Our God-Given Giftedness
Spirituality
John T. Collins
Living And Loving God’s Message
Object:
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
-- 1 Corinthians 12:4-11
A good friend of mine has a very interesting hobby. He collects tools. If you were to walk into his garage you'd be amazed at how big his collection has grown throughout the years. In his four-car garage he has plenty of saws and hammers, air compressors and hydraulic lifts, wrenches and screwdrivers, power tools and garden tools of all sizes.
Way off in the corner of his garage, he has tools that are never used. In fact, no one is allowed to even touch them. They just sit there year after year, as shiny as the day he bought them. Without a scratch and in perfect condition, they are never used. My friend likes to say that those are his show pieces. Tools that are too pretty to get dirty. (Hey, we all have our quirks!)
Whenever I visit his garage I can't help but think about what happens when the doors of the garage close at night. I imagine that the active tools tell wonderful stories of how they trimmed tall bushes, or fixed a leaky pipe, or lifted a 5,000-pound truck into the air. Some like to boast about how strong they are.
I'm sure in the world of tools there are many stories to tell and many bragging rights to be had. Then I began thinking about those other tools. The ones that are not doing what they were made to do. The ones considered "too pretty to get dirty." There they sit, year after year, and sadly without even a single story to tell.
That kind of reminds me of the church in some ways. In it God has collected people from around the world. We are made to be his tools for a broken world. We consist of poor people and rich people, black people and white people, males and females. Not only has he gathered us together, but he has designed each one of us the same way a craftsman designs his own tools -- and that is with the very special ability to carry out certain tasks within the mission of the church. This ability is called a gift and every gift is needed for the church to be the healthy body of Christ that God designed us to be.
First Corinthians 12:4-11 says specifically that some have the gift of wisdom, some of knowledge, some have a very strong faith in the Lord, and some the ability to do healings. We also know that some Christians have the gift of teaching, preaching, playing an instrument, or singing music. Some have patience, artistic design, or the heart to do missionary work in the world. Whatever it may be, the Lord designs us all with unique gifts that become tools for God to reach out to the world with the gospel message of Jesus Christ.
In fact, it says in Ephesians 2:10: "For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life." We are all divinely designed and uniquely created to do good works in the name of Jesus Christ.
Have you ever noticed that not everyone uses the gifts that God gives them to carry out the church's mission? Many people are just like those tools that never get used and who have no exciting God stories of their own. Year after year they just sit around taking up space in the pews, but not actively utilizing their God-given gifts. Sure, they're shiny and beautiful, but if they're not doing what God created them to do; of what use are they to the mission of the church?
Let none of us forget that God has called all of his people to service through his grace. That means you! So often we take God and his word for granted and seek the easy road. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, recognizing this tendency in some, referred to this slothful behavior as those who celebrate "cheap grace." He wrote:
Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.
Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.7
All around us we see violence, corruption, greed, racism, and other evil permeating the world we live in. Some of us just shake our heads and point our fingers and do nothing. Isn't that cheap grace?
It's these atrocities that stir the desires of Christians with a passionate spirituality to make changes, to seek justice, and to pursue the vision that God had for the world when he created it: a world filled with goodness, love, and peace for all. In order to be an effective ministry and the body of Christ in the world, we need every single Christian in the church to discover and use the gifts with which God has already blessed him or her. This most definitely includes you!
The True Body Of Christ
Centuries ago, Saint Paul got word that the church in Corinth was having some growing pains. There were factions and scandals, debates, dissenters, and heretics, and those who were most likely indifferent to it all. Not unlike some of our churches today! But what really grabbed Paul's attention were the few who believed that their gifts were too insignificant to matter. Wanting them to see things differently, he wrote
Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.
-- 1 Corinthians 12:14-18
Brilliantly, Saint Paul compares the church to the human body pointing out that it needs every one of us to be healthy and fully functioning, just as the human body needs all of its own members. Although we are all designed differently, and some of our gifts might be more or less pronounced than others, the truth is that we all have something to offer. There's no such thing as an unimportant gift from God nor an insignificant person in the body of Christ.
