Ask the Pastors S6 E17: “Are some spiritual gifts given to all God’s people?”
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Welcome to Ask the Pastors a segment of the West Hills Podcast where you have the opportunity to ask your questions and receive biblically grounded, pastorally sensitive answers from our pastoral staff.
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That's us
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Minus one, minus Thad, RIP, Thad Thad. But we are in Will's office. Thad relocated. My name is Brian and I'm joined by our lead pastor Will. Hey and Pastor Austin.
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Hello.
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Today we have a question from Brett Hendricks. Thanks Brett for a question I think rightly summarized by you, by the relationship between spiritual gifts and common gifts. So
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His question, hold on. Can you introduce who, ask the question again?
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Yeah. Brett Hendricks. Oh, we got
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The, we're joined by audience. I always forget 'em in my office while we record. Okay. Please proceed. Thanks
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Brett. James one five says, okay, this is Brett. This question James one five says that all we have to do to gain wisdom is ask the Lord, but one Corinthians 12 lists wisdom as one of the spiritual gifts suggesting that some Christians don't have it. Is it just a matter of degrees? I know it's not a contradiction because scripture does not invalidate itself, but can you harmonize this for me because it does seem a bit disjointed? That's a good question.
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Yeah. Thanks again, Brett. I, part of his question I would want to maybe I guess clean up or take issue with is where he says, one Corinthians 12 lists wisdom as one of the spiritual gifts suggesting that some Christians don't have it. I think that's a misinterpretation of the spiritual gifts. I think that the whole idea behind spiritual gifts is not that some people have this gift and the ones who don't don't at all, that that's the a misunderstanding. I think that when it comes to spiritual gifts, the point is that God does give, let me go to his second part of his question and affirm now what he says or he says, is it just a matter of decrees? I think that is right and that is what we're dealing with here. When you look at something like God encouraging everyone to ask for wisdom and then elsewhere saying Listing wisdom is one of the spiritual gifts and should just go ahead and say to that wisdom is by no means unique in that regard.
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Actually, most of the spiritual gifts would fall into this same category of attributes or strengths or exhortations or whatever you want to call 'em, that are listed in the Bible, both in a or multiple lists of spiritual gifts that seem to be things that God sort of divinely bestows upon his people as gifts for edifying the church and spreading the gospel, but also are listed elsewhere as just either fruit of the spirit or general exhortation that all of the churches called to. So just a cursory sort of glance at the biggest, longest, most comprehensive list of spiritual gifts, Romans 12, six through eight, one Corinthians 12, eight through 10 and 28 through 30, and then Ephesians four 11.
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None of those lists, by the way of spiritual gifts are meant to be exhaustive. I don't believe so. These are just sort of representative or examples of the kinds of gifts that I think God gives to us when he regenerates us. The gift of administration, apostleship, discernment, evangelism, exhortation, faith, giving, healing, interpretation, knowledge, leadership, mercy, miracles, pastor Shepherd, prophecy, service, teaching tongues, wisdom. So I mean, if you were to go back and slow down and look at those, what 20 or so gifts compiled there, at least three fourths of 'em, I think almost all of them probably you could argue are the kinds of things that the rest of the New Testament clearly I think calls us to pursue. And even in one Corinthians 12, the most extensive of the spiritual gifts passages in the New Testament, Paul ends that chapter by saying, Hey, here's all these gifts.
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And then he says basically something to the effect, I'll have to pull it up. I urge you to eagerly pursue all the gifts and especially what he calls the higher gifts. And then he goes on to talk about why some gifts are better than others, prophecies better than tongues and et cetera, et cetera. But the point is he says there, I urge you to pray for desire, eagerly desire all the gifts. And so I think when you see him say that, and then you see James one five urge us to pray for wisdom. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously and he wants to give you wisdom. And I think it is the same thing. Again, gift of wisdom. It's the same thing when it comes to administration. It's like I've joked in sermons about how that is not a spiritual gift of mine, and yet I really have, in studying more of this and praying and being convicted, I have come to a place where I've, years ago I just recognized how detrimental that that was to me and the ministry and just personally missing meetings and forgetting details about a pastoral counseling conversation I had with somebody that then is relevant.
