Many, many years ago, before I was married, I knew a man from my church (my college group) who loved the Word of God with such passion, and he defended it. There would be maybe a dozen of us college students at a Dennys restaurant in the middle of the night. If someone spoke something that was error Scripturally, he knew the truth, and he spoke the truth. His face would get really serious (he was normally a goofball, so the transformation was actually quite dramatic). And he nailed it. Everything he said was true; I looked it up. He used pure Scripture to speak, and he spoke so eloquently that I wanted to clap. I love the Truth. I love it with all my heart. So this man’s spiritual gift made him very attractive to me. I ended up marrying him because of it.
My husband’s spiritual gift cuts through the bull and gets to the heart of the matter. If you didn’t know him, you might think he was mad. But he is speaking the truth in love, I can promise you that. The reason I know this is because a highly respected woman from my church has the same spiritual gift, and it manifests itself in the same identical way. But because she’s in a position of leadership, her words are respected and taken to heart. Yes, a few women are ticked off and don’t like her, but the reason they don’t is that they don’t want to know the truth. The truth hurts, especially when it is a Scripture directed to a personal sin in your own life. Ouch, is what I say. Please tell me more. I don’t want sin in my life. I don’t need it to be candy coated, and this person can’t candy-coat it without compromising the truth. So they don’t. It is not sin for her to get super serious, speak in an almost agitated tone of voice, and almost sound like she’s yelling at me. Her rebukes are harsh, even from my point of view. But I am absolutely certain that she loves me. She knows that my heart wants the truth more than anything. Where else can I go? I NEED people like this in my life. She can see straight through to my soul and see things that I don’t know are there. And she is right. I repent and I am healed in a matter of minutes. Deep spiritual surgery has occurred in a short space of time, and I feel so clean and pure I want to shout for joy. The crucifixion of my sin frees me. I love her so much. I love ALL of it – the complete package — because it’s so highly effective. Telling her to dilute it would compromise the content of the message. It wouldn’t get through to my heart. I WANT it to get through. Less sin, more peace. The truth sets me free.
One hundred percent of people with this spiritual gift look like they’re mad, but they are not mad. They also sound arrogant, but they’re usually not. They are certain about the truth, and their utter confidence comes across as pride. But my husband and my gray-haired mentor friend are two of the most humble people I know, and now I know why. They’ve been slammed across the head their whole life for speaking the truth, and they are especially hated at church. To be misunderstood for so many years is humiliating. Pastors talk to you and rebuke you and tell you not to use your spiritual gift. Really? Now what do you do? You must submit to your pastor, but if you bury your spiritual gift in the sand… there’s someone else you’re ticking off, and that’s God. Scripture is very clear that God is ticked off with people who bury their spiritual gift. You are not allowed to do that. You must continue to see error and know the answer, and speak it.
If any of you know someone with the gift of discernment, please don’t despise their gift. It is the least liked gift in the church, but if you don’t listen to that person, or tell them to shut up, it’s like gouging out your eye. Every true church has at least one person with this gift, since God never leaves a church without all the spiritual gifts represented. I dare you to find one that is in your church.
