The Prostituting of the Spiritual Giftsby Pam Clark
I Corinthians 12:7:"But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal." (KJV) "Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good." (NIV) "The Holy Spirit displays God's power through each of us as a means of helping the entire church." (LB) It's obvious in the English and the Greek of this text that this means everyone is to bring together their impartation from God for the common good of all. But what is happening today? We have feature performers. We have the "special givers" and thus the "special receivers." Now the only way we can learn to walk in the gifts of the Spirit is through someone through whom the gifts of the Spirit are operating. But what happens when those who have learned how to operate in the gifts of the Spirit just "perform"? Not only is the gift limited, it is in risk of being prostituted. Not only is the gifted person subject to being sinfully idolized, but the particular gift manifestation can also be, as well as both being used for unGodly gain. This is a very grave issue. If we do not understand the will of the Spirit for the Church and our individual lives in this, we will not just miss God's Plan for the Church, but also greatly incur His anger and wrath. This is indeed serious! Those who walk in the supernatural endowments of the Holy Spirit are to be servants to the Body -- not just in knowledge but also in impartation. Their focus must be on the good of the entire Body, and prophetically what the Body should be (which includes the Body yet to be, incorporated in its strength), or the gifts quite possibly are being misused. We have movements now where people with like interest and giftings come together and much is rallied for their glorious cause. And while it is nice to see a power move, if the Flock is not GUARDED for balance and servanthood, it will go awry. This applies to anyone with any leadership ability anywhere! (Can you win a soul and witness? It applies to you!) Because the operation of the Spiritual gifts are supernatural and powerful, there is no way that they will not be taken and used wrongly because the enemy will work hard to see that they are. But the results will still be greatly evil. If the prophets and shepherds of the Flock do not guard the Flock against this, the righteous anger of God will be stirred against them, and some not even know it. And I fear that is taking place around the globe today... We have evangelism moves, prophetic moves, intercessory prayer moves, apostolic moves, and others, and each of these carry supernatural giftings. And there are many Spiritual giftings that will rise with the callings, and the chance of the wrong focus becomes greater with every groundswell of the individual administrations of it. When it happens, people will begin isolate themselves into "tribes" or "races" within the Body and begin to compare and compete. This is disastrous. It's deadly. Instead of unity, we now have a Body in civil war and in competition with itself. And a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand and will be defeated. But even worse than mistaken use is when the gift is allowed to be idolized and then is set up for financial or personal gain, such as fame or controlling power. These transgressions bring forth the spirit of death to the Body. This will also manifest in the individual's mental health and body and relationships. I am not trying to accuse any individual or group! We are in a warfare and Satan will target the gifted because they can do the most damage to his kingdom stronghold. But if we are not wise, and become sectarian and closed off and out-of-balance, we will fall and open ourselves up to the destructive effects of the enemy and cripple the Body. What is the cure for this? The cure for this is the proper attitude of equipping the Body mentally and socially to accept the operation of the gifts of the Spirit into their own lives. Just because one can, so can others, because we are all gifted, even if we do not recognize it. In most cases we just have not qualified because we didn't know how. (The Holy Spirit dwells in every born again child of God and wants to manifest in power and maturity.) Persons operating in the gifts should be saying: "I can do this, but you can, too, and you need to!!!" Instead of becoming busy building an ivory tower for isolation and protection, the gifted will instead become busy serving the flock humbly and equipping the Body for the work of the ministry. THAT is the job description of the five fold ministry! It's found in Ephesians 4:11-16. We CANNOT fight a spiritual war without the Spiritual gifts. We will lose, no questions asked! For our spiritual enemy will hold nothing back in his arsenal of spiritual tools to war against us! Weird things will happen and we will blame God for these manifestaions when it was not Him at all! "He who would be greatest among you, let him be the servant of all," Jesus said. Do we want the crown that will not perish, or do we want to face Him with defiled works? The ones who are the most gifted bear the greatest responsibility for this proper focus of balance and unifying and edification. The gifts should never be lifted up!!! They are the TOOLS!!! I will frequently get mail with people so excited about the dreams they had and how everyone should know and pay attention. But in doing that, they are lifting the gift, and themselves, and it is often well on its way into idol worship. If you get an argument from them, it's there! What is greater -- the tool, or the one bearing the instrument? People spend hours on prophetic words, and dreams and visions and miss the plan of God. There is no fruit in their lives in souls or in manifested character fruit. And dangerously, if there are souls, it could be to make a Pharaseeical proselyte! God is a Spirit. They who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth, for it is such the Father seeks to worship Him. If Spiritual posture is not predominate over the head knowledge, we have missed it. If we are not changing and going from glory to glory deeper into the realm of the Spirit and manifesting the nature of Jesus, we are missing it. If we are not beholding Jesus and helping others to behold Him, that we may be like Him, we are missing it. It's not enough to know "about" Jesus, or the formula or strategy or "plan" He used, if the nature and character is not being developed into pure and Godly Spiritual manifestation, presence and power. We can carry the weight of His Glory, but we will grow into it in due measures. His Word must be formed in us, and when it is, and the Spiritual manifestion of gifts just automatically comes forth, the right spirit will execute it properly. It will execute it in a way that benefits all, not just a few and not making idols for personal gains. So many hits in the Body from the evil one come from the results of evil hearts! Do I say this to condemn? No! But rather to deliver!!! I fail as well, but it is HIS power at work within me that will not fail! Then my boast can be in the Lord and free, and not the boast of man and defiled. The gifts are NEEDED!!!! I feel I cannot emphasize this enough! But if they are not administrated and balanced properly in the spirit of servanthood and knitting unity and Body empowerment, they can bring us much destruction. When the gifts or the tools become more important than the people, we have missed the reason for which Christ died. I bless you in the Name of the Lord.
Pam Clark Prophetic Ministries Email: pamclark@prophetic.net
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