Why I’m a Charismatic Christian

Unless you’re one also, you may not know what is meant by Charismatic.

The root of the term comes from the greek word charismata, used in the New Testatment that we translate as “the spiritual gifts.”  These gifts include prophecy, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, words of knowledge, discerning of spirits, and so on.  The movement began in the 1970’s, when the Holy Spirit created a stir in several denominations, including the Catholic church.  This is also when the moniker “Jesus Freaks” came about.  (I personally take that as a compliment.)

I grew up in a traditional Catholic church, so my first exposure to people exercising these gifts was a rather uncomfortable incident.  It felt unworldly.  (How right I was!  These are spiritual gifts, after all!)  I thought some of the same things others have thought: Are these people crazy?  Do they just want attention?  But after I got to know so many of them, I realized that they were just simple, down-to-earth people who were seeking a genuine relationship with Jesus, and were simply doing what they thought He wanted them to do.  When I started to read the Bible for myself (finally) I realized that every one of the early Christians had access to these spiritual gifts – and there was no indication that it was going to stop at any point!  Did this mean I could have these gifts and not know it?

My first exposure to a spiritual gift was shortly after I became a Christian.  I didn’t know the term then, but I know now that I had been given the gift of the Discernment of Spirits.  How I describe this to people what that means (in a nutshell) is that I am somehow able to sense if something around me is good or bad, whether that be a place, an event, or even a person.  There is a spiritual war going on all around us all the time, and at times I feel uncomfortable when in a demon’s presence, or at peace when I know the Holy Spirit is present.  It’s hard to explain it beyond that.  Quite simply, it’s God’s way of letting me know when I should or should not be somewhere!

Speaking in tongues is probably what scares people the most.  It means you are speaking another language that you normally would not know how to speak.  And just to make it clear, not speaking in tongues doesn’t mean you’re not a real Christian!  It just means you don’t speak in tongues!  So what’s the big deal anyway?  How is it beneficial? Most tongues spoken are only for the individual speaking them – it edifies them.  This is sometimes called a personal prayer language.  It is a way of praying to God when you just don’t know what words to say.  (This is how and why I personally speak in tongues.)  It is through faith that we believe we are not just babbeling, but are speaking real words to God through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Now if we’re talking about a tongue that is meant to be spoken in public, as in to a group, then there has to be someone who has the interpretation.  My favorite example is from my year at Bible School, when the international students got together to pray and a Canadian girl stood up and spoke a tongue – Arabic! Did she know it was Arabic?  No.  Did anyone else?  Well, one did: a student from Egypt! And the words were meant for him personally!  God delivered a message to him about his family back in Egypt, and it gave him immediate peace.  There were dozens of witnesses and I knew both of these students personally, so I have no reason not to believe the story.  God is amazing!

Lately, I seem to be able to know things about people (or more specifically I see something about them, an image or vision) that I would normally not be able to know.  This is called a Word of Knowledge.  It is related to prophecy, and it usually comes about when God wants to get someone’s attention.  For example, just a few months ago we were praying in a small group and our pastor said we needed to ask God for people to be healed of any ailments.  No one in our group said they needed prayer, but I suddenly saw in my mind a red fire-like “thing” (don’t know what else to call it) on the lower back of one of the young women in the group.  I asked her if she needed prayer for her back, and her eyes opened wider – she was indeed suffering some back pain.  So why did I get that image?  Because God wanted to heal her but she was probably thinking that it was only a minor issue that she didn’t need to bother God with.  Well, He got her attention!

I explain all this not to give glory to myself, but to God.  I only experience these things because God decides to work through me at certain times.  And not because I’m anything special, but simply because I call him my Lord and Savior.  My faith pleases Him, and He trusts me.  Go figure, little ol’ me!

This is why I’m a Charismatic Christian: God is real, and He can be an active person involved in the everyday events of our lives, if we let Him.  The gifts are to bless us and others, so as to bring more people to Him.  We don’t have to wait until we’re in heaven to experience blessings: He loves us so much He’s giving them to us now!