Many Traditions, Many Gifts, One Spirit, One Lord

I am very interested in the concept of gifting for exploring the Holy Spirit's work in drawing all Christians (and their larger ecclesial traditions) back together into one body without loosing a sense of each one's unique vocation. If one can speak of the various divided churches and communities as possessing unique gifts, perhaps, by God’s providential wisdom, these have been given to encourage greater cooperation, love, and, ultimately, unity among God's people in His saving plan for humanity. This all occurs in the context of repudiating past sins, errors, and divisions.

Let me offer some examples of what I am talking about when I speak of gifting in terms of broader ecclesial communities. These are generalizations and I realize that one could see examples of all three of these in each of the traditions respectively, but I think there is something to the way in which they are emphasized in each tradition according to its own heritage and vocation. They are: Spirit-centered experience (a gift emphasized in Pentecostalism), Word-centered proclamation (a gift emphasized in Protestantism), and Community-centered, apostolic oversight and practice (a gift emphasized in Catholicism and Orthodoxy).

This could be parsed out in a variety of ways. In spiritual discernment one could speak of pneumatological elements of discernment including the gift of discernment (emphasized in Pentecostalism), dynamic understanding of circumstances in light of Scripture (emphasized in Protestantism), and inspired guidance for weighing events in light of Tradition (emphasized in Catholicism and Orthodoxy). Related Christological elements of discernment could include Christ’s character experienced through the spiritual fruits (Pentecostalism), Christ’s teachings recorded in Scripture (Protestantism), and Christ’s authority incarnationally and visibly preserved by the Church and the passing on of Sacred Tradition (Catholicism and Orthodoxy).

In terms of soteriology one could speak of the Pentecostal emphasis on manifestations of the Spirit in transforming and healing human beings (the language of "baptism in the Spirit"), the Protestant emphasis on union with Christ in faith as freeing individuals (the language of "imputation of righteousness"), and the Catholic and Orthodox emphasis on sacramental cleansing and healing (the language of "infused grace" and "participating in the divine nature" respectively).

In terms of ecclesiology one could speak of the charismatically sustained service of the local body and spiritual unity of all Christians (Pentecostalism), the Word-centered confessional unity of the churches (Protestantism), and the visible unity and apostolic succession of the Catholic and Orthodox traditions.

I think John Paul II captures the hopefulness necessary for and inherent in such a vision of gifting and Christian reunion: “One...is capable of bringing forth good even from evil, from human weakness. Could it be that these divisions have also been a path continually leading the Church to discover the untold wealth contained in Christ’s Gospel and in the redemption accomplished by Christ? Perhaps all this wealth would not have come to light otherwise...More generally, we can affirm that for human knowledge and human action a certain dialectic is present. Didn't the Holy Spirit, in His divine 'condescendence,' take this into consideration? It is necessary for humanity to achieve unity through plurality, to learn to come together in the one Church, even while presenting a plurality of ways of thinking and acting, of cultures and civilizations. Wouldn't such a way of looking at things be, in a certain sense, more consistent with the wisdom of God, with His goodness and providence?” (Crossing the Threshold of Hope, 153).

In addition, Miroslav Volf's approach to gifting is quite helpful. He suggests that Christians in community reflect the perichoretic relations of the Triune God as they serve one another in love with their unique gifts, affirming one another without subordination or homogenization (see: After Our Likeness: The Church as the Image of the Trinity). Perhaps this image could be applied to larger Christian traditions as they serve one another in Christ and cooperate at the regional and global level.

One final point needs to be mentioned. Each ecclesial tradition needs to examine what it identifies as its own gifting, realizing that all of the practices and teachings (often thought of as a unique heritage) within a given tradition may not be inspired by the Holy Spirit. Yves Congar attributes some of these developments to social, political, and historical factors that do not always contribute positively to the cause of Christian unity and should not necessarily be retained (I Believe in the Holy Spirit, 2:203-204). A reunited Church could affirm the particular gifts of many Christian traditions, but invite such a critical self-examination in faithfulness to the vision of unity in Jesus' prayer in John 17. If the various Christian traditions can be assured that their own gifts and sense of vocation will contribute to the direction and well-being of a reunited Church then perhaps greater openness to the idea might ensue.