I've come across DOZENS of attempts to categorize the spiritual gifts. I don't think categorizing them is very important, but it may be helpful for those hoping to better understand them. It could also be somewhat harmful, if we fail to recognize that our categories are extra-biblical and imperfect. So keep in mind that what you're about to read is just my attempt to be helpful. I do not insist upon these categories dogmatically.
SIGN GIFTS
I believe that some of the spiritual gifts are PRIMARILY intended as signs pointing toward the authority of Jesus and His movement. Sign gifts witness to unbelievers, perhaps especially those who are religious seekers. They tend to be on the more sensational side insofar as they are intended to get the attention of people so that they open themselves up to the Gospel.
SERVING GIFTS
Some of the spiritual gifts mentioned in Scripture (and seemingly many of those not mentioned in Scripture), may be classified as serving gifts. Since loving sacrifice is central to Christianity, it is not surprising that service gifts make up a category among the spiritual gifts. Serving gifts often look like applications of the fruit of the Spirit. Those with these gifts often work behind the scenes.
SPEAKING GIFTS
A third category of gifting has to do with speaking. It is not that those given spiritual words to share are not servants that necessitates a third category, it is that revelation from God is integral to the church being and doing what it is called to be and do. We need a word from God and those who have been given speaking gifts bring those words to us effectively.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Spiritual Gifts: Definition
I'm going to be blogging about spiritual gifts in preparation for a teaching series on this subject. I'll start with a working definition. This definition is fresh in that I made it up after doing my research, but it is subject to further insight.
Spiritual gift
A special ability, proficiency, or status that God providentially grants to particular individuals by the Spirit for the purpose of continuing Jesus' work of drawing unbelievers and building up believers.
By 'special ability' I refer to gifts largely disconnected from the person's previous experience. By 'proficiency' I mean the heightening or sanctification of a previously existing God-given talent. By 'status' I am including certain offices, institutions, and states of existence that are gifts of God to the church.
God gives these gifts providentially, by His wise choice, to particular people (not to everyone). Of course, the main recipients are Christians. That being said, there may be circumstances where a non-Christian individual is given a spiritual gift for a specific purpose.
The purpose of spiritual gifts is to continue the work of Jesus Christ. The church is the body of Christ on earth. Nearly all of the gifts were demonstrated in his 3+ years of ministry. There are 3 main ways that God uses spiritual gifts: 1) As a sign to unbelievers to confirm His presence 2) As a means to growing the body of Christ in maturity and 3) as a way of meeting basic human needs.
I think that this definition is broad enough to account for the biblical material and yet concise enough to be useful for discussion.
Spiritual gift
A special ability, proficiency, or status that God providentially grants to particular individuals by the Spirit for the purpose of continuing Jesus' work of drawing unbelievers and building up believers.
By 'special ability' I refer to gifts largely disconnected from the person's previous experience. By 'proficiency' I mean the heightening or sanctification of a previously existing God-given talent. By 'status' I am including certain offices, institutions, and states of existence that are gifts of God to the church.
God gives these gifts providentially, by His wise choice, to particular people (not to everyone). Of course, the main recipients are Christians. That being said, there may be circumstances where a non-Christian individual is given a spiritual gift for a specific purpose.
The purpose of spiritual gifts is to continue the work of Jesus Christ. The church is the body of Christ on earth. Nearly all of the gifts were demonstrated in his 3+ years of ministry. There are 3 main ways that God uses spiritual gifts: 1) As a sign to unbelievers to confirm His presence 2) As a means to growing the body of Christ in maturity and 3) as a way of meeting basic human needs.
I think that this definition is broad enough to account for the biblical material and yet concise enough to be useful for discussion.
Monday, November 11, 2013
300k
The Matthew Never Knew has recently passed 300,000 all-time hits
Did it take almost a decade? Yes
Were most of those me? Probably
This milestone will also serve as a transition point. I have tentatively decided to start blogging more often. Maybe not quite as often as I did from 2005-2008, but more than I did from 2011 till today (check the post amounts in the blog archives on the left). The posts will mostly be about theological things that I've been thinking, series' that I've been teaching, and excerpts from books/curriculum that I've been writing.
Did it take almost a decade? Yes
Were most of those me? Probably
This milestone will also serve as a transition point. I have tentatively decided to start blogging more often. Maybe not quite as often as I did from 2005-2008, but more than I did from 2011 till today (check the post amounts in the blog archives on the left). The posts will mostly be about theological things that I've been thinking, series' that I've been teaching, and excerpts from books/curriculum that I've been writing.
Saturday, November 09, 2013
BBC Blog-List Retiring
In 24 hours I am retiring the BBC Bloglist (located on right hand side of my blog). For many years it served as a hub for friends from Bethany Bible College (now Kingswood University), but most everyone has switched to facebook or simply stopped blogging. I am going to be re-focusing my own blog a bit and think it's time to make this move.