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And so I at some point in time had to take this seriously, this idea that this is not just a gift that you have or you don't have. And if you don't, then sorry. But it's no God wants to give. I mean that's what Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount is Matthew seven where he says, God's a good God, he's a good father and he loves y'all aren't even good fathers. And you like giving gifts to your kids. How much more so is the perfect Father? He likes to give good gifts to his kids.
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God wants to give the gift of administration. It's a good gift, the gift of faith, the gift of leadership, mercy. He wants to give these things to his children. And so even if that's maybe not my spiritual gift or whatever that I feel like I have just had this unique capacity for, I think I'm called to pursue it. And again, you could go through each of these gifts, something like administration and point to a passage like one Corinthians 14, a couple of chapters later where Paul says God is a God of order, not a God of chaos. You could say this is part of what it means just for us to be Christlike and just for us to be godly is to pursue these good positive traits that make us more like Christ. And so regardless of whether this or that thing comes easy to me, natural to me just I've always been that way even before I came to Christ or since I came to Christ as a spiritual gift when I became whatever the case may be.
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At the end of the day, God wants to give wisdom to us. I mean, that's what James wants saying, and he may do that. He may do that in just a really profound supernatural kind of way where you have this testimony and experience of I just didn't know it from down and I lived like a fool and whatever. And ever since I came to Christ, I don't know, people just come to me when they need life advice and it just kind of comes out of me. And I don't know, I mean, you might have that kind of spiritual gift of wisdom or you might be somebody who like me with administration where you don't feel like you have the gift of wisdom, all the more so than James says, you ought to ask for it. You ought to pray for it. You ought to eagerly desire it.
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And I just give another example, and again, not to get too controversial or whatever, it's a whole nother podcast topic which we've done a long time ago and could come back to if somebody wanted us to on speaking in tongues. Tongues is on the gifts list. But I'm always struck by this that I remember watching a video, a teach, it might've been asked Pastor John that John Piper did years and years ago where someone asked him about the gift of tongues and basically I'm a continuation. I don't believe just based on my interpret scripture, interpretation of scripture, that he basically said, I believe that God can, and in some cases still does give the gift of tongues. And yeah, he basically said he was studying reading one Corinthians 12, the end there where Paul says eagerly desire all the gifts especially, but all of them. And Piper just said, I remember thinking, I'm not really praying for asking God for the gift of tongues, kind of like the James one thing with wisdom.
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And yet Paul says, eagerly desire all the gifts, and so I'm going to start doing it. And so he occasionally would just carve out time and pray and ask, God, would you give me the gift of tongues? I believe you give me the gift of teaching and of mercy and of faith and of whatever, but this is a gift I've never been blessed with. I would like to, for your glory, for the edification of the church, for my own just spiritual maturity and love for you and whatever, pray for it. And said to this day, and this was years ago, but he said, he hasn't seen fit to bless me with that gift yet. And that's fine. I mean, it's prerogative to give certain gifts to him and he will and when he will and to what degree he will. But I do think there is a difference there with something like wisdom though, because obviously James one five basically promises that in some of these cases with things like wisdom or faith or service, I mean, I think that there are certain gifts, knowledge that of the spiritual gifts that God more or less promises, he's going to give us any believer that ask is going to be given and then others for whatever reason, and maybe related topic, but different of just why some gifts are sort of distinct and that not everyone does get it and not everyone is promised.
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I mean, it never says, and that's where we would disagree with our Pentecostal brothers and sisters who believe that tongues falls in that list too, where it's like, Hey, yeah, if you ask and you really see God is going to give that gift to everyone. But anyway,
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Yeah, I found that episode that you mentioned is an ask the pastor before the pastors number 43. It's titled, why does Some Believe that Speaking in Tongues is not a gift for today? Does that sound like the right
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One? Yep. Yeah. So anyway, but not to get off on that tangent, but that's what I would have to say to answer Brett on this question of why we're called to pray for and ask for one of these gifts that seems to be a spiritual gift. I don't know if there's anything else that you guys want to add to that.
