12:7 But the
manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of
all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to
another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another
faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to
another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of
spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the
interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these
things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
Did you notice how complementary gifts are clustered together
yet given to different people? Wisdom and knowledge. Faith, healing, and
miracles. Prophecy and the discerning of spirits. Speaking in tongues and
interpreting tongues.
"No man is an island. No man stands alone. Each man's
joy is joy to me and each man's grief is my own." God designed for us to
be one. He gifts us so that without each other the gift is incomplete. I was
taught growing up that knowledge is having the information. Wisdom is knowing
what to do with it. Neither skill is useful by itself. It's wonderful to have
the Spirit prophesy through a person but how do we know what spirit it is? It
is a gift from God to be able to recognize the difference between the voice of
the Spirit and the hiss of the serpent. To be able to speak a language you were
never taught is a gift. To understand a language you never knew and translate
it to a language those around you know is another gift. You will remember that
on the day of Pentecost right after the disciples received the Spirit for the
first time Peter stood and spoke to the gathering crowd. The crowd had come to
Jerusalem from all over to celebrate the feast and spoke many languages. The
Bible says although Peter was only speaking one language they all heard what he
said in their own language. The Spirit interpreted. Both language gifts are
needed in a multilingual setting. The gift to speak the language of another and
the gift to translate to other languages.
What about faith, healing, and miracles? Jesus performed
miracles that weren't healings. He directed the weather. He had Peter catch a
fish that contained money. He cursed a tree to teach a lesson. Here Paul
teaches that faith, healing, and miracles are all different yet connected. We
think of faith as a necessary component for healings and miracles but it takes
more faith to endure no healing and no miracles. Scripture does not support the
false teaching that with enough faith healing and miracles will always follow.
Sometimes yes. But sometimes the answer is no. Paul asked for healing. God's
answer was "My strength is made perfect in your weakness." Jesus
asked to be delivered from the agony of the cross. God's answer was silence.
Elijah got the miracle he asked for but almost lost his faith in the aftermath.
It takes more faith to endure darkness than to celebrate in the light of
healings and miracles. They are complementary gifts but separate. Better to
have faith with no miracles than miracles and lose faith.
And that is the point. God designed for us to need each
other. Our gifts fit together like hands and gloves. Both need each other. Both
complete each other.
We live in a culture of hierarchical thinking. Someone is always
alone at the top. This is not the culture of heaven. Jesus' last conversation
with His Father before being arrested was on this very theme. He wanted for us
the oneness He had with His Father. We continue to struggle with Who was number
one between God and Jesus. Throw the Holy Spirit in there and we almost lose
our minds. We are convinced there must be positioning. There must be good,
better, best. The disciples were always arguing over positioning. One of their
mom's even got involved trying to secure top spots for her boys. When human
thinking is imposed on the culture of heaven confusion is sure to follow. It is
a miracle of grace to lay that thinking down. They are One. They sit on the
same throne. Neither is concerned with being higher or better or more. That's
demonic thinking.
Tomorrow we'll explore this more as we take a look at the
followers of God as a body.
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