A searchable, downloadable PDF of the original article appears below. Bruce Heal is a member of Bridle wood Church, Agincourt, Ontario.
During the fall of 1990 a most exciting and spiritually encouraging event took place in our congregation — a class taught by our pastor Dan MacKinnon on spiritual gifts. Making use of the material in Chuck Congram’s course “Understanding and Using Spiritual Gifts,” Peter Wagner’s book Your Spiritual Gifts Can Help your Church Grow, Dan’s gift of teaching and his own experience, he led us through a time of learning about ourselves, the significance of our efforts for Christ in the local congregation and how to appreciate one another in the church, where, as the Body of Christ, God has brought us together for a purpose.
Why We Took the Class
As the eighteen of us gathered together that first evening we represented as wide a variety of experience as we did motives for being there. Some were there out of curiosity, others because it was in the time slot in which they were accustomed to meeting, others because of a creative restlessness about their present involvements looking for a better understanding of what they were doing. Others still, may have taken the class to confirm that they were working in the areas best suited to them or to confirm God’s will for their lives in the congregation. Obviously, there was in most some desire to understand both spiritual gifts and the work of the Holy Spirit.
Whatever our expectations were when we started the class, they certainly changed as we went through it. Not only did our expectations change but we were changed in the process.
What Happened?
God used this class in a way that none of us would have expected when we started. In essence God met us, through his word, prayer and the teaching showing us all how intimately he is concerned and involved in our lives. God challenged us, in our thinking about ourselves, others, the church, and God himself, helping us to see in a fresh way. God changed us. Many of us came away with a new, more positive attitude towards a number of things, not the least of which was a new love for Christ and one another.
Perhaps one of the keys to success of the class was that each night before the lesson would begin, we prayed for at least 45 minutes. The time of prayer set the atmosphere for bonding together, as well as learning, so that it did not degenerate into simply an academic exercise. Instead, it opened the door for personal and congregational benefit.
Personally, each of us came away with some unique blessings while also sharing many of the same benefits.
We became aware of the fact that each person is special in God’s sight and that he has by his Holy Spirit given each of us at least one spiritual gift. We learned that God in his sovereign arrangement of the Body frames the gifts we have inside the personalities and temperament he has given us. As we began to understand how certain personalities were necessary for the effective functioning of the gift within us, we began to appreciate the members of the Body as a whole in a new way. We began to love and appreciate especially the fellow members of the group, becoming more open to the Lord’s leading in us, and more willing to follow that leading in ministry.
We also came to discern that each one of us has a part to play in the Lord’s work in the local church. No one job is more significant or important than another. The people serving in the front lines need those behind them supplying and maintaining the lines. We also realized that each one of us is responsible for the use of his or her gift(s) in the best possible way, in reliance upon the Holy Spirit. This does not excuse us from any of the roles we have in such areas as prayer or witnessing in which we may not be particularly gifted, but it does help us understand why we may not feel as comfortable or have as much success in some things as others.
The understanding that each one of us has at least one gift means we no longer need to be envious of the gifts or fruit for labour others enjoy. Instead of being critical of others in the group we now understand what each of us has to offer and how our gifts affect how we relate to others in the group, the church, and outside the church. In fact, it means that we can freely encourage and pray for others as they exercise their spiritual gifts. This freedom from the need to criticize or envy can only advance the cause of Christ in the world. It has been said that this attitude of no longer criticizing the Body of Christ is often one of the signs of revival happening. This does not mean that we cease to be discerning; we have simply been convicted of how precious the Bride of Christ is to God himself and therefore think twice before we criticize our brothers and sisters in Christ.
We gained a new reverence for, and understanding of, the way God can work in a local church, if we but allow him to do so. We came to the realization that God equips each congregation with the gifts that are needed for that congregation to worship and work as it should. Many of us were surprised at what our gifts were, yet the confirmation of each individual’s gifts by the rest of the class was one of the most moving parts of what we did together.
We have seen lives changed, worship become more meaningful, the power of God’s Word in ministry, and people healed. In our times together the Lord has been very gracious and allowed us experiences within the group that taught us how to minister to people who were in need of his healing touch. Anger and unforgiveness have been confessed. Jealousies and hostility have been broken. Memories of hurts of the past have been dealt with, all as a part of God’s healing the inner person. God has also in this group broken the chains of depression, setting people free from the things that bind them. Perhaps most surprising of all to the group was that God would use us as instruments of healing physically, in particular seeing tumours disappear. To say that God has moved in mysterious ways is more than an understatement to us who have had no such experience of God’s moving before. Greatest of all is the wonderful renewal of faith in our Saviour Jesus that has taken place.
What Happens Now?
Now that the class is over we have continued to meet for a time of prayer and praise at least once a week. One of our main items of prayer is that the new spiritual gifts class which is already meeting will enjoy the same benefits. Our pastor has encouraged us to continue on also as a ministry team, to which God has already brought folk for a variety of reasons and to whom in his grace we have had an opportunity to minister. We have also realized that Satan is not likely to be pleased with what has happened in our midst and that we need to be very conscious of the enemy’s efforts to destroy what has been started. As a group we have to guard against the feeling that we are a specially privileged clique but rather realize that we have a responsibility to our congregation and to other Christians to help them to an understanding of the Lord and his church where spiritual gifts can be exercised. We need to be able to hold each other accountable for the use of our discovered gifts so that no one will become discouraged and miss what the Lord has planned for us. Praise God for the way that the Holy Spirit has given spiritual gifts to the church and the many and varied ways he can use us to the honour and glory of Christ Jesus our Saviour!