You're not a prophet? Then you're not mature!

[Neogaia777]

Galatians 6:3- "For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

And therein lies the danger...

And there are false Prophets also, and these are the ones who usually think themselves usually "really quite something" (more "mature" than others, etc) because of it, when scripture says they are nothing, and no better or greater, nor more "mature" than anyone else because of it either...

I love people that try make these distinctions though, as though to somehow separate themselves from, or otherwise put themselves "above" or somehow "greater than others" in some way or ways though...

If you do, you are false...

And the Bible says so...

And says to stay away from these kinds of men and have nothing to do with them...

Pride comes before a great fall...

God Bless!

 

[Neogaia777]

If you cannot 100% and completely and accurately foretell the future, as given to you directly from God, then your not a Prophet as in the Biblical definition of a Prophet is or would be, and you do not have the gift of Prophecy, etc...

And not everyone is a Prophet, especially in that sense, either...

And, no, it's not a mark of measure of maturity for everyone in the faith either...

God Bless!

 

[A_Thinker]

I think that "The W" the the nail on the head when he reminded us that, in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul teaches that one could have every other gift, including prophecy, and still remain immature.

LOVE is clearly the marker of the mature believer.

Jesus, Himself, said ... "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, ... if you have LOVE one for another."

Even prophets can be immature. Remember Balaam ...

 

[JAL]

I think that "The W" the the nail on the head when he reminded us that, in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul teaches that one could have every other gift, including prophecy, and still remain immature.

Correct. One could have all the gifts and still be immature. That's actually consistent with my position.

Even prophets can be immature. Remember Balaam ...

Correct. As I myself have pointed out numerous times on this thread. I guess you just don't understand my position.

LOVE is clearly the marker of the mature believer.

That wasn't Paul's marker at chapter 2 and chapter 13. Nor was it the marker at issue in Num 12. Also interesting is the euology of Moses at Deut 34:

"Since that time, no prophet has arisen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, who did all the signs and wonders that the LORD sent him to do against the land of Egypt—to Pharaoh and all his officials and all his land— by all the mighty acts of power and awesome deeds that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel" (Deut 34).

Yes immature believers can do some degree of signs and wonders but not THAT degree of signs and wonders - not on a consistent basis. Won't happen. God won't grant you that degree of favor/power if you're immature. Again, if you won't take it from me, take it from Num 12.

Jesus, Himself, said ... "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, ... if you have LOVE one for another."

I don't see the word 'mature' in that passage. We're talking about maturity in the absolute strictest sense of the term. Turns out that love isn't the only ingredient in maturity, if Paul is allowed to have any say in this.

Here's why. Puppy-dogs are loving, right? But there are differences. Obviously the free-will difference first and foremost, but there's a second difference often overlooked, namely, that puppy-love doesn't flow from a conscious experience of God's love (a direct revelation). The puppy doesn't know God. The Lord wants you to know Him as Father and Father of love. You know the Father only insofar as the Spirit reveals Him - only to the extent of direct revelation. And as the degree of direct revelation increases in your life, you eventually enter in the realm of prophethood. (This is not to deny that it's possible to become a prophet in one day if there's a mighty reviving outpouring of the Spirit).

Sorry to tell you this, but Paul is a little wiser than you are, and a little wiser than you think. When he linked prophecy to maturity - as even noted cessationist scholars have acknowledged (see post 64) - he had very good reason to do so.

Maybe later I'll talk more about what it really means to know God, and why maturity requires the kind of face-to-face direct revelation experienced by the prophets. For the moment I leave you with Christ's lament, "You have never heard never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you" (Jn 5:37). Friend, God doesn't want a puppy. He wants someone who KNOWS the Father. That requires direct revelation. Hence, "Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual things, especially the gift of prophecy" (1Cor 14:1).

 

[A_Thinker]

Maybe later I'll talk more about what it really means to know God, and why maturity requires the kind of face-to-face direct revelation experienced by the prophets.

You know ... it's unfortunate but unavoidable, it appears.

You demonstrate that you are full of pride ... and contemptuous of your brethren. You are like the Pharisee who looked down upon his fellows.

