4 Graced in Ministry

In the New Testament there are hallmark Scriptures regarding the gifts of the Spirit. Perhaps this is the time to look at them. They are:

1 Corinthians 1.7;12.1-14.40
Romans 1.11; 12:3-8
Ephesians 4.7-16
1 Timothy 4:14
2 Timothy 1.6
Hebrews 2.4
1 Peter 4:10-11

As you read through the lists you will soon sense a couple of things. You’ll see each gift is proactive and has its part to play in the general scheme of things. Conversely, each gift provides an avenue wherein the others experience and receive the work of God in their lives. When a person is operating in his or her gifts it is a win-win situation: work gets done and God gets revealed.

There is a lot of proactive work being done in the church today. People are so very busy doing very important things. Like busy beavers, or scurrying ants, the activities of the faithful can sometimes take on a level of business never intended by our Lord. True, we are a motivated people group - with a a wondrously urgent message for the world to hear. But many of us are wrung out, drop dead tired. Why is that? We figure, if we don’t do “it” nobody else will. The truth is that nobody else can do it because we are doing it all for them.

The followers of Christ have the dangerous potential to be the most codependent group of people on earth - and all for good reason, I might add. We’ve been gifted. We’ve been called. We’ve been commissioned by Christ himself to get the good news out in every which way, shape and form. It’s a high calling.

But why are we so busy, so consumed, so drained of the abundant life that Jesus died to give us? Are we are working off guilt from the past? Are we still working for our salvation, seeking to be justified before a holy God by the things we do? Are we seeking to establish God’s reputation to others by how we painstakingly articulate our theology - and correct others who can’t do so? Do we think that if we fail God, God himself fails? What’s with all the strife? Why are we so very, very driven? Weren't the nails driven in far enough for me?

It’s almost as if we have exchanged the old laws of sin and death - the rules and regulations we were first forced to obey, now have been replaced by God’s amazing grace - with a new law which really doesn’t look too much different than the old law. We have clothed ourselves within such a high standard of Christian responsibility, action, and behavior - let’s call it a “ministry work ethic” - that the well-defined line between salvation by grace and salvation by works has been blurred.

It’s a hard line to walk - that of Grace and working out a heart of thanksgiving for the Grace received. Our new nature is “love.” So we instinctively want to help each other, do the work of the church, share God’s love, go the second mile, jump into endless activities for the sake of “the call,” and whatnot. These are all good works and stem from pure motives. The danger, of course, is when we commit to ministry, regardless if the ministry lies within the range of our spiritual gifts, or not.

It has been said that, “The need is the Call” – meaning that if you are aware of a need (anything from global warming to a squeaky door in the woman’s bathroom) it is your duty to respond to it. I don’t agree with that. I don’t see it outlined in Scripture, either.

Look at Jesus. If anyone was aware of the unmet needs around him certainly he was. Did he heal all the lepers, raise all the dead people back to life, bless every child he saw? Did he give money to all the poor? Of course not. He sought to remain true only to what he saw God, doing. Through it all He stayed true to only that which God was calling Him to. That meant, for Jesus, the need wasn’t the call. His call was was what God needed him to do, and nothing else. (How freeing!) As he resolved to look beyond the tyranny of the urgent Jesus was able to fulfill our greater need by going to the Cross and securing our salvation.

LIke Jesus, our real need is to foster the ability to hear God’s voice. When we hear his voice he will tell us what to do. Then we need to be obedient to that - only that - regardless of all the other needs that are everywhere around us.

This brings us to an amazing fact: God doesn’t give any one person all the gifts. He doesn’t expect one person to do it all. On the contrary, he gives a couple of gifts to me and a couple of gifts to you. That’s so we wouldn’t get burned out doing everything all the time. He’s also mixed it up that way so we’d learn to depend/rely on others. This not only teaches us humility but reveals God’s wondrous glory within the interaction of the mystical “Body of Christ.” When others bring their gifts to the table God is reflected and we see Jesus.

The other wonderful thing is this: If I only do what I’ve been gifted to do, and you only do what you’re gifted to do, then everything will get done. I really don’t think I have to do the things you’ve been called to do. You’ll have to do those things yourself. I’ve got enough on my plate, thank you very much.

Well then, the question beckons: If God wants us to only do the things that lie around the general area of our giftedness, how can we discern our general area of our giftedness? In short, how can we know our spiritual gifts?

Here are some things to look at:

1. Remember When. Pause for a moment and recall a time in your life when you were particularly struck with the Presence of God. Got it? Alright, for starters, get back to that.

Do today what so captured your heart then. Think a bit deeper about the activities surrounding that event. What was stirred in you? What was being done around you? Who was doing what when you so powerfully encountered Christ? Find a place like that in your present day life and invest in that.

2. Your Dream Gift. As you consider the list of gifts from Scripture, or as you have observed the gifts in action, ask yourself, “What gifts create a real buzz in my soul?” Which gifts do I dream about doing? What gifts - when I see other doing them - do I find myself thinking, ‘I would love to be able to do that?’”

Why not ask God for it? Read about it. Go to a seminar about it. Become friends with someone who has it. Contrary to popular belief, God is not a celestial killjoy. He actually has been known to give someone the desire of their heart.

3. Fruit Inspection. Take a good look at the fruit that is being generated by the activities you are currently engaged with. What is growing? What is dying? Do things that install growth.

4. Consider the Streets. Go unrestricted; not all gifts are to be used in church. You may be using your gifts very nicely indeed in the workplace – which actually works quite well.

I know of a woman, for example, who has the gift of compassion. Guess what she does in real life? She is a social worker. I know others who work in the oil business – one of which has the gift of evangelism. Of course, he doesn’t stand at the water cooler and pass out Bibles. But, you can be sure, that in every conversation he has one ear tuned to the gentle of leading of Christ and, if so invited, will share the Lord at the drop of a hat. These are situations where one’s spiritual gift leaks through the vocation of the individual. That’s okay. Spiritual gifts are for the evangelizing and edification of the followers of Jesus. And they (the potential and actualized followers of Jesus) are everywhere.

5. Listen to Others. What do they see in you? Other followers of Jesus oftentimes see things we cannot and often have uncanny discernment into our lives.

Shortly after I had “crossed-over” to Christ, I remember speaking quite emphatically to a friend one evening. I’ll never forget it. We were sitting on our sofa and I spent about an hour sharing with her how I came to Christ and pleaded her to do the same. “Just check him out,” I said. “What have you got to loose?” She just stared at me. Afterwards she said, “You’re good. Bill, you ought to be a pastor.” At the time, that was the last thing I wanted to hear. Today... well, today I am a pastor.

So, in summary, we’ve looked at the gift-lists as outlined in Scripture, noted that - thankfully - not everyone has the all the gifts, seen that God is seen by others through our gifts, and have gotten a few ideas on how to discern our own spiritual gift(s), and have been encouraged to spend some time in silence, reflecting and praying over your specific gifts.

In the next chapter we’ll take a look at God’s prerogative to call us into any and all gifts of the Spirit - depending entirely upon any given need at any given time. As a friend of mine says, “I guess he thinks he’s God!”

Perhaps now would be a good time to place the blog aside and reflect upon the five items mentioned above. Inventory your experience, the desires of your heart, your fruitfulness, and what others have seen in you.