Have you ever heard of The Chronicles of Pyrdain? Ok, if you haven’t, check it out. The main character’s name is Taran. He’s an assistant pig keeper to an oracular pig. Throughout the series Taran is on this constant quest to come in to himself as a leader, something much more grand than just an assistant pig keeper. He wants to be a hero for the kingdom. From chapter to chapter the reader sees the change in the way Taran approaches situations. He goes from foolish and irrational to stable and authoritative. He speaks differently, even fights better. He comes in to being a man instead of just staying a boy. Taran sincerely craved to be better. It was a similar situation for what Paul wanted for the Corinthians and for us as well.
As believers in Christ we have been blessed with spiritual gifts and just like Taran wanted to be more of a man and hero we should earnestly and eagerly desire to come in to our gifts as sons and daughters of Christ as well.
Paul talks a lot in 1 Corinthians about spiritual gifts. He tells the Corinthians to truly want these and later confirms that they were eager as a community of Christ to see the manifestations of the spirit (1 Corinthians 14:12). He says that in the body of Christ we all have jobs, everyone is a certain member, and each one of us whether we see it as big or small, plays an intricate role in bringing the Kingdom. We partially do this by knowing our spiritual gifts and using them to glorify God.
In The Black Cauldron, the second book in The Chronicles of Pyrdain, Taran is given a brooch by Adaon, a bard who serves as a leader for part of the book. The unfortunate situation is that Taran receives this when Adaon is dying but the great part is that it’s his prized possession, so this really boosts Taran’s confidence as the new leader. As he continues to wear it he finds himself having these weird dreams that end up happening in reality. He has premonitions of where the group needs to travel, keeping them out of much harm. Ultimately he figures out this brooch holds powers that help them along on their journey of saving the kingdom.
It’s likewise with our spiritual gifts. After we have eagerly desired them, like Taran desired to be more of the hero, we can use them to bring glory to God and His Kingdom. Being a Christian is no longer a self-satisfying belief that only brings good to ourselves but we focus on Christ and what he wants from us. Without spiritual gifts, prophesying, speaking in tongues, having visions, dreams, how do we move forward in faith? How do we even begin to have the slightest idea of how God will use us?
We don’t. We cannot begin to do anything by our own will. It is all about what God wants for us. He tells us what he wants through giving us words, blessing us with visions, building up the church with tongues. In chapter 7 of 1 Corinthians Paul urges them and us to live as we are called. God has placed very specific desires in our hearts and we shouldn’t struggle against these. We need to come in to our identities in Christ and realize how important each gift is to the entirety of the work of God. Even if we can’t see the movement of Christ in our one action we can rest assured that He used it to glorify Himself.
Taran’s gift was handed to him freely. Our spiritual gifts might be handed to us without much thought but sometimes we have to ask for them. If we put ourselves in the position of listening to God we will come in to these blessings. Different gifts bring different results. When Paul talks about the variations between speaking in tongues and prophesying he tells the Corinthians to desire prophesy even more than the other (1 Corinthians 14:1). He says this because prophesy builds up the church and brings encouragement and consolation. It is a communal gift where as speaking in tongues, unless there’s an interpretation, only serves the person who speaks it. When we speak in tongues it is a mystery in the spirit (1 Corinthians 14:2) but prophesying praises in mind as well, therefore everyone in the church can learn from it.
The point is we should all earnestly desire to serve God in any of these ways. We should want to bring Him glory and fully identify ourselves with our spiritual gifts. When we do this as a community we learn of God’s greater plans for our lives and ultimately what He wants us to do for His Kingdom. We have been blessed with these gifts, just like the brooch was handed over to Taran when Adaon died because of his love for him. Christ loves us unconditionally and wants us to have good things and when we do His will that happens.
Having spiritual gifts is not a burden for us to be weighed down with but a blessing because God is using us. We would be nothing without Him but because he gives us the strength and the will to serve Him it is an honor to bring Him glory through this. He loves us enough to let us do this for Him. The least we can do is say, “Yes, Lord, of course we’ll obey your will.”
So even though Taran figures out that he is a strong leader and hero without the brooch the point is that he earnestly desired to be better and when he did that he came in to the man he knows he is just like we come in to the followers of Christ we should desire to be. When we have these gifts, when Taran is guiding the group through the marshes of Morva, when we consciously strive to glorify God, good things come. Just like Taran moves the group forward to safety and betterment we too bring the Kingdom further when we prophesy, have visions, dreams, interpretations, when we are in line with what God is saying to us. Whether it’s to build up or to give instruction it is for God. And that should be the focus of our lives, to serve Christ, glorify Him and listen and follow intently to His will. His love and grace for us is so abounding that it is the least we can do for the God that is promising us eternity.
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