Best listen to Jesus ...

Luke 18

9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:

10 "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.'

13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!'

14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

 

[JAL]

You know ... it's unfortunate but unavoidable, it appears.

You demonstrate that you are full of pride ... and contemptuous of your brethren. You are like the Pharisee who looked down upon his fellows.

Best listen to Jesus ...

Luke 18

9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:

10 "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.'

13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!'

14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

I think you misunderstood me. I wasn't saying "I know God better than you do".

I was simply debating theology. Do you not debate theology?

Theologians have different theories as to what it means to know God. I was defending my own theory against everyone else's.

 

[JAL]

If you cannot 100% and completely and accurately foretell the future, as given to you directly from God, then your not a Prophet as in the Biblical definition of a Prophet is or would be, and you do not have the gift of Prophecy, etc...

And not everyone is a Prophet, especially in that sense, either...

And, no, it's not a mark of measure of maturity for everyone in the faith either...

God Bless!

Prophecy isn't primarily foretelling. It's inspiration. That's how we got the Scriptures. You'll note that not everything stated in Scripture is foretelling. Jesus was in fact The Prophet and not everything stated in His lectures was foretelling.

 

[JAL]

Galatians 6:3- "For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

And therein lies the danger...

And there are false Prophets also, and these are the ones who usually think themselves usually "really quite something" (more "mature" than others, etc) because of it, when scripture says they are nothing, and no better or greater, nor more "mature" than anyone else because of it either...

Would you say that Paul was a false prophet when he judged himself more mature than the Corinthian 'babes' as he called them?

 

[LightLoveHope]

Apostacy
Speak to your guardian angel. Translation, medium speaks to a demon who tells you some junk you must follow. This is just spiritism dolled up. Or a prophet talking to dead believers about how blessed the congregation is. Or reading blessing cards to foretell people's future in the spirit realm. This is all demonic and sinful, but hey 80%wrong is ok, sinners go to heaven!!! No, saints go to heaven who listen and follow Jesus.

 

[Neogaia777]

Would you say that Paul was a false prophet when he judged himself more mature than the Corinthian 'babes' as he called them?

There are a few exceptions, like Paul, but he was not puffed up with pride about it either, and he considered himself not greater at all, but considered himself "nothing"...

Most people when they talk about themselves being more mature or whatever than another or others, it is so they can look down on them, judge them, etc, which was not the case in Paul's case...

Most people are doing it or are saying it about themselves in order to be "thinking of themselves more highly than they ought to", but such was not the case in Paul's case...

God Bless!

 

[Neogaia777]

Prophecy isn't primarily foretelling. It's inspiration. That's how we got the Scriptures. You'll note that not everything stated in Scripture is foretelling. Jesus was in fact The Prophet and not everything stated in His lectures was foretelling.

It's foreknowing scripturally...

God Bless!

 

[JAL]

There are a few exceptions, like Paul, but he was not puffed up with pride about it either, and he considered himself not greater at all, but considered himself "nothing"...

Most people when they talk about themselves being more mature or whatever than another or others, it is so they can look down on them, judge them, etc, which was not the case in Paul's case...

Most people are doing it or are saying it about themselves in order to be "thinking of themselves more highly than they ought to", but such was not the case in Paul's case...

God Bless!

Agreed. I guess I'm not sure why you raised this issue. Since I find that people often misunderstand me, let me be extra clear. I do not regard myself as mature. In my view, there are:
(1) Ordinary believers
(2) Ordinary prophets (I doubt any exist today)
(3) Mature prophets (men in the order of Moses, Paul, Elijah, Isaiah, Abraham, etc). I'd practically bet my life that no such men exist today.

I fall into category #1. Hope everyone is clear on that.

My claim on this thread is that Paul's strict definition of 'maturity' pertains to category #3 (or at least something definitely higher in magnitude than #2).

 

[JAL]

I think that "The W" the the nail on the head when he reminded us that, in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul teaches that one could have every other gift, including prophecy, and still remain immature.

LOVE is clearly the marker of the mature believer.

