Ah yes, this is the question that most people are too polite to ask. It reminds me of an undergraduate class I took in Communication about 150 years ago, where the professor was discussing effective communication and persuasion. He told us that for any communication to take place, the communicator had to answer the “universal question”. What is the “universal question,“ you ask? It is simply this: SO WHAT?
Maybe we can phrase it more delicately: “Why should I care about that?”
Well dear reader, as that question applies to the subject of spiritual gifts, here’s the answer; it’s a two part answer (no extra charge).
First, if you are a Pastor, Preacher, Minister, Elder… or whatever these things are called in your congregation, you should understand spiritual gifts because they will show you where the Holy Spirit is going in your congregation.
No joke. Here’s what I mean by that:
A Pastor friend of mine told me this story a few years ago:
His group was meeting in a temporary facility; each week they had to go to the venue and set up 300 chairs and all of their equipment (they had a band) early Sunday morning, and then tear it all down and move it out after services were over, and this had gone on for several years. They desperately wanted a facility of their own, but for some reason, it never came together, and they came to realize that obtaining a facility wasn’t the direction the Spirit was leading them in. Now this group had a new member class that included a class on spiritual gifts followed by a spiritual gifts assessment. One day, my friend noticed that over the prior 60 days, 14 people had come to the church with the gift of craftsmanship. Now my friend is of the belief that God sends the workers first, and then leads in that direction, and when he saw such an unusual trend in craftsmanship he called his leadership team together and showed them what he found, with the result being that they decided to find a place to move to.
They found a large old restaurant building that was being offered for sale at a very low price, but it would be a huge job to rehab the building and set it up for a church; the architects and engineers estimated that the job would take at least six months and cost a fortune. Most sane people would pass on that property, but my friend saw it as a gift, and they jumped at it. As soon as the sale closed, work began… all volunteer. Those new men I mentioned? They jumped into the fray without any particular prompting and set up a schedule of three shifts, seven days per week, and the job was completed in just less than 30 days… and you should see the place!
The work was a joy for all concerned, because it was done by people who were exercising their spiritual gifts at the direction of the Holy Spirit. Now tell me, what church leader in their right mind wouldn’t want to be able to recognize something like this?
The truth is, however, that most of us aren’t pastors, preachers and leaders; we’re just regular folks, so why would we care about spiritual gifts? Here’s another story, this time about a lady I know very well who was struggling in her faith. She struggled about where she fit in, she struggled about the whole notion of “serving” and whether it is a burden, a holy duty or obligation… or is it a joy? She struggled with other people: Who are they to be in charge of me? She also struggled with her husband who was a member of the church’s leadership team: Why should he spend so much time doing that stuff?
Gee, she could have been any one of us!
The first time I taught spiritual gifts in that congregation, she attended and paid close attention and asked lots of questions; a few times I had the impression she might even be playing “stump the teacher” with me! When it was all over and she saw what her gifts were, a light bulb seemed to come on, and to be quite honest, she hasn’t been the same person since. She came to see how it all fits together in the Body of Christ, where she fit in, where she could serve God in joy and love and why others might serve somewhere else or in another way, and the results have been nothing short of amazing. The reason is that this wonderful lady saw where she fit in, something she had struggled with for many years. I think most of us have struggled with that at one time or another and it isn’t much fun.
So there you have it; you should care about spiritual gifts because an understanding of what they are and which ones you have will tell you a great deal about God’s plans for your life as a follower of Jesus Christ! Gone is resentment about why I do this and he gets to do that, and the baggage centering around holy obligation, duty and transactional love, for there is simply no greater joy in this life than to exercise our spiritual gifts to advance the building of the Body of Christ.
Life Project Blog 
Interesting view of spiritual gifts and yet finding our place in God’s organisation is important.
If you have something to offer it may take time for it to be found, unfortunately if you want to take something based on your skillset it is easy for the unscrupulous to take advantage.
It is important to recognise as Paul indicates in his letters to Timothy and Titus that the first qualification is to be spiritual. Winning the battle over the ‘Physical Man’ is critical.
Once we have achieved the measure of spiritual development we become useful tools.
So what you you reflect in this entry is that we must find our place in the body and learn to be content in serving or giving our best.
Have you every seen the volunteer construction programme run by Jehovah’s Witnesses, along with the volunteer international education work, whether you agree with their belief’s it is clear that there are ‘gifts’ in action there.
I haven’t observed the particular program you mentioned at work, but I have seen gifted people working together to bring glory to God, and it is a sight to behold!
I found this when I was looking for an example of volunteer construction projects Jehovah’s Witnesses—Building Without Borders http://www.jw.org/finder?locale=en&docid=502015127&prefer=lang along with over 100 other videos
Thanks for the tip, I’ll have a look!
Don, thank you. That question was lurking at the back of my mind after the previous post. And I parked any comment on the basis that if a verse selection didn’t work for me it would be working for others.
After reading this one, a single thought went through my mind: relationship. Because I will happily admit that in our marriage both of us have one core and complimentary strengths/weaknesses. It is what makes a strong relationship.
Yet, if in God we are a body … a family … then surely that same confidence in each other applies. And learning those complimentary gifts or absence of should also apply. Or else we as a body are weak and subject to unnecessary stresses and strains.
Your example of that one pastor should perhaps be the norm rather than the exception.
Still mulling, and grateful for the chance to do so.
It’s a good mull, I think, one that leads to big thoughts 🙂
That is the difficult part some of the time, or a lot of the time, — figuring out what those spiritual gifts are that God has blessed us with. There are so many of us who often feel like there is nothing we are qualified to do to be part of the growth of the church body, to keep things humming along nicely or whatever the case may be. I hear it mentioned a lot, especially from folks who for health and/or aging reasons are no longer able to do things they did before like teach, sing in the choir, etc. I am reminded of a session I attended at a Ladies Retreat a number of years ago and the speaker, a pastor’s wife, was talking about what we can contribute to the church in these circumstances. The one that stands out in particular is prayer! We have many older folks or younger folks with health issues that still can be outstanding prayer warriors! What is more important than that? Thanks for this wonderful series you are doing Don! What a blessing it is!
I was over 50 before I really understood where I “fit in” and if anyone had asked me what my gift was before that, I wouldn’t have known for certain. If anyone asked me what my natural talents were, I would have said “public speaking” and nothing else. When I did come to recognize my gifts, I also had to admit to another minor talent or two, and everything came together.
(You’re going to live this part)
Then I had to move to the DC area… and now I find myself in a church that needs precisely the gifts and calling I have… and they don’t want any part of it; they think I’m too ‘hard core’ for their preference. Oh my, it’s a wonderful life!
Oh my! That’s a shame they don’t want any part of it. They are more than likely missing a very good blessing! Yes it certainly is a wonderful life. lol
🙂
Still trying to figure out mine and have been for years. I seem to have a bit of each.
I’ve been there myself; and maybe this can help clear it up to some degree; who knows? 🙂