Informing you above and beyond
“Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.” — 1 Corinthians 12:1
Paul kicks us off here in a brilliant way, politely telling the Corinthians that he doesn’t want them uninformed! Do you consider yourself well informed or uninformed when it comes to the gifts of the Spirit? Tread carefully though – if you say you are well informed and you don’t step out in the gifts, then you have to also ask why not? The gifts of the Spirit are given to you for others. In our corporate gatherings, others sat with you long for someone like you to be used by God to bring them encouragement!
Sometimes we can step back pleading ignorance, but ignorance is not just the absence of knowledge – it’s a quiet saboteur. Like a thief in the night, it doesn’t shout or demand, but it leaves lives empty, robbed. I read somewhere that across the vaults of Scotland, untold millions lie dormant, unclaimed by those who don’t even know they have a right to them; the Church – the body of Christ – is no different. She sits, too often, unaware of what heaven has lavished and extravagantly deposited into her hands.
Paul’s plea is urgent: Do not be uninformed. Not about salvation. Not about sin. And certainly not about the gifts of the Spirit. Because ignorance here isn’t innocent – it’s costly. It weakens the Church. It sterilises her witness. It strips her of her supernatural distinctiveness. Ignorance gives us the lie of a God, nowhere in sight. We need the authentic, powerful and encouraging gifts of the Spirit in this trying and discouraging hour.
Some have abandoned the gifts, not from apathy but from fear. Fear of excess. Fear of controversy. Fear of abuse. In some quarters, we’ve silenced the Spirit to keep things “safe”, seeker friendly – where actually, it is God and what He does that people are after! A safe Church is not a sent Church.
The gifts are not peripheral curiosities, things we can dangle, take or leave if you are that way inclined – they are central to the mission. They are not personal party tricks or scout-like Christian merit badges. They are manifestations of the Spirit for the common good – literally for everyone’s benefit (1 Corinthians 12:7). Heaven-sent, given tools to build, to bless, to encourage and bear witness to the living Christ.
Let’s address the elephant in the room: these gifts are not talents polished up in religious language or the fruit of cleverness or maturity. They are gifts – given, not earned. Bestowed, not manufactured. They are Spirit-born. And that’s why the world can’t reproduce them. Jesus said the world cannot receive the Spirit of truth, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him (John 14:17). Which means, ipso facto, the world cannot counterfeit what it does not know.
Take the gift of tongues, for example – it’s not a knack for languages. It is a supernatural language given by the Spirit, a heavenly tongue that flows from a believers heart – and in some churches, it’s becoming extinct! The gift of healing is not advanced medicine either – it is resurrection life surging through broken bones. Miracles too are not rare occurrences – they are signs. And signs point somewhere – to Someone.
The early Church knew this. They did not simply preach a risen Christ; they demonstrated His ongoing reign. Tongues, prophecy, healing – these weren’t the preserve of apostles, they were the common currency of a Spirit-filled community. The Gospel didn’t spread because the theology was tidy. It spread because the tomb was empty and the power of God was real.
From early Church Fathers like Irenaeus to Origen, the records are there. The gifts didn’t disappear – they simply got forgotten, neglected, overlooked. But then … every time the Church returned to its knees in repentance and hunger, the Spirit came again with roaring fire – at the Reformation, in the fields of Wesley and Whitefield, through the Moravians, the Methodists, the Welsh revivalists. Each time, gifts. Each time, power. Each time, unprecedented interventions of God.
So why does this matter now? Really? Do we need to ask?
It matters because the world isn’t asking for polished sermons, smoke machines or slick services. It is crying out for raw Spirit-glorifying demonstrations of the kingdom of God – not in word only, but in power. The world is asking for a God who sees, who speaks, who heals. And our answer must not be theoretical. It must be embodied.
The Church needs gifts – not to entertain, but to edify, build up. Not to elevate personalities, but to glorify Jesus. These gifts are instruments, not ornaments. Tools, not trophies. They are given to build up the body (Ephesians 4:12), not to big-up the conference, preacher or sell books or mp3s.
And they are to be desired. Absolutely desired. Coveted even. Not casually hoped for. Not politely admired. Earnestly desired (1 Corinthians 14:1).
Paul’s language is forceful – pursue them. Get up and go get them! Cry out to God for them. Talk about them, wonder about them – anything other than denying, ignoring or being indifferent to them as some do.
Be jealous for them.
Long for them. Why? Because they’re how the Spirit manifests in our midst, they’re how Christ is made visible among His people using His people…
And yes – they can be misused. But so can Scripture, leadership, or prayer. Abuse is no excuse for abandonment. The answer to misuse is not disuse – it is right use, under the governance of love and the lordship of Christ. I wonder if God might frown more at the intentional non-use of the gifts He generously gives than the abuse?
What we need at large is not just reformation, but revival – not merely correct doctrine, but living demonstration. A Church alive in the Spirit. A people not satisfied with safe Christianity, but desperate for divine power. The same Spirit who hovered over the waters in Genesis now dwells in the hearts of believers – and He has not lost His power.
The gifts are not the goal – Christ is. But the gifts dramatically point to Him, far more than no-gifts do. They reveal Him. They exalt Him. And when the Church walks in them, the world takes notice.
So ask. Seek. Knock. The Father is not reluctant. He is ready. As the writer of Hebrews put it: “God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will.” (Hebrews 2:4)
Let us eagerly desire the gifts – not because we want more from God, but because we want more of God. And because the Church cannot afford to be powerless any longer.
My church loves what God is doing through His Spirit and is earnestly seeking to grow ever more in it. Our prayer is that the church you are part of would arise – full of the Spirit, rich in the gifts, and ablaze with the glory of the risen Christ.