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Yeah, I think that this is one of those, a really great example of how reading Paul and Peter side by side can be challenging because Paul and Peter will use really similar words, but sometimes they'll use 'em in very different senses. For example, when if you read James all by himself, it almost seems like salvation is not by grace through faith. And you go over and read Paul, and it seems very clear that salvation is by grace through faith.
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And so they both agree, but we have to see how they're talking about it in different senses. So going to Paul in first Corinthians 12 through 14, when he's talking about spiritual gifts, I think it's just a good reminder for anyone listening that he's not writing a systematic theology on what the spiritual gifts are and say, okay, here's the gift of teaching. Here's a definition, and let's look at what teaching is like. Here's the spiritual gift of mercy. And on and on and on. He's primarily talking to a church that is divided. And so when he's talking about the gifts, he's primarily talking about unity in the church. And so whatever these gifts are for the church, they're to build the church up and to keep it in unity. So even what he talks about there in verse seven, right before the line on wisdom where he says to each is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good, then he says 4, 2, 1 is given through the spirit the utterance of wisdom.
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Interestingly enough, there he actually doesn't say the gift of wisdom. The word utterance is like the word for word logos. So he's talking about a certain kind of speaking in one Corinthians chapter 12, verse eight, which I think is in parallel with the next line into the utterance of knowledge. So I think he's talking there about the way that one might make use of the knowledge that is available to believers to dispense wisdom, so to speak. So in one Corinthians 12, eight, I actually don't think he's primarily talking about the gift of wisdom as such. Going over to James. Lemme see, what was that James one five? Yeah, lemme pull it back up for a second. When he says, if anyone of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given him. I do want to caution it on a verse like this, because I think the temptation is to think that God is a vending machine, and if we just, oh, someone's at the door,
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We'll ignore it.
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And so I think the temptation is to see God is sort of the vending machine that has wisdom on one of those things, and you put your quarters in, then it falls out, and then ta-da, he begins that sentence with a version of the word. If that is for the sake of argument. So for the sake of argument, and if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without our approach and it will be given him. I say that just to remember that James certainly is really steeped in his Hebrew Bible, what we call the Old Testament, where the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And I say that just to say that whatever the spiritual gifting is of wisdom, we can't disconnect it from what we call the fear of the Lord. And that fear of the Lord can kind of move up and down on a scale where on one end you have terrified of the Lord, and then a little closer you have reverence of the Lord and then the highest up you might have worship of the Lord.
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And so whatever we receive in wisdom, we shouldn't expect that. Okay, I pray and ask the Lord, please give me wisdom. Okay, I've done my asking, and James one five says, now I will be wise and perhaps I'm not any wiser if we were to disconnect it for actual worship and affection for God. Does that make sense? So whatever the gifts they are, remember the aim of them is going to be for the building up of his church for his glory. They're not just gifts that are spread out, they have actual purposes, which by the way is to say just if you're listening and you have gifting, that's one of the reasons that we ask you to serve is not because we're so great and you should just come help. It's because we believe in God's providence in bringing you here. There is a unique way that you minister to this body of Christ because of the way that he has specifically gifted you for the unity and building of this church on the one hand. And on the other hand with James, whenever we talk about in terms of gaining wisdom from the Lord, let's not disconnect it from the heart of worship.
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Well said,
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That's good. So I mean, I would just encourage Brett and all our listeners and myself always preaching first to myself, to earnestly pray for each of the gifts and each of the just fruit of the spirit and outflow and characteristics and marks of a life that is rooted in Christ. Pray that God would give you the gift of administration and give you the gift of faith and the gift of knowledge and leadership and all the others, and pray that God would make us more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind. Good. So yeah, I think to me there's definitely no tension there because some we're all going to be more naturally or supernaturally, spiritually gifted and inclined toward some things than others. And it makes us, as you said, Austin, it ought to make us both more appreciative of and cognizant of our need for the full community of the Christian faith.