Author and theologian, Charles Van Engen, agreed. He wrote:
In the New Testament it is the whole people of God together who are called to be the Church. All the members are joined to grow up into maturity, to the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:15). Such fullness is not possible if only 10 percent or fewer exercise their place and calling. Fullness will be found when the other 90% join in ministry.8
The church I serve today can attest to that fact. Over fifty years ago, a pastor in a nearby church had the idea and vision of building a mission start church in a little seaside resort town called Lavallette, New Jersey. He knew that if he was going to make this vision a reality he would have to find people who had the gifts to make it possible. Together with a group of about twelve people he started asking the most basic question, "What would it take to build a church?"
Over many nights, this small group met and started putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Before they knew it there were many great ideas and a lot of excitement about what could be. They imagined reaching families who vacationed there in the summer, and year-round residents who were without a church home. Before long, they had a long list of possibilities. But there was still one big hurdle to overcome: Where would they find the people to do the work and where would they find the resources?
To the pastor's surprise, each one of those twelve people agreed to offer whatever they could to make the dream come true. It was a start. One man said, "I'm pretty good with building furniture. Why don't you let me build an altar and a few chairs?"
Another man said, "I know the superintendent at the elementary school. Why don't I go there and see if they'll let us use the gym until we can find property of our own?"
One of the women said, "I can gather a bunch of people together and we can go from door to door letting everyone in town know about what we're up to. We can invite everyone to our first worship service."
Another woman offered to play the piano, a few promised to sing, and some even pledged money to pay the new minister.
A few years after that initial meeting, Faith Lutheran Church of Lavallette was erected. Today, it sits thirteen houses from the Atlantic Ocean, on property that was donated by a very generous man, and continues to be a very visible ministry in town. We try never to forget that all of this happened because every person contributed something. It's true that everyone matters in the body of Christ.
You see, great ministry happens when everyone makes a contribution. It happens when people see the need and meet it by offering a gift that God has first given to them. What becomes very obvious when gifts are being used to bless the Lord is that every single person matters and every single gift they possess is needed. I don't mean this in some abstract theological sense, but in a very practical way.
Go ahead and see for yourself! Start using your gifts and you will find a deeper sense of ownership and sense of investment like you've never felt before. Church will no longer be a place where you only come on Sunday, it will become a thread that weaves itself into your life so securely that everything else will pale in comparison. You might even begin to feel some passion for the ministry. Imagine that!
That is the vision that God has for every Christian and for every church -- that it be filled with faithful people who share all things for the advancement of God's kingdom here on earth. God's vision is that all of us take ownership of the ministry he calls us to and that we invest our best to make the gospel known to all.
Time For Reflection
1. Name three gifts that you believe are your God-given gifts and could impact your ministry greatly if you used them to build up the kingdom of earth. If you are already using your gifts, what fruits have you seen from your labor? (Examples might include: new members have joined the church, new food pantry is feeding the poor, a grief ministry was started because of you, and so on.)
2. Do you believe that most Christians use their gifts to serve God? Why or why not?
3. Have you ever been surprised to find out that you had more talent than you first expected? If so, please describe.
4. What do you think of the church being the body of Christ? What part of the body would you be?
5. Describe ways to show God how thankful you are for the gifts you possess.
-- 1 Corinthians 12:4-11
A good friend of mine has a very interesting hobby. He collects tools. If you were to walk into his garage you'd be amazed at how big his collection has grown throughout the years. In his four-car garage he has plenty of saws and hammers, air compressors and hydraulic lifts, wrenches and screwdrivers, power tools and garden tools of all sizes.
Way off in the corner of his garage, he has tools that are never used. In fact, no one is allowed to even touch them. They just sit there year after year, as shiny as the day he bought them. Without a scratch and in perfect condition, they are never used. My friend likes to say that those are his show pieces. Tools that are too pretty to get dirty. (Hey, we all have our quirks!)
Whenever I visit his garage I can't help but think about what happens when the doors of the garage close at night. I imagine that the active tools tell wonderful stories of how they trimmed tall bushes, or fixed a leaky pipe, or lifted a 5,000-pound truck into the air. Some like to boast about how strong they are.
I'm sure in the world of tools there are many stories to tell and many bragging rights to be had. Then I began thinking about those other tools. The ones that are not doing what they were made to do. The ones considered "too pretty to get dirty." There they sit, year after year, and sadly without even a single story to tell.
