The charismatic gifts are important and we should pursue them. However, they are certainly never to be described as the most important elements of the Christian faith. They are gifts for sure, but they are not the main gift.
At the centre of the gospel is the cross and resurrection. This is the main story. All the other stuff is a sub-plot, an important one at that, but still a sub-plot. There is more correction given to people who over-do the use of these gifts (tongues, prophecy, healing etc.) in the New Testament (see 1 Corinthians) than to those that under-do them. That is in part because it is assumed there that Christ followers will naturally be well versed in the practice of such gifts. It should be the same today, but I repeat they are not the centre of the gospel as I read it.
The cross of Jesus shows us what God has done for us and what He would do to us. We must come to the cross and die just as Jesus did. In return for our death, we receive His life. That's a pretty good deal if you ask me and is the meaning of Jesus' resurrection. This life exchange happens here and now, not in some future event, although that is promised too. This god-life within us is described as eternal life in the New Testament.
And this is where the charismatic gifts come in. They are evidence to us and for us that God has given us His life and that his Kingdom has come in our lives. They naturally spill over in the life of those who have received the life of God in exchange for their own death. But they are not to become the focus of our walk with God. The focus is the cross and the empty tomb.
"Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matt 6.33).
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