We just celebrated the 80th anniversary of D-Day on June 6, 2024, and I think what happened that day can provide some insight into the current state of the church.

The Apostle Paul writes that “each one [every believer] is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7).

In other words, the Holy Spirit has given every believer at least one of the nine spiritual gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8:11. This includes the gifts of knowledge, wisdom, faith, miracles, tongues, interpretation of tongues, discerning of spirits and gifts [plural] of healing.

Yet, when I ask Christians what their spiritual gift is, it is not uncommon for people to say that they do not know what it is or are no longer using them.

Oddly, this response reminds me of what took place on D-Day.

On June 6, Allied troops hit the beaches of Normandy to end the Nazi tyranny that had engulfed Europe.

The invasion involved 5,333 ships and landing craft that transported over 150,000 soldiers to the beaches.

This included over 57,000 American soldiers who faced intense pressure on Omaha Beach. Even though there were concerns that they would not be able to maintain this toehold, they prevailed.

Before they landed on the beach, every American soldier was given at least one weapon, and the ammunition needed to engage the enemy.

But some startling facts emerged after that day-long battle, that caused significant consternation among military leaders.

Surveys discovered that most of the men on those beaches never actually engaged the enemy.

“Only five infantry companies, [on Omaha beach, June 6, 1944] were tactically effective,” writes S.L.A. Marshall in his book, ‘Men Against the Fire’. “In these companies, one-fifth of the men fired their weapons during the day-long advance from the water’s edge to the first row of villages–a total of not more than 450 men firing consistently.”

In other words, on average, only 20% of the men in these five companies fired their guns on D-Day.

Other surveys revealed slightly better stats among the more effective units.

“The best showing that could be made by the most spirited and aggressive companies was that one man in four has made some use of his firepower,” Marshall continued.

In the most effective units, only 25% of the soldiers actually fired their weapons.

It is a startling statistic and unfortunately, I feel the Church in many ways is suffering from the same problem.

We know that the Holy Spirit has given every believer one or more of those spiritual gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-11 to build the Kingdom of God.

Unfortunately, it seems for a variety of reasons they are not being used.

A Barna survey of spiritual gifts conducted in 2009 found that when Christians (charismatic and non-charismatics) were specifically asked about the nine spiritual gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-11, only 13% stated they had at least one of them.

Even though the Holy Spirit has given one or more of these nine gifts to every believer, 87% of Christians are not functioning in them.

There could be a variety of reasons for this. Some may not know what gift they have and need help determining this. Some may not be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Others could be holding back because of fear and others for a variety of reasons have just stopped using their gift(s), and, of course, we also have those (20%) who don’t believe these gifts are for today.

This is further compounded by the fact, that nearly two-thirds of Christians who have heard of spiritual gifts said they “have not been able to accurately apply whatever they have heard or what the Bible teaches on the subject to their lives.“

In other words, there seems to be general unfamiliarity with how these gifts function in a person’s life, and/or how they are used in a church setting.

But it makes me wonder how successful D-Day would have been if only 13% of the men on the beaches were firing their weapons.