All the Power You Need

Why doesn’t the Church—especially in the Western world—see more activity of the Holy Spirit?

One of the things I have discovered in my 20-year trek toward understanding the Spirit and His gifting hit me a couple years ago, and it gave me a new perspective on the issue. One problem we have is that we tend to see spiritual gifts as things. They are possessions I accumulate; for Western Christians, this is the most deadly way of understanding them. Our US worldview, especially, is that the accumulation of things is our goal and lifestyle--responsible use is not. For American Christians to hear about spiritual gifts as things God gives us rather than a challenge to a lifestyle of a completely different order, it often psychologically puts them in the "Optional" or "For Use When Needed" bin in our cluttered minds. You know—the place where great concepts wither and die.

This piecemeal approach is both informed and augmented by our American way of reading 1 Corinthians. We see it as Paul, the problem solver, ticking off his list of things to discuss with the troubled church in Corinth. See a problem, fix a problem. We can relate to that. It fits our superficial, pragmatic worldview.

Several years ago I was doing some Greek work on that book and came upon what I think is the real theme of 1 Corinthians, and it completely re-oriented my view of the book in general and of spiritual gifts in particular. It all revolves around the Greek word "pneumatikos" in some key areas in this book. It unlocks Paul's grand purpose for writing the book, and helps us understand that lifestyle of a completely different order.

First, a definition. "Pneumatikos" almost cannot be translated into English. The best we can do is to say that it speaks of "spiritual stuff," or the realm of reality where spiritual stuff is most active and alive. As you know, context very often must supply the local meaning. However, just looking at the words immediately surrounding a word often is not enough. This word in particular is used in key places in the book, so we are (or should be) forced to harmonize all the uses into a cohesive theme. Only then will we really "get it."

We can all agree that the church in Corinth had a number of presenting issues that reeked of spiritual immaturity. We can also agree that in Paul's other letters he never applied corrective action or teaching without first applying a broader theme of redemption and maturity. He wasn't a help desk guy simply intent on getting things re-booted so he could go on to the next customer.

Paul addresses the immaturity issue in chapter 1 presented to him by the visitors from Corinth. The goal he presents to Corinth is finishing well, which is done through the outworking of the Kingdom of God (1:7-8). He sets up the discussion for the rest of the book, and the grand underlying theme of the book in 1:18 - 3:23. That theme is, "this is what true spirituality/maturity looks like. Come live in it." In the middle chapters he holds up the mirror and lets them see the spiritual anarchy that prevents them from "getting it." That's what the discussions about divisions and competition, an anti-authority spirit, sexual leniency, legal disputes, broken and distracted marriages, "strong" versus "weak," men and women in competition, and nominal religion are about. The middle chapters are illustrations.

Back to the theme. In explicit teaching about spiritual maturity beginning in 2:6, Paul says that real understanding about the way things truly are, and the power to live that way, comes from "...words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths (pneumatikos) in spiritual words (pneumatikos)" (2:13). The concept is so important that Paul uses the word twice.

Only those who live in this realm of pneumatikos, and who are defined by it, can "get it" when God speaks (2:15 -- Literal translation: "...but the spiritual one [pneumatikos] examines all...). Suddenly the word is personified, indicating one whose life is intertwined with and defined by this realm. Paul goes on to say that he could not talk to the Corinthians as "pneumatikos" but had to do it on the flesh level (3:1). Hence, the way he writes the book. Does the way I interpret 1 Corinthians bring a little interpretation into what realm dictates my understanding? Hmmm...

Paul goes on in chapter 9 to remind the readers that his ministry was all about sowing the seeds of the Kingdom and spiritual maturity [pneumatikos]--that was his goal (9:11). He reminds the readers that they really are without excuse, because this was God's goal all along. God even provided examples through Israel's wanderings (10:1-6). They "...ate the same spiritual food [pneumatikos], and all drank the same spiritual drink [pneumatikos], for they were drinking from a spiritual rock [pneumatikos] that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ." Pneumatikos, it seems to me, is the same stuff that is supposed to flow when we are attached to the Vine. It is the lifeblood of the Kingdom, not a component we call "spiritual gifts" that most believers learn to get along without very nicely.

So we get done with the illustrations and Paul returns to his theme in 12:1. "Now concerning spiritual gifts [pneumatikos], I do not want you to be ignorant." Without understanding the flow of Paul's thinking, our next best guess is twofold: First, spiritual gifts were another of the many problems Paul had to dress down the immature Corinthians about (which leads many to the conclusion that it is good to avoid them entirely for fear of excess); Secondly, and equally wrong, that this is a list of things God gives that is almost entirely unconnected from any of the previous teaching.

What Paul is really saying is, "OK, now that I have your attention, let's talk about what living in the realm of mature spirituality looks like." If we can synthesize the earlier teachings and come to this point, then and only then does chapter 13 really fall into place. This is a discussion about what the Spirit-filled lifestyle looks like, and the greatest manifestation of the Spirit of God is love (John 13:34-35; 1 John 4:16). He can then say, "Pursue the love and the spiritual [pneumatikos]... [literal Greek translation]" (14:1).

Incidentally, by using the definite article “the” before the word “love” in 14:1, Paul is speaking of a specific love, e.g. the spiritual gift that is the primary identifier of the “pneumatikos” kind of person. This could lead to an entire volume of discussion in itself, which we won’t do now. But it does beg one important question that is directly related to the “pneumatikos” lifestyle: what does it say about the American Church when most people outside of it would say that we are identified primarily by what (or whom) we are against, rather than the empowered, magnetic essence of God living among and through us?

Paul then finishes the teaching portion of his book by saying, "If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted [pneumatikos--one who walks and lives in the realm of the Kingdom], let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord's command..." (14:37).

In closing, Paul encourages the Corinthians to live under the shadow of the resurrection (chapter 15). He continues his theme and weaves it into this encouragement. Whenever the English translations say in 44-46 that there is a "spiritual" whatever, that word is pneumatikos. Paul's point is this: Pneumatikos is what we were destined for. Not only is it what we will experience, it is what we can experience. If that is the case, then learn to recognize it and live in it now. Without this kind of understanding we will continue to view spiritual giftings programmatically, rather than wholistically. Without this kind of understanding the Church at large will never move toward the organic and away from the institutional.