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Churches Neglect Teaching on Spiritual Gifts

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Churches are failing to make as much impact as they could because many members are clueless about their spiritual gifts, according to a national pollster who said that President Bush’s championing of “faith-based” social programs compelled congregations to address the issue.

George Barna’s call for better education about spiritual gifts followed his researchers’ discovery of a “startling” increase in the number of believers who do not know their spiritual gifts, and many others listing ones not found in the Bible as theirs.

Among born-again Christians questioned by the Barna Research Group (BRG), 21 percent said that they had heard of spiritual gifts but did not believe that God had given them one-a big jump from the 4 percent who answered the same way in 1995. Only 30 percent listed just the spiritual gifts identified in the Bible. Eight percent named a combination of biblical and other gifts, while 16 percent listed only gifts not found in Scripture.

Among the nonbiblical “gifts” named were a sense of humor, listening, being likeable, drawing, a good personality and going to church. Barna, BRG’s president, said he was alarmed by the growing number of Christians who believed that God had prepared others for special service, but “left them out of the process.” The inaccurate view was harmful to the church, he said.

“If more believers understood the nature and potential of [God’s] special empowerment, the global impact of the Christian body would be multiplied substantially.” If churches focused teaching on spiritual gifts, they could “ignite a movement of service and influence unlike anything we have experienced during our lifetime.”

A companion survey of Protestant pastors-74 percent of whom listed only biblical gifts, with just 4 percent claiming nonbiblical gifts-also discovered some significant changes in belief over a similar time period.

Many more identified having more than one spiritual gift than had in a 1993 study. There were large increases in the identification of discernment (up from less than 0.5 percent to 6 percent) and prophecy (4 percent to 13 percent) as their spiritual gifts. Pastoring or shepherding grew from 12 percent to 28 percent, and teaching rose from 52 percent to 63 percent. The only gift with a significant decline over the period was mercy, dropping from 8 percent to 2 percent.

Barna said that teaching Christians about spiritual gifts could lead to personal and then social change. “Educating those ignorant of God’s promise to provide them with special endowments for service could transform the self-perceptions and the personal ministry of millions of believers,” he commented.

“The fact that the president is asking faith-based organizations, including churches, to step up to the plate and deliver compassionate outreach challenges churches to identify their resources more clearly and put them to use more effectively. Recognizing people’s giftedness and matching them with the expanding opportunities being made available would further expose non-Christians to the true heart of Christ’s followers and the significance of the church.”

Among lay Christians, the most commonly identified spiritual gifts were teaching (9 percent), gifts and service (9 percent), faith (6 percent), discernment, and exhortation and encouragement (both 5 percent). Just 1 percent of those questioned identified evangelism - down from 4 percent in 1995.

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