Charismatic
Gifts:
Power
for the Body of Christ
"Follow
the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts..."St. Paul, 1 Cor.
14:1
Charismatic
Gifts: A Spiritual Resource
The Bible
tells us about many kinds of spiritual gifts. There are ministry gifts,
teaching gifts, service gifts, and strengthening gifts. God is so good to
us. He wants to give us everything we need to live the Christian life, so
He showers us with many kinds of special gifts. Here we want to explain
what are now called the "charismatic" gifts, presented in St.
Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, chapters 12 - 14.
These gifts
were obviously used in the early Christian Church. There are nine of them
listed in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verses 4 - 11. Paul spends much time in
chapters 12-14 instructing the Corinthians in the use of the gifts.
Paul, in the
first verse of chapter 12, says that he does not want his readers to be
uninformed about the spiritual gifts he is discussing. We should also be
informed about them. The nine charismatic gifts are as follows: the
utterance of wisdom, the utterance of knowledge, special faith, healing,
working of miracles, prophecy, the discernment of spirits, various kinds
of tongues, and the interpretation of tongues.
These
gifts have some common characteristics:
(1) they result
from being baptized in the Holy Spirit, (2) they are the direct result of
the supernatural activity of the Holy Spirit, (3) they are for the common
good, to benefit the Church, and (4) they are instantaneous, given for a
given moment to meet a special need.
The
charismatic gifts are important for the building of the church. First,
they draw people to God; Jesus worked signs and wonders to stimulate faith
in His mission. He insisted that His disciples receive power from on high
(Luke 24:49). Second, they give life to God's people by allowing us to
minister to one another in His power. Third, they provide much-needed
weapons to use in our supernatural war against Satan, who is trying to
destroy the Church.
So we need
to be serious about these gifts. They are God's grace for us. They should
be used to "prepare God's people for works of service, so that the
body of Christ may be built up...and become mature, attaining to the whole
measure of the fullness of Christ." (Eph. 4:12)
Description
of the Gifts
The nine
gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12:4f can be conveniently put into three
groups:
1.Action
Gifts (power to do)
A. Healing
God wants to heal
us, and He wants us to be used for healing others. This gives him glory.
B. Working
of Miracles The
Bible has many examples of God's miracles. By His power working in us,
miracles can still happen today - if we believe.
C. Gift of
Faith This is
a special faith, given for a particular moment, to believe without a doubt
that God can act and want to act in a situation.
2.
Revelation Gifts (Power to KNOW)
A. Discerning of
Spirits Helps
us to know if God's spirit is at work in a situation. Helpful in
protecting the body of Christ from error and deception
B. Word
of knowledge
A supernatural revelation of facts not learned through our human minds.
For example, God might reveal someone's need so we can help that person.
C. Word of
Wisdom A
supernatural application of knowledge given to us by God. A sudden
revelation to know what to say or do.
3. Word
Gifts (Power to SAY)
A. Prophecy
This is a message
from God, given for a particular group or individual at a particular
moment. Not generally foretelling the future, but someone speaking the
mind of God.
B. Tongues
(prayer language) A
language not learned by the recipient, for use in prayer only. Used for
praise and intercession. It is the Holy Spirit praying through our spirit;
the mind is not involved. Can be public or private. Father John Bertolucci
has said this: "I personally pray in tongues and would love for all
Christians to receive this special language of the heart to worship and
honor God."(See ref. 1). He says that tongues should lead us to
center on loving and adoring our Lord Jesus Christ.
C. Interpretation of Tongues A gift for use in public
worship services, such as a prayer meeting. One person will speak in a
tongue, followed by a message in English. This is similar to gift of
Prophecy.
References:
1.Fr. John
Bertolucci, New Covenant magazine, May 1991.
2. Various
books and video tapes published by Fr. Robert DeGrandis, S.S.J
3.The Holy
Spirit and You, Dennis and Rita Bennett, Bridge Publishing
Prayer for Charismatic Renewal in the Erie Diocese