Yesterday we skipped nicely down one third rail, and today we are doing the same thing. One of the comments from Hearthie yesterday — who does cover her head — includes an unanswerable question.
Who wants to play “Metaphysical Unanswered Questions”? I’d like to get some answers for, “Why do the angels care what I do with my hair?”It makes some spiritual difference. Don’t ask me what, it’s too misty to pin down and define, but … it makes me feel different to be covered, even all alone in my house by myself.
I do not know why hair covering is for the angels. I do know that Paul’s commands were while prophesying or praying. And that can be done silently — Calvin moves to if there was a contradiction between the command to be silent and the need to cover while prophesying — but one wonders about this. And in this society, having coverings on your head makes one stick out — including in summer, when we all should be wearing a hat as there is such a high UV index even the African ethnicities get sunburnt.
But to another controversial passage. The reformed statement within the Westminster Confession is that the gifts have ceased. I have seen people who have shown “the gifts of the spirit” but are living incredibly unholy lives.
Those people include me at times. And I think the gifts do exist: including glossolalia. But perhaps we make too much of them.
1Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. 3Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.
4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
I have always read this as a list of examples. There obvious points are that not all the gifts are in the same person, and that the service and work of the church is thus not with the elder, but with the congregation. The second point is gifts are something we do not earn and are not given. The third, very obvious point is that they are not points of holiness or worthiness, and thus not a thing of pride.
An example. I’m fairly aware of how bright I am — and have been since I worked out that the three digit number next to my name in the roll was an IQ. At intermediate school. Reading the roll upside down. I was about 11. I am blessed with three children, two of whom are scarily bright.
So we talk about work. That intelligence is of no use unless it is harnessed and doing good. It is as much use to be proud of your intelligence as it is to be proud you are tall or you have a pleasing face.
[Yes, this does not increase self esteem, but self esteem is an incredibly useless proxy measure: psychopaths have an incredibly healthy self esteem, politicians included, and we don not want to be like them, nor imitate them].
Do the gifts exist? Yes.
Do they act as a seal and insurance of salvation? No. For any gift can be imitated: for every true prophecy there are many false ones. For everyone who is wise there are those who claim this.
Despite this observation, which comes from both the church and work. In my life I have been blessed and met many people who are very holy. But they themselves consider they sin deeply and grievously. I have also met the leaders in my profession, people who have been greatly honoured within my trade and without. And they are clear there are things they do not know. They are quite aware of the limits of their knowledge.
The wise know they are ignorant, and the holy know they are fallen. We should follow their example.
I think of the spiritual gifts like tools that I’ve been handed. God sends me packages (callings? No, He doesn’t call. Packages. He sends me packages) to deal with, and He’s given me certain gifts to help deal with those things He chooses to drop into my life.
A funny: Was volunteering in the food pantry for the internship and was on prayer duty. A lady asked me how long I’d been saved, and then she asked me if I was ‘sealed by the Spirit’ (aka had tongues). When I told her I had the Spirit, but didn’t speak in tongues, she told me to just pray generally. I find this vastly amusing, not being in any uncertainty about my salvation. But – no prayer requests from that lady, because I don’t have tongues. LOL.
The idea that one needs to speak in tounges to have salvation is heretical, and needs to be confronted.
And I like packages, literally, and as an analogy.
🙂 Me too! 🙂 Usually my “packages” are people. I like people. (And if you’re wondering, my gifts are exhortation/encouragement, counsel, and a smattering of some others – but those first. I get lots of people, so it’s good that I enjoy them).
I think I’m more introverted: I can handle working with people for about half a day at a time.
I’m an introvert who likes people. I don’t like a lot of them at a time. You go out and deal with people all day. I spend my day with two children and a house…. maybe some phone calls or a trip to the store. Tots different situations.