We Don't Get to Pick and Choose

Why do I feel so shaky when telling about my Pentecostal/Charismatic experience with its gifts of the Spirit? Is it because in my personal world most people reject what I’d love to share? Is it because I’m acutely aware of problems? Is it because I’ve not embraced the Holy Spirit's gifts as fully as I could?

Yes. To all of the above.

Paul provides a listing of gifts of the Spirit in I Corinthians. We read, To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. (I Cor. 12:8-11 ESV) If you count the gifts as listed here, you’ll find there are nine.

In Galatians, Paul provides another list—the fruit of the Spirit. Here we read, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Gal. 5:22) If you count the fruit as listed here, you’ll find there are nine.

I don’t think either list is conclusive. But many years ago, I either heard or read something that compared these nine gifts and nine fruits to the bells and pomegranates on the priestly garments. The Scripture reference was, On the hem of the robe they made pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. They also made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranate—a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate around the hem of the robe for ministering, as the Lord had commanded Moses. (Ex. 39: 24-26)

Pomegranates represent fruit, of course. Bells represent gifts—I Corinthians 13:1 tells us they can clang! In the Tabernacle of the Arc, the high priest entered the Holy of Holies only once a year—by himself—and it was a fearsome responsibility. If unclean, he would die. While the assistants waited outside, they listened for the sound of the bells and pomegranates as a signal the high priest was still alive and fulfilling his duties. So the pomegranates and bells provided a way to determine whether or not things were going well.

In the past I’ve heard so many link fruit and gifts—emphasizing they would rather have fruit than gifts because fruit reflects humility while gifts became a thing of pride. I don’t think God intended an either/or. We aren't to choose between them. In fact, we can't choose.

Fruit is organic. It grows from within and it develops over time. Gifts, on the other hand, are inorganic, external, and instantly received. Both come from God and neither replaces the other.

A quick look at fruit production: Consider apple trees that blossom in the spring. Although I’m not a scientific person, I know buds form and then delicate petals unfold. When the petals fade, they either drop or the wind blows them away to leave a miniature apple—a fruit—hard and bitter but containing everything necessary to be an apple. It slowly grows or matures until the fleshly part is crisp and sweet, and it can be enjoyed in a multitude of ways.

Many things can happen to an apple on the way to becoming mature. Soil conditions could be poor—water could be scarce—growing conditions could be crowded—worms could infest—wind or hail could damage—and then, after the apple reaches perfection, honey bees could find them and eat them. Each step of fruit production is precarious. Meanwhile, all the apple does is be an apple. It grows from within, but something beyond itself is at work.

Likewise, the fruit of the Spirit that grows in God’s people is also precarious—vulnerable at every point in its development—and then it can be lost even after it’s seemingly fully developed or mature.

Spiritual fruit develops only when we respond to God. If we focus on growing fruit, we lose sight of God and become self-obsessed. For example, if we try to grow the fruit of long-suffering, we don’t become long-suffering—we become pathetic. We cannot decide to grow the fruit of love by deciding to grow the fruit of love, either. And not joy or peace or patience or kindness or goodness or faithfulness or gentleness or self-control. Growing fruit depends on looking beyond fruit to our master gardener. Spiritual fruit grows and develops only as we respond to the life of Christ.

And here’s a frightening truth: if we aren’t bearing good fruit, we’re rejecting God’s Spirit. When we look to God, He deals with us. His dealings might be hard, but that's when our fruit becomes sweet and lovely. If we resist His dealings, we remain stunted bitter apples that no one wants. It's not a matter of choosing fruit over gifts or gifts over fruit. It's a matter of focusing on Him. Fruit is natural to healthy fruit trees—and good fruit should be natural for healthy Christians. If that isn't the case, something is wrong.

While we can’t try to grow fruit on our own, we can examine ourselves regularly to see if the Holy Spirit is doing something significant—to see if we’re actually allowing Him into our lives. Most of the times we know without an examination—because He is at work pruning, force-feeding reality we’d rather not face, showing us how to stand against spiritual attacks, and doing the things God does—because interaction with Him is an ongoing process.

Next time, a brief overview of the gifts of the Spirit.