect with other believers in some form, because Jesus promises us ‘where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.’

I have been church hopping since I was baptised, trying out different places, online and offline. In one particular service, I found myself struggling to concentrate. My mind kept drifting off and even though what the speaker was saying sounded true and accurate, the way it was delivered just seemed fundamentally dull.

Being quite new to Christianity, I asked a friend of mine, who's been Christian all her life, what it was that caused my boredom. Was it me, or was it the service? I had my suspicions, but just wanted to hear her perspective. And she confirmed my own thinking, that it’s all about the spirit. The Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit comes to live within us when we accept Jesus Christ as our saviour. The spirit also comes with gifts. Although this varies from person to person. These gifts are, the gift of wisdom, the gift of knowledge, the gift of faith, the gift of healing, the gift of miracles, the gift of prophecy, the gift of discerning spirits, the gift of tongues, and the gift of interpreting tongues.

Now all these gifts sound pretty wonderful and quite exciting, so why can church sometimes be so boring?

The thing is, that many churches take a ‘cessationist’ view on these gifts. They believe that these gifts were only given to the early church followers and now no longer operate. While the Holy Spirit lives in every believer of Jesus, the Holy Spirit cannot fully operate if that believer doesn’t actually in the gifts he is trying to offer. I

I can’t help thinking that this ‘cessationist’ belief system is a ploy from Satan. Since so many churches have become so dull and stripped of miraculous happenings, it’s no wonder that people look elsewhere for their miracles and healings.

I have heard it explained by one Pastor that for everything that God creates, Satan creates a counterfeit version, and just like no-one makes counterfeit £1 notes because they don’t exist in real life anymore, no-one would counterfeit something that doesn’t exist.

In many alternative forms of spirituality, there’s the concept that anyone can become a healer, anyone can open up and receive psychic information, with practise and work we can receive the gifts.

In the Bible we are told to humbly accept whatever gift/s we are given, just as you would do if you receive the gift. It seems to me that Christianity needs to work in community. We come together with our different gifts to share and build each other up. One person can lay on hands and heal people, another can share prophecy about the future, another can pray for miracles, and another can discern and deliver others from evil spirits. We don’t need to cultivate and ‘work’ on ourselves to improve, we just need to come together.

And yet it is a bit of an issue, if the churches out there, the places where Christians are gathering spread a message that the gifts don’t even exist.

And so I continue on my way, church hopping and learning, both online, and offline, praying and developing my relationship with the Holy Spirit, ready to receive any gift He has to offer me.