PTM WEEKLY UPDATE -- OCTOBER 13, 2008

Prayer warriors -- aren't some more "spiritually gifted" than others?

Q. Regarding your comments a few weeks ago on "prayer warriors" -- I agree that God hears all those who pray to him. But couldn't some be specially gifted with intercessory prayer, just as others have the gifts of faith, wisdom, knowledge, tongues, etc? This broaches the whole area of spiritual gifting, and the fact that each of us in the body of Christ is outstanding in some area of spirituality more than others. I think of Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4, for example.

A. My cautions about the use of the term (and more than that, the religious assumptions that undergird the term itself) "prayer warriors " are predicated on the central proposition of the new covenant -- that we are one in Christ. The new covenant proposes, in contrast to the old, that there is no exclusivity -- no class or caste system, no special/better people of God, as opposed to Gentile "dogs" -- no special priesthood, as opposed to non-priests, who cannot themselves have a relationship with God.

Prayer is something all Christians may do. I do not see the New Testament proposes any special measurement of prayer effectiveness to establish a new breed of prayer warrior -- there is no spiritual Olympics when we crown a prayer warrior with a gold medal. The prayer of a little old lady, who is not a prayer warrior, who is dying in her hospital bed, can be just as effective as someone who has been self-designated or appointed by a group as a prayer warrior.

It is clear to me, in the pages of the New Testament, that each human is given unique physical talents and gifts. Of course, when it comes to our relationship with our fellow man, as Christians we may use, and should use, our God-given gifts to serve our fellow man (and God for that matter). What is not clear to me is how these talents and gifts turn those who are so "gifted" into a spiritually superior class, so that there are those in the body of Christ who do a "better job" at prayer, for example, than others.

I do not agree with the notion that each of us, in the body of Christ, is more outstanding, more effective, spiritually, in terms of our relationship with God and with others, than our peers. I do not agree with the notion that we have hidden spiritual gifts which some test, battery of tests or spiritual authority can somehow divine and discern, and thereby allow us to "unlock" and use in God's service. I believe the gifts God has given us are fairly obvious -- and can be physically discerned -- through school, family employment and social contacts. I have huge reservations about subjective, even mystical "tests" and "inventories" that "reveal" previously "unknown" and "hidden" spiritual gifts. I find the foundational suppositions behind such assumptions out of keeping with New Testament propositions such as the fact that we are a priesthood of all believers, and that we are "one in Christ" -- with no barriers, no "dividing wall of hostility" (Ephesians 2:14).

Of course Paul explains "spiritual gifts" in 1 Corinthians 12 -- but in so doing he does not attempt to make the idea into a religious caste system or a booming religious cottage industry, so that they body of Christ is divided into special interest/ability/gift groups. When Paul uses the term "spiritual gifts" -- speaking to the first century Corinthian Christians, I expect that we, 21st century Christians, would understand that term within its immediate culture, just as we do passages within the same epistle, such as women have to wear a hair covering, women needing to keep be silent in church, or that we should speak in tongues. I see "spiritual gifts" spoken of, in such a culture, in a similar way of other New Testament cultural references, of greeting one another with a holy kiss, of picking up snakes, and the practice of having a pastor or ministry leader anoint cloths to give to the physically ill, so that they might be physically healed. I believe the presence of the Holy Spirit is the spirit of a sound mind, which is more broadly found in characteristics like the "fruit of the Spirit" -- love, joy, peace, patience, etc. (Galatians 5:22) -- than it is with what are often subjectively determined, spectacular and sensational so-called gifts, which can lead people away from God and toward religion.

There have always been "healers" in the religious arena who some have been inclined to think of as having "special powers" from God to physically heal. Physical healers and their followers have campaigns, they move from place to place -- today they rent arenas and turn to the power of the media to promote their work. I believe there is far more sleight of hand, far more promotion of a person, far more religion, than grace in such ministries. There are ministries and preachers who will scream and shout, speak in tongues, hold snakes in their hands and do all manner of spectacular things -- predict the future (such individuals are often accorded the mantle of "prophets"). I do not support such sensationalism -- in many cases I fear such events and performances do far more to cause the gospel to be maligned and made fun of than to actually help proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It seems to me that religion is always coming up with some unique truth claim, some special little edge or emphasis to attract people -- and that many of these "selling points" extend beyond the boundaries of the relationship God offers to us all. It is for that reason that I find the central idea behind "prayer warriors" suspect. If a person wants to serve, in a particular way, if they want to teach or preach, if they want to encourage and inspire, if they want to pray, if they want to give -- then let them do that, serving God, without sounding a trumpet, without needing to have a special patch on their sleeve about how "gifted" they are, according to some authority figure who has told them such a thing. If a person feels "gifted" (I personally don't like the term, for it often calls attention to the created rather than the Creator) then let them serve without fanfare and designations. I see no need for shamans, medicine men and women, fortune telling, crystal ball gazing, and intercessory prayer warrior designations in the body of Christ. That conclusion and interpretation is based on what I feel is a sound exegesis of the passages you mention -- 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12 and Ephesians 4. That's just my two cents, as I understand the grace of God. I hope this clarifies what I see as a New Testament response to the idea and practice of "prayer-warriors."

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