I've been thinking a lot about Spiritual gifts recently, mainly because my pastor here in Korea has been doing a lot of sermons that have challenging me to think more carefully about the role spiritual gifts should play in our lives as Christians. I grew surrounded by the view of cessasionism(I think that's spelled correctly) saying that the spiritual gifts of healing and tongues have ceased after the apostolic age. I don't have the time, or the materials gathered to write about why I've grown to start thinking differently about the situation, but that will hopefully be my next blogpost.
But breifly, I wanted to talk about something I think we can all agree on. The ideas of teaching, hospitality, empathy, organization, etc...these are all spiritual gifts that I think all Christians would agree are given today to all Christians. The question is, why are they given? I heard a great sermon by Piper tonight about Spiritual gifts, and he was talking about Romans 1:11 where Paul says,
"I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spirtual gift to make you strong--that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith."
Now Paul is not saying here that he is going to bring a gift that will become there gift. He's not going to bestow the gift of generosity upon them, instead he's going to use the gift Christ gave him to strengthen them.
A few key points that Piper hit on here were number 1, that Spiritual gifts are always meant to be shared with others, not hoarded. When they are hoarded, they are stifled. When they are used for building up another's faith and glorifying God, they are affirmed and strengthened. We are given gifts so that we may give them to others.
Secondly, Paul talks about the mutual benefit of giving and recieving gifts. Think about when you give a Christmas present to someone. Not only is the person who recieves it happy, but you are happy in giving it. In the same way, the exercising of our gifts not only encourages those who recieve it, but it strengthens our faith as well.
Lastly, the major point that stuck in my mind is the mindset of Paul here, that we should strive to have every day. The point and purpose of his using his gift, was to strengthen their faith. The question is, do we have that desire today with every person we meet? Do we have the desire in the morning to strengthen and stir up hearts towards Christ. Because the Bible is very clear that if we have the desire to magnify Christ in the building up of others, the Holy Spirit will enable us with the power to do that. But do we have that longing to begin with? Do we want to see others grow? Not that we are Pharisees that try and fix everyone, but do we earnestly take joy in seeing our brothers and sisters strengthened in their love of Christ. May that be our prayer every morning when we wake up. That God would use us in some way, today, to encourage someone to love Christ more. To be more satisfied in Jesus.
These days I must admit that my desires have been entirely too inwardly focused. Too focused on my circumstances and my woes. While the waves seem to be heavy right now, I must remember that Christ's yoke is light, and that he can sustain me even in the valley of the shadow of death. If I can ground myself in this confidence, I can free myself to think about others. I pray that he will do this for all of our lives.
On a more update note, I went to "Everland" and "Carribean Bay" this weekend with my friend Ivan and his girlfriend Haeyeok. It was really fun. We went on a rollercoaster called "T-express" and it's classified as one of the most thrilling roller coasters in the world. It was really intense. It had like a 90 degree drop and it went at top speed 124 miles per hour. I think it's the fastest coaster I've ever been on. And get this. It's wooden. It was awesome. There were also two fun parades we saw. The water park was really good too, but really crowded, so we didn't get to go on too many rides. I was reminded of my younger years at Water Country USA with my brother and cousins, when we would go down the waterslides screaming, "YEEHHHHHHHAAAWWW!!"
But breifly, I wanted to talk about something I think we can all agree on. The ideas of teaching, hospitality, empathy, organization, etc...these are all spiritual gifts that I think all Christians would agree are given today to all Christians. The question is, why are they given? I heard a great sermon by Piper tonight about Spiritual gifts, and he was talking about Romans 1:11 where Paul says,
"I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spirtual gift to make you strong--that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith."
Now Paul is not saying here that he is going to bring a gift that will become there gift. He's not going to bestow the gift of generosity upon them, instead he's going to use the gift Christ gave him to strengthen them.
A few key points that Piper hit on here were number 1, that Spiritual gifts are always meant to be shared with others, not hoarded. When they are hoarded, they are stifled. When they are used for building up another's faith and glorifying God, they are affirmed and strengthened. We are given gifts so that we may give them to others.
Secondly, Paul talks about the mutual benefit of giving and recieving gifts. Think about when you give a Christmas present to someone. Not only is the person who recieves it happy, but you are happy in giving it. In the same way, the exercising of our gifts not only encourages those who recieve it, but it strengthens our faith as well.
Lastly, the major point that stuck in my mind is the mindset of Paul here, that we should strive to have every day. The point and purpose of his using his gift, was to strengthen their faith. The question is, do we have that desire today with every person we meet? Do we have the desire in the morning to strengthen and stir up hearts towards Christ. Because the Bible is very clear that if we have the desire to magnify Christ in the building up of others, the Holy Spirit will enable us with the power to do that. But do we have that longing to begin with? Do we want to see others grow? Not that we are Pharisees that try and fix everyone, but do we earnestly take joy in seeing our brothers and sisters strengthened in their love of Christ. May that be our prayer every morning when we wake up. That God would use us in some way, today, to encourage someone to love Christ more. To be more satisfied in Jesus.
These days I must admit that my desires have been entirely too inwardly focused. Too focused on my circumstances and my woes. While the waves seem to be heavy right now, I must remember that Christ's yoke is light, and that he can sustain me even in the valley of the shadow of death. If I can ground myself in this confidence, I can free myself to think about others. I pray that he will do this for all of our lives.
On a more update note, I went to "Everland" and "Carribean Bay" this weekend with my friend Ivan and his girlfriend Haeyeok. It was really fun. We went on a rollercoaster called "T-express" and it's classified as one of the most thrilling roller coasters in the world. It was really intense. It had like a 90 degree drop and it went at top speed 124 miles per hour. I think it's the fastest coaster I've ever been on. And get this. It's wooden. It was awesome. There were also two fun parades we saw. The water park was really good too, but really crowded, so we didn't get to go on too many rides. I was reminded of my younger years at Water Country USA with my brother and cousins, when we would go down the waterslides screaming, "YEEHHHHHHHAAAWWW!!"
1 comment:
great encouragement. i have to admit i don't often think of spiritual gifts... but it is SUCH a huge part of loving God and showing love for others! thanks for the reminder, steak.
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