Jesus, Himself, said ... "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, ... if you have LOVE one for another."

Even prophets can be immature. Remember Balaam ...

Logically I understand why you were inclined to think that love is the marker of maturity. But neither of the two verses you mentioned (1Cor 13:2 and Jn 13:35) used the word 'mature'. I was basing my conclusions largely on two passages (1Cor 2:6-3:2 and 1Cor 13:8-12) that DO use the word mature. Both those chapters ALSO use the word immature, or rather, 'babes'. And I corroborated my conclusion with two other passages contrasting 'babes' with the 'mature' (1 Pet 2:2, Heb 5:11-14). I'll come back to that in a moment.

In chapter 4, Note carefully Paul's reaction to some arrogant believers:

"But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power" (1Cor 4:19-20).

You said the marker of greatness is love. Again, logically, that's a very plausible position. I get that. But isn't it a little odd, in that case, that Paul didn't write it like this:

"But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what love they have. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of love" (1Cor 4:19-20).

Odd isn't it? Here too, it seems that Paul's marker of greatness is charismatic giftings instead of love. But let's get back to 2:6-3:2 since it contrasts 'mature' with 'babes'. At post 34, I made a simple argument on this passage.
(1) Paul spoke special words of wisdom only to the mature (2:6).
(2) He got this wisdom by direct revelation (2:10-16)
(3) He called it solid food, unavailable to babes (3:1-2)
(4) Instead he gave them baby food (this epistle).

Thus Bible-revelation is baby food in contrast to solid food (the special revelation available to the mature). And two other places the same argument is implied (1 Pet 2:2, Heb 5:11-14). And then I pointed out that a church father Chrysostom confirmed my basic premise when he remarked that solid food is a type of revelation that not even “Scripture hath anywhere discoursed to us of these things" (NPNF, Part 1, Vol 12, Homily 34). Thus isn't it true that one vital marker of maturity is the ability to consume solid food, that is, an experience of direct revelations of a higher order than baby food (Scripture)?

Now be honest with me. Because I was honest enough to admit that YOUR position is plausible. I'm curious. Can you honestly say there is no plausibility in my position? I mean, it's backed by at least 3 passages (1Cor 2:6-3:2, 1 Pet 2:2, Heb 5:11-14) and a church father - and that's just for starters. Honestly?

And if your answer is 'No plausibility', then clearly you must see some flaws in my analysis of Paul. Pray tell me what they are.

 

[JAL]

I'm going to edit that post. I tend to equate 'cogent' with 'plausible' but plausible is the better word there.

 

[ToBeLoved]

I didn't reduce the definition of prophecy to evangelistic utterance. I reduced the definition of evangelism to prophetic utterance. That is to say, all evangelism is prophetic ministry, all witnessing is prophetic utterance. But prophecy isn't always evangelism/witnessing necessarily, or at least I don't feel any pressing need to make that assumption.

This is not true.

You really need to get the definitions and terminology right.

 

[A_Thinker]

"But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power" (1Cor 4:19-20).

In 1 Corinthians 4, Paul is defending his authority as an APOSTLE, against some who had arisen in the Corinthian church and who were questioning his authority.

1 Corinthians 4

6 Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other. 7 For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

8 You are already full! You are already rich! You have reigned as kings without us—and indeed I could wish you did reign, that we also might reign with you! 9 For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! 11 To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. 12 And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; 13 being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the scum of all things until now.

Paul’s Paternal Care
14 I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you. 15 For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

16 Therefore I urge you, imitate me.

17 For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.

18 Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power.
20 For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. 21 What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?

In this passage, he is speaking of ecclesiastical power , ... or authority in the church (which is why he speaks of the rod). In your citation, he is promising to soon visit to challenge the (ecclesiastical) power of the those that oppose him there.

And nowhere in the passage does He speak of greatness.

However, Jesus did speak on the topic of greatness in the kingdom, on at least a couple of occasions ...

Matthew 18

18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

Matthew 20

25 But Jesus called them aside and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their superiors exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave—28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

 

[JAL]

This is not true.

