In May 2020 Bible and Breakfast had their second zoom meeting on the topic of Spiritual Gifts. Below is a short reflection from that meeting.

When I was at university I remember attending an evening service. As students, my friends and I always preferred the evening service because it meant we could have a lie-in and take the free bus arranged by the church to the service (hard times). Walking into the church that evening, I knew that it would be a special service. Not only did I see the usual young faces, this time I saw young, old, white, black, long-time church goers and people who were attending church for the first time. It was a special service that brought a community of people together.

I remember singing a song. I remember the sound of the guitar harmoniously played with the electric piano and drums – it was beautiful. It got to that part in worship where the lyrics were over but the music kept playing and the congregation swayed dream-like in God’s presence. Suddenly a woman shouted something in a language that was unknown to me. I was shocked. There were so many people in the hall I could not tell who was speaking. All I could do was stop and listen. Almost immediately after she spoke it was followed by a man on the other side of the room who translated it in English.

That was almost eight years ago.

I don’t know about you but in my church I don’t hear much about the gifts of the Spirit. In some churches it is hardly mentioned and in others it is all they talk about. As a result, there is a mixture of opinions when it comes to these gifts and it has unfortunately made it a controversial topic.

In May, at Bible and Breakfast we learnt about the gifts of the spirit in 1 Corinithians 12. We learnt what the different gifts of the Spirit were and the purpose of each of them. We learnt that it was not given so one could show off, nor was it intended to seem mysterious and for only a select few. We learnt that God in his own discretion gives these gifts to anyone born of the Spirit for the edification of His church. We learnt that these gifts worked together for a greater purpose.

So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church. – 1 Corinthians 14:12 NIV

 One of the things that really surprised me was when the reverend highlighted that Paul urges us to desire the gifts of the Spirit.

So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all. – 1 Corinthians 12:31 NLT

I wish you could all speak in tongues, but even more I wish you could all prophesy. For prophecy is greater than speaking in tongues, unless someone interprets what you are saying so that the whole church will be strengthened. – 1 Corinthians 14: 5 NLT

Later on in the meeting we broke out into smaller groups on zoom. In our breakout session we discussed Paul’s encouragement of desiring gifts. One person confessed that she did not desire the gifts, another said he actively avoided the gifts because of the misuse of it in the church and their own lack of understanding. It saddens me when I see the church pervert the word of God and ultimately hinder the body from receiving good things from God. The minister said we should not be content that there is a lack of Spiritual gifts in parts of the church. Gifts are given to strengthen, build and bring vibrancy to the church!

It made me realise that it is not enough to demand good biblical teaching from our leaders (although we should), it is up to us to become biblically literate and understand what God has in store for us in the scriptures and seek practise it correctly.

I want to encourage those of you who are sceptical about the gifts of the Spirit to re-read 1 Corinthians chapter 12, 13, and 14. Then go on to listen to what the reverend said about these scriptures. A key message in his talk was that at the heart of everything is love. The reverend reminded us that love is greater than all of the gifts combined.

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. – 1 Corinthians 13:1

Therefore it should be love that drives our desire to possess these gifts. Remember love is not selfish, it is sacrificial. To desire the gifts is to desire to be used to bless God’s church. Do you have that desire?