Understanding Spiritual Gifts 01

I’m not sure where this teaching arose, but I first encountered it in the mid-1980s while testing the waters with a charismatic church. The experimental church fell apart, but I learned an awful lot about the mythology of neo-pentecostalism.

If you took the time to research some of the terminology used in this study, you’ll find echoes of this teaching scattered around the Internet. I’ve had a lot of time since that encounter thirty years ago to digest and experiment with how it works for me. Be careful to note that a critical element in this is the individual calling and faith experience. The teaching itself makes room for that.

This material is presented in outline form. The specific reason is to avoid the arrogance of behavioral science and the pretense of precision. It’s not that kind of thing. The intellect is not where this all happens; it is of necessity something that takes place in the heart. It is fully perceived only in the heart. The purpose of teaching in this case is to prepare the mind to follow the heart’s lead.

Thus, we develop categories that are fuzzy on purpose. There is just enough precise definition to ensure your mind can grasp as much as you need to move forward. The whole point is that you develop your own lore for serving Christ.

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Three Types of Gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1ff)

“varities of gifts” (charismátōn) gratuities or blessings from God

This is broadly the whole subject of “spiritual gifts.” Paul is introducing the topic for discussion by noting that we can mean different things by using this particular term “spiritual gifts.” He goes on to list various types.

1. “administrations” (diakoniōn) ministries or services

Every church should have members in the body who are called to a specific ministry. They should be recognized for this work and, if possible, supported as they may have need.

2. “operations” (energamatōn) effects on the church body

Regardless of any labels, particular talents, or what they actually do, some people in the church seem driven by an inner fire that produces recognizable effects. These are called motivational gifts, or gifts of temperament.

3. “manifestations” (phanerōsis) a visible signal of something invisible

As soon as Paul mentions the manifestation gifts, he proceeds to discuss them at length. They are commonly referred to as “charismatic gifts” because they often appear with some degree of ecstasy in the person. Then, later in this same chapter, Paul goes back to address the first category of ministries. However, the motivational gifts are found in Romans 12:3-8. Nothing in the text itself in either passage makes this obvious, but we can discern from the passage in Romans 12 that Paul is referring to what drives people to Kingdom service.

Some presentations of this teaching will include a fourth category from Ephesians 4:8-16. This refers to “gifts” as concrete objects (domata) as gifts of the Spirit, and then goes on to list particular offices in the church body: apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher. It’s a case of the right passage, but the wrong approach to understanding it in this context. We will look at Ephesian 4 because it emphasizes something Paul mentions briefly in 1 Corinthians 12.

The most confusing part is that some of the labels in one category show up in other categories. That’s how Paul uses them, so it’s up to us to seek God’s help in keeping this stuff untangled. Nothing binds you to the way they are explained here.