You really need to get the definitions and terminology right.

But that's a refutation neither of my own arguments, nor of those in the two scholarly evangelical books devoted to that topic that I mentioned in post 44. Shelton's book in particular is a redaction criticism rooted in an immense amount of scholarship, analysis of the Greek text, and so on. Should I take your word on this matter? Or should I go with the testimony of Scripture insofar as I've investigated it for myself? Boy - that's a tough one!

 

[JAL]

In 1 Corinthians 4, Paul is defending his authority as an APOSTLE, against some who had arisen in the Corinthian church and who were questioning his authority.

1 Corinthians 4

6 Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other. 7 For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

8 You are already full! You are already rich! You have reigned as kings without us—and indeed I could wish you did reign, that we also might reign with you! 9 For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! 11 To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. 12 And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; 13 being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the scum of all things until now.

Paul’s Paternal Care
14 I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you. 15 For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

16 Therefore I urge you, imitate me.

17 For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.

18 Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power.
20 For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. 21 What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?

In this passage, he is speaking of ecclesiastical power , ... or authority in the church (which is why he speaks of the rod). In your citation, he is promising to soon visit to challenge the (ecclesiastical) power of the those that oppose him there.

And nowhere in the passage does He speak of greatness.

However, Jesus did speak on the topic of greatness in the kingdom, on at least a couple of occasions ...

Matthew 18

18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

Matthew 20

25 But Jesus called them aside and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their superiors exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave—28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

That's a pretty good comeback, but it's not exactly a slam-dunk, right? You say that Paul was just defending his authority as an apostle. But you, like most Christians, probably believe that apostleship was a temporary office. Yet the language used by Paul here wasn't transitory. It's permanent because he's giving us his definition of the Kingdom of God which should be a constant throughout the ages. And he said it like this:

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power" (1Cor 4:19-20).

Note he did not say:

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of love" (1Cor 4:19-20).

Basically you've objected to my use of the word 'greatness' (by which I mean maturity) in this context. Fine - but let's bear in mind my reading here is consistent with my findings throughout the epistle. As this charismatic preeminence keeps surfacing in 1Corinthians, it becomes increasingly difficult to be in denial about it. Again, here's what Paul said:

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power" (1Cor 4:19-20).

That's empirical power. That's what defines the Kingdom of God. That's what is supposed to define authority in the church - by your own words Paul was defending his authority in the church. What does that say about leadership today? Given Paul's words - and the current shortage of empirical power in the church - can we even be confident that today's church leaders are the true leaders? I don't think we can.

If I had asked you, what's the mark of a great leader in the church, you would have cited me passages about love. But when Paul was defending HIS leadership, as you admitted, he stressed charismatic power, not love. You cited Jesus:

"Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

You do realize that passage doesn't contradict me, right? Jesus isn't contradicting Paul because Paul wasn't saying, "Power to the exclusion of being childlike" or "Power to the exclusion of love".

I think the disconnect here is that today's low-powered leaders stress love so much (they can't really stress power since they pretty much don't have any) that you can't FATHOM the concept of power as a marker of godliness and favor with God. It's all about love, right? Picture this. Suppose your son had a terminal illness. In desperation, you meet with two different church leaders, separately. The first one shows all kinds of loving hospitality. He really goes the extra mile. He's even very humble and childlike. The second one isn't quite so polite, but from the moment you meet him, he shows you signs and wonders. He's raising the dead, healing the sick, and can even read your mind (I don't mean read it himself but rather he seems to be getting revelations from God about your thoughts).

Now be honest with me. In your moment of desperation (your son is dying) which of these two men, would likely win your confidence on being a man standing in great favor with God, and most likely, as such, to be a powerful intercessor for your son?

I think if you're being honest, you'll admit that the 2nd man would be your nominee at the moment of desperation. Protest all you like, but Paul was right that a marker for being great in the kingdom of God is charismatic giftedness - it's just as valid a marker as love.

Jesus wasn't contradicting Paul. But love is pretty hard to measure isn't it? Love can be faked to a large extent. Empirical power - if someone is actually reading your mind for example - cannot easily be faked. I stand by my analysis.