Just wanted to post this explanation in case anyone from BBC is still reading this and wonders why it is gone.
Just wanted to post this explanation in case anyone from BBC is still reading this and wonders why it is gone.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Broken Un-Promises
I've been thinking a lot lately about the promises of God. More specifically, I've been thinking about how loosely the concept is defined and how often the promises are broken (hint... a lot).
The problem seems to be that the Bible is not the encyclopedia that many people seem to want it to be. You can't go to the book of 2nd Promises and the chapter on 'promises having to do with my love life' and find the appropriate verse. The Bible is a narrative... a story. It contains all sorts of statements from God and a lot of them could potentially be taken as promises.
And this is why it becomes so important to understand what is and is not a promise... and whether or not there are different kinds of promises. Are proverbs promises? Are some (all?) promises conditional? Do earthy sounding promises always find their fulfillment on earth?
You see, if I think that Proverbs 22:6 guarantees that if I do my best at training my kids in God's way then they'll automatically (eventually) become believers... I might end up thinking God broke a promise. If I felt Jesus was going to come back in 1988 because that's a generation after Israel became a nation again, it may have left me lost in my faith. If I think that passages in Isaiah and James can be combined to make every sickness go away, it may leave me incredibly disappointed with God in a bed (or next to one) at a hospital or, worse, yet, a funeral home.
As a quick aside, there's also the issue of non-biblical 'promises' of God. If I really believe that God called me to plant a church in Kelowna, BC (Canada) and then it never happened or failed miserably... does that mean God failed?
Clearly this is a life-affecting issue. I perceive that there are many disappointed Christians (and ex-Christians) out there as a result of the apparently broken promises of God. The sad thing is, I think this disappointment is needless. I don't believe that God has ever broken a promise, but I also don't think He's made nearly as many as some people think. Proverbs are principles, not promises. Some prophecies were (and are) set in stone, but many of them were (and are) conditional. Jesus had a healing ministry, but healings are signs pointing to the ultimate message of the life, death, resurrection and ascension of our Savior. Miraculous healings are still possible, but were never meant to be the norm. In fact, it would be more accurate to think of Jesus' words 'in this world you will have trouble' as a promise than some of the more instantly gratifying verses that some suppose are promises.
My point is that it doesn't make much sense to be disappointed with God for not keeping promises that He never made, so we should make sure we think through these issues pretty carefully. It's not enough to just Google a list of Bible promises. It's not enough to just 'feel' God has promised you something. It could be that there are actually a small set of actual promises from God. They might not include things like ease and earthly happiness (they might even mean the opposite!), but you can bet they are eternally beautiful.
The problem seems to be that the Bible is not the encyclopedia that many people seem to want it to be. You can't go to the book of 2nd Promises and the chapter on 'promises having to do with my love life' and find the appropriate verse. The Bible is a narrative... a story. It contains all sorts of statements from God and a lot of them could potentially be taken as promises.
And this is why it becomes so important to understand what is and is not a promise... and whether or not there are different kinds of promises. Are proverbs promises? Are some (all?) promises conditional? Do earthy sounding promises always find their fulfillment on earth?
You see, if I think that Proverbs 22:6 guarantees that if I do my best at training my kids in God's way then they'll automatically (eventually) become believers... I might end up thinking God broke a promise. If I felt Jesus was going to come back in 1988 because that's a generation after Israel became a nation again, it may have left me lost in my faith. If I think that passages in Isaiah and James can be combined to make every sickness go away, it may leave me incredibly disappointed with God in a bed (or next to one) at a hospital or, worse, yet, a funeral home.
As a quick aside, there's also the issue of non-biblical 'promises' of God. If I really believe that God called me to plant a church in Kelowna, BC (Canada) and then it never happened or failed miserably... does that mean God failed?
Clearly this is a life-affecting issue. I perceive that there are many disappointed Christians (and ex-Christians) out there as a result of the apparently broken promises of God. The sad thing is, I think this disappointment is needless. I don't believe that God has ever broken a promise, but I also don't think He's made nearly as many as some people think. Proverbs are principles, not promises. Some prophecies were (and are) set in stone, but many of them were (and are) conditional. Jesus had a healing ministry, but healings are signs pointing to the ultimate message of the life, death, resurrection and ascension of our Savior. Miraculous healings are still possible, but were never meant to be the norm. In fact, it would be more accurate to think of Jesus' words 'in this world you will have trouble' as a promise than some of the more instantly gratifying verses that some suppose are promises.
My point is that it doesn't make much sense to be disappointed with God for not keeping promises that He never made, so we should make sure we think through these issues pretty carefully. It's not enough to just Google a list of Bible promises. It's not enough to just 'feel' God has promised you something. It could be that there are actually a small set of actual promises from God. They might not include things like ease and earthly happiness (they might even mean the opposite!), but you can bet they are eternally beautiful.
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