Seeking the Gifts¶

The text. "But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way." (1 Corinthians 12:31, ESV) "Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy." (14:1) "So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues." (14:39)

The command¶

Three imperatives in one letter, and none of them a suggestion. The verb is zēloute, "be zealous for," a present imperative plural: keep on desiring, all of you. Paul uses it at 12:31, at 14:1, and again at 14:39. The commands bracket chapter 13, which is why the "more excellent way" cannot mean doing without the gifts (the gifts in the church).

One qualifier: the "higher gifts" are not the flashiest. Paul ranks prophecy above tongues because prophecy builds the church up (14:5). The ranking is by edification, not by sensation.

Ask, seek, knock¶

"And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:9-13, ESV)

The climax is not "how much more will he give you the thing you named" but "how much more will he give the Holy Spirit" — the Spirit who "apportions to each one individually as he wills" (1 Corinthians 12:11). James adds the other half: "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions" (James 4:3). Asking is commanded; motive is the variable.

Seeking and manipulating¶

Seeking says the gift belongs to the Lord, who gives as he wills; it prays and waits, and is content to be a steward: "as each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace" (1 Peter 4:10). Manipulation says the gift belongs to me, and the right technique will extract it by the date I have chosen; it wants to be an owner.

Its worse form is manipulating people. "If you had more faith, you would be healed" is not discernment; it is blame moved from the prayer to the prayed-for, and it is treated in when healing does not come.

The posture¶

Humility, because "what do you have that you did not receive?" (1 Corinthians 4:7) ends the argument about who is advanced. Obedience, because gifts are given for service, and the point of receiving one is to spend it. And the command is plural: "earnestly desire" is addressed to the church, not to a gifted individual.

Ordinary means¶

Scripture gives means, not techniques. None of them works as a lever.

Prayer. Persistent prayer, of the kind Jesus describes in the parable told "to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart" (Luke 18:1). Paul prayed three times about his thorn and did not get what he asked for; that did not make the praying wrong (2 Corinthians 12:8).

Fasting. In Acts it is the setting in which the church hears the Spirit: "While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul'" (Acts 13:2). It does not purchase a word; it clears a space in which a word can be heard.

The Word. Faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17), and Scripture teaches us what to ask for. A church that wants revelation while neglecting the revelation it has is browsing, not seeking.

The gathered church. Almost every promise about the gifts is corporate, and "when you come together" is the setting of 1 Corinthians 14. Ask the church to pray with you; ask the elders (James 5:14).

The laying on of hands. The New Testament's gesture of blessing and identification in the impartation of gifts (Acts 8:17; 19:6; 1 Timothy 4:14). Paul tells Timothy to "fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands" (2 Timothy 1:6) — a prayer with hands in it, not a mechanism.

Two dangers¶

Chasing experiences. The thrill of a meeting is not the test of a gift. Paul warns of those who "go on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason" (Colossians 2:18), and Jesus refuses a generation that demands a sign (Matthew 12:39). A hungry church wants the Giver; a consuming one wants the feeling.

Buying "anointings." Simon Magus offers money for the power and hears, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!" (Acts 8:20). Elisha refused Naaman's payment (2 Kings 5:16). A ministry that sells access to the Spirit has told you what it thinks the Spirit is.

When nothing seems to happen¶

Most readers will have asked and received nothing they could name.

Examine the motive; James says motive matters. Keep asking; Jesus says to. Do not conclude that God has ceased to give — that inference is answered in the unbelief of Nazareth and greater works. Do not conclude that you are condemned either: distribution is the Spirit's will, not a reward (1 Corinthians 12:11).

Use what you have. Romans 12:6-8 lists gifts most churches already possess — service, teaching, exhortation, generosity, leadership, mercy — and says simply, "let us use them." The way to receive more is often to spend what is in your hand. And wait.

What this does and does not prove¶

It proves: that seeking the gifts is commanded, not a mark of immaturity; that the Father promises the Holy Spirit to those who ask; and that Scripture gives means, not techniques.

It does not prove: that asking guarantees a particular gift on demand; that fasting or hands or tears produce results; or that the gifts are the centre. They are means to the common good; the centre is Christ.