SPIRITUAL GIFTS
I have met some believers in Christ that are prophetically gifted on Facebook. Their ministry has really blessed me. If church leadership encouraged those brothers and sisters to use their gifting in their local churches, their ministry would be a great blessing to the local assembly. Unfortunately, most church leaders see gifted people as a threat. That is because they see the church of Christ as their family business. Apart from their immediate family members, everyone else is an intruder.
Owing to insecurity, many young believers that can prophesy, heal the sick, cast out demons, perform signs and wonders have become as a threat in the eyes of many men of God. Instead of accepting these youngsters as sons and daughters whom the Lord sent to them to train and build up in ministry, insecure men of God see them as competitors who will outshine them and take over their place in the future. In order to protect themselves from this imaginary threat, they rob them of every opportunity to use exercise their gifting in the church they oversee. That is why we do not see an explosion of such gifting in our churches.
Apart from being insecure, such men of are also victims of the spirit of pride. Pride makes them feel that, apart from them, no one else is anointed. They want the world to see them as the only anointed ones. Pride is one of many evils besetting the church of Christ. We become prideful when we see ourselves as the only one God has anointed to do something.
Have you ever wondered why a pastor or his wife are the only people who can prophesy, heal the sick, cast out demons and perform signs and wonders in a church of thousands of people? It is not because God has not anointed others for such works; it is because, out of pride and selfishness, the pastor does not permit others to exercise their gifting under his watch. This should not be so. God did not make a mistake when he distributed spiritual gifts to his church for the benefit of all believers.
The refusal of many church leaders to allow carriers of spiritual gifts to exercise their gifting under their watch accounts for why many big ministries don’t survive the death of the founder. Church leaders must understand that despite how anointed we are, we would die one day. Our death should not be the end of the church God has given to us to oversee. It does not matter who anointed a man of God is. If he does not reproduce his kind to continue the work he started when he is no more, that man of God is a failure. We should learn that it is a great sin to destroy God’s work out of selfishness.
Most men of God have forgotten that we have been called to build up the brethren, to help them discover their gifting and put the same to use for the work of the ministry.
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.”(Ephesians 4:11-16)
As Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Evangelists and Teachers, if we refuse to help those under us to grow in faith and encourage them to use their gifting to do ministry, it means we are not doing our duty as fathers in the Lord. That means we have become we become a gate of hell against the church of Christ. This is dangerous, and we will pay heavily for it. That is because the Lord promised to build his church and no gate of hell shall prevail against it. He will spare no one who stands against his church.
To all believers are under men of God that are not willing to allow you exercise your gifting, you need to understand that you will account for your stewardship to God on the last day. If you continue fellowshiping where you cannot to do the work the Lord has assigned to you, you will have yourself to blame on the last day.
My advice to all believers in Christ :
- Don’t stay under someone who will put your gifting and calling under lock and key. Such people are self-serving leaders. You will never fulfil your mission under them. God has given spiritual gifts to us for the advancement of the kingdom. No one has any right to stop another from exercising the spiritual gifts God has deposited in them. Therefore, do not allow anyone to stop you.
- Believers in Christ must not forget that God expects us to use our gifting to help His church. Therefore, it will be foolish for anyone to waste his or her time under a selfish leader who will stand against the work of God through the person.
- If you are sitting under a leader who is not willing to help you grow your spiritual gifts and use them according to God’s plan, ask God to lead you to a place where you will have the chance to do so. The more you sit on your spiritual gifts, the more suffering you create for yourself. God did not give you the spiritual gifts for nothing. It is to help his people and help yourself. If you refuse to use them, you become a fruitless branch that must be cut off and burnt.
I am not asking you to rebel against your pastor or church. However, if your pastor is a stumbling block to your calling, you are in the wrong place. Change location as the Lord leads. Humbly tell your pastor that you are leaving the church to where you will serve the Lord better with you gifting. Don’t be a benchwarmer in the church. Wake up and do something for God now that you still have the strength to do so.
Truth be told, we are called to serve God, and not man. Never allow a man to stop you from using your spiritual gifts to serve the Lord. You are the one God will ask questions and not your pastor. Remember, “the kingdom of God suffereth violence and the violent taketh it by force”. It is your duty to stand up and fight for your salvation.
I plead with you, do not allow anyone to make you bury the spiritual gifts the Lord has blessed you with. It is for the church and not for you. To keep it dormant is a big sin. We will answer for it on the last day.
Church leaders must never be a stumbling block to those under them. Those who do such will answer to the Lord. Our anointing or position will not save us on the last day if we become a stumbling block to God’s work.
Our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed his church with diverse kinds of spiritual gifts. Church leaders should never stand against the anointed believers in the ministry. We must not be a stumbling block to those under us. Our duty is to help them grow in the Lord. Those who do such will answer to the Lord. Our anointing or position will not save us on the last day if we become a stumbling block to God’s work.
God bless you.