 

[tampasteve]

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[A_Thinker]

That's a pretty good comeback, but it's not exactly a slam-dunk, right? You say that Paul was just defending his authority as an apostle. But you, like most Christians, probably believe that apostleship was a temporary office. Yet the language used by Paul here wasn't transitory. It's permanent because he's giving us his definition of the Kingdom of God which should be a constant throughout the ages. And he said it like this:

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power" (1Cor 4:19-20).

Note he did not say:

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of love" (1Cor 4:19-20).

Basically you've objected to my use of the word 'greatness' (by which I mean maturity) in this context. Fine - but let's bear in mind my reading here is consistent with my findings throughout the epistle. As this charismatic preeminence keeps surfacing in 1Corinthians, it becomes increasingly difficult to be in denial about it. Again, here's what Paul said:

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power" (1Cor 4:19-20).

That's empirical power. That's what defines the Kingdom of God. That's what is supposed to define authority in the church - by your own words Paul was defending his authority in the church. What does that say about leadership today? Given Paul's words - and the current shortage of empirical power in the church - can we even be confident that today's church leaders are the true leaders? I don't think we can.

If I had asked you, what's the mark of a great leader in the church, you would have cited me passages about love. But when Paul was defending HIS leadership, as you admitted, he stressed charismatic power, not love. You cited Jesus:

"Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

You do realize that passage doesn't contradict me, right? Jesus isn't contradicting Paul because Paul wasn't saying, "Power to the exclusion of being childlike" or "Power to the exclusion of love".

I think the disconnect here is that today's low-powered leaders stress love so much (they can't really stress power since they pretty much don't have any) that you can't FATHOM the concept of power as a marker of godliness and favor with God. It's all about love, right? Picture this. Suppose your son had a terminal illness. In desperation, you meet with two different church leaders, separately. The first one shows all kinds of loving hospitality. He really goes the extra mile. He's even very humble and childlike. The second one isn't quite so polite, but from the moment you meet him, he shows you signs and wonders. He's raising the dead, healing the sick, and can even read your mind (I don't mean read it himself but rather he seems to be getting revelations from God about your thoughts).

Now be honest with me. In your moment of desperation (your son is dying) which of these two men, would likely win your confidence on being a man standing in great favor with God, and most likely, as such, to be a powerful intercessor for your son?

I think if you're being honest, you'll admit that the 2nd man would be your nominee at the moment of desperation. Protest all you like, but Paul was right that a marker for being great in the kingdom of God is charismatic giftedness - it's just as valid a marker as love.

Jesus wasn't contradicting Paul. But love is pretty hard to measure isn't it? Love can be faked to a large extent. Empirical power - if someone is actually reading your mind for example - cannot easily be faked. I stand by my analysis.

I challenge you to come to a better understanding of Paul's first letter to the Corinthian church.

Paul strove mightily which this church and it's tendency to fracture over many various issues. One of these issues was giftedness.

The Corinthians were, essentially, pressing the same point that you are trying to make here, ... that one particular type of spiritual giftedness was better than another.

That's why he asked the hypothetical questions ... Do ALL speak in tongues ?", etc.

And why he encouraged the Corinthians, in Chapter 12, to seek the best gift, ... which he identifies in chapter 13 as LOVE.

Something to note about ALL of Jesus' miraculous works ... is that they were all also works of LOVE.

OTOH, Jesus prophesies that the devil will come with a (granted) power, as well, of which the Church must be discerning.

I read a book many moons ago titled "The Beautiful Side of Evil" which was the autobiographical account of a young woman who had gotten caught up in a spiritual "healing" ministry ... which was, ultimately, sourced in the power of the occult.

Her story tells you of how she ultimately became aware of it's evil ... and how she had to call upon Jesus to free her from it's power.

So ... power, in and of itself, is not, necessarily, a sign of greatness in God's kingdom, but rather, that you utilize whatever power God grants you in loving service to Him and His people.

So, as to the hypothetical you laid out ... I would much rather that my son's healing is sourced in God ...