Kingdom Conversations

What If the Gifts Were Never the Goal?

When we are little, it is easy to become fixated on the gifts we receive, but as we mature we come to treasure the giver and their presence even more than the gift itself. In the same way, what if Christianity has taught us to depend on ministers and gifts when the goal was always to know God for ourselves?

Pastors, prophets, teachers, spiritual gifts, healing, prophecy, powerful ministries—these are good things. Biblical things. But what if they were never meant to become the destination? What if their purpose was to equip us to grow into mature sons and daughters who know God, hear Him, and increasingly live from direct relationship with Him?

In this provocative teaching, Chris Blackeby challenges some deeply rooted assumptions about church culture, the five-fold ministry, spiritual gifts, and Christian maturity. Ephesians 4 describes apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers as gifts given to equip the saints—but it also points toward something beyond them: unity, maturity, and ultimately “the fullness of Christ.”

That changes the question. Instead of asking, Where can I find the right ministry, the right prophet, the next word, or the next spiritual experience? perhaps we should also be asking: What are these gifts supposed to be producing in me?

Jesus prayed, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Blackeby connects that prayer with an invitation to move beyond merely waiting for heaven someday and begin bringing the reality of the Kingdom of God into the present—through people who increasingly know who they are, know their Father, and live from that relationship.

What if spiritual maturity eventually means becoming less dependent on the very things God used to help us mature—and more confident in knowing Him for ourselves?

That is the challenging—and potentially liberating—conversation this teaching opens.

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