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This is why Paul does discuss this in the context of that analogy of the body of Christ in one Corinthians 12 and needing one another and saying, even those with the lesser gifts, they're indispensable. We have to have all of these blessings that God has poured out on his church. We need represented are all important, but also not letting that stop us from desiring, not in a sort of selfish way again of, I mean, again, John Piper didn't pray that so that he could be known not only as the great teacher, but the great teacher who sometimes speaks in tongues, but rather again, for the edification of the church, like you said, Austin. And also just for that our relationship with the Lord, just knowing that so many of, again, these gifts and these love, joy, peace, that the fruit of the spirit too, I mean all of it. It's ultimately about his glory and us just living in closeness and communion and intimacy with him. And again, not just for the edification of the church, but again for ministry to the world too.
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That is a clear thread as well, that number one, when they see us edifying and blessing one another within the church, that is itself a ministry. But also when I mean, gosh, some of the unbelievers see people get supernaturally healed or the gift of prophecy, and that's part of what interpretation of tongues, what Paul talks about there, why it's better. But even just I would say when unbelievers see the gift of certainly evangelism or just go down the list, the gift of wisdom, the gift of wisdom, and I mean it would just stay with Brett's own example and thinking about what a witness that is to folks in a age, in a world where, yeah, so many don't. And our whole culture seems to not know up from down and whatever, to be a person that really is marked by known for your wisdom. And also, as you said on the gifts list, the word of wisdom and the ability to actually deliver that wisdom, especially in a winsome way and in a way that an unbeliever can hear and receive. And I mean what a witness that is to them too. So anyway, just yeah, thanks for the question, Brett. And just really encourage folks to all of us, myself included, to be eagerly desiring to onward and upward toward the calling of full maturity in Christ, which means wanting all the gifts and just wanting to be able to bless others with them and through them. So
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Yeah, I've certainly thought about desiring the higher gifts, but not necessarily praying for each of those spiritual gifts that maybe I don't experience as much. So that's a really good thing for me and probably the person listening and all of us to think about too. It's not just the prophecy and speaking in tongues, but I don't ever want to be, oh, I didn't get the gift of X. I'm just going to throw up my hands and not pursue that. I think that's a really good disposition towards the things that don't come as naturally is to ask God for help in those things. I'm really encouraged by
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That. Some of 'em are just obvious. I mean, you think about the gift of faith. I just got a bad diagnosis. Oh, God hates me, and is he even there? I don't have the gift of faith, so I can't be expected to actually trust him in that. Some of 'em are pretty obvious.
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No, I mean, we are called to be people of faith and to definitely mature in that regardless of how easy that comes, it's going to come easier. Some people, and I'm convicted and challenged, just so motivated by folks for whom their world, you cannot rock their world because they are just like a bedrock of their foundation is very clearly on the solid rock of Christ. Nothing shakes not me. That's not me. And I joke about it in sermons, but I mean really shouldn't. It's not a joke because I want to be more of that kind of person and I ought to be praying, God, would you build my faith? Would you make me more into the kind of person who, if my house burnt down tonight that I could praise you? Like Job the Lord gives and takes away bless being name of the Lord and at least Job the first two chapters. The rest of it, he's terrible. But yeah, I want to be more like that. That's good. Let's all pray for that.
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Well, that's it for this week's episode of Ask The Pastors
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Killed It.
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Remember that you can submit your questions by visiting the info bar at West Hills or by submitting them online through our website at www.westhillsstl.org. Join us next week. The question will be, how do you properly interpret Philippians two, five to seven where it says Jesus empties himself? We know Jesus was fully God and fully man, so what did he empty?
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It's going to be scary. That's a scary one. Yeah, that's good. Someone's going to say something heretical.
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Stay tuned for that. If you enjoyed this week's episode, hit that like button, subscribe and send this to a friend, and thanks so much for listening, and we hope to catch you next week.