That kind of reminds me of the church in some ways. In it God has collected people from around the world. We are made to be his tools for a broken world. We consist of poor people and rich people, black people and white people, males and females. Not only has he gathered us together, but he has designed each one of us the same way a craftsman designs his own tools -- and that is with the very special ability to carry out certain tasks within the mission of the church. This ability is called a gift and every gift is needed for the church to be the healthy body of Christ that God designed us to be.
First Corinthians 12:4-11 says specifically that some have the gift of wisdom, some of knowledge, some have a very strong faith in the Lord, and some the ability to do healings. We also know that some Christians have the gift of teaching, preaching, playing an instrument, or singing music. Some have patience, artistic design, or the heart to do missionary work in the world. Whatever it may be, the Lord designs us all with unique gifts that become tools for God to reach out to the world with the gospel message of Jesus Christ.
In fact, it says in Ephesians 2:10: "For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life." We are all divinely designed and uniquely created to do good works in the name of Jesus Christ.
Have you ever noticed that not everyone uses the gifts that God gives them to carry out the church's mission? Many people are just like those tools that never get used and who have no exciting God stories of their own. Year after year they just sit around taking up space in the pews, but not actively utilizing their God-given gifts. Sure, they're shiny and beautiful, but if they're not doing what God created them to do; of what use are they to the mission of the church?
Let none of us forget that God has called all of his people to service through his grace. That means you! So often we take God and his word for granted and seek the easy road. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, recognizing this tendency in some, referred to this slothful behavior as those who celebrate "cheap grace." He wrote:
Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.
Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.7
All around us we see violence, corruption, greed, racism, and other evil permeating the world we live in. Some of us just shake our heads and point our fingers and do nothing. Isn't that cheap grace?
It's these atrocities that stir the desires of Christians with a passionate spirituality to make changes, to seek justice, and to pursue the vision that God had for the world when he created it: a world filled with goodness, love, and peace for all. In order to be an effective ministry and the body of Christ in the world, we need every single Christian in the church to discover and use the gifts with which God has already blessed him or her. This most definitely includes you!
The True Body Of Christ
Centuries ago, Saint Paul got word that the church in Corinth was having some growing pains. There were factions and scandals, debates, dissenters, and heretics, and those who were most likely indifferent to it all. Not unlike some of our churches today! But what really grabbed Paul's attention were the few who believed that their gifts were too insignificant to matter. Wanting them to see things differently, he wrote
Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.
-- 1 Corinthians 12:14-18
Brilliantly, Saint Paul compares the church to the human body pointing out that it needs every one of us to be healthy and fully functioning, just as the human body needs all of its own members. Although we are all designed differently, and some of our gifts might be more or less pronounced than others, the truth is that we all have something to offer. There's no such thing as an unimportant gift from God nor an insignificant person in the body of Christ.
Author and theologian, Charles Van Engen, agreed. He wrote:
In the New Testament it is the whole people of God together who are called to be the Church. All the members are joined to grow up into maturity, to the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:15). Such fullness is not possible if only 10 percent or fewer exercise their place and calling. Fullness will be found when the other 90% join in ministry.8
The church I serve today can attest to that fact. Over fifty years ago, a pastor in a nearby church had the idea and vision of building a mission start church in a little seaside resort town called Lavallette, New Jersey. He knew that if he was going to make this vision a reality he would have to find people who had the gifts to make it possible. Together with a group of about twelve people he started asking the most basic question, "What would it take to build a church?"
Over many nights, this small group met and started putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Before they knew it there were many great ideas and a lot of excitement about what could be. They imagined reaching families who vacationed there in the summer, and year-round residents who were without a church home. Before long, they had a long list of possibilities. But there was still one big hurdle to overcome: Where would they find the people to do the work and where would they find the resources?
To the pastor's surprise, each one of those twelve people agreed to offer whatever they could to make the dream come true. It was a start. One man said, "I'm pretty good with building furniture. Why don't you let me build an altar and a few chairs?"
Another man said, "I know the superintendent at the elementary school. Why don't I go there and see if they'll let us use the gym until we can find property of our own?"
One of the women said, "I can gather a bunch of people together and we can go from door to door letting everyone in town know about what we're up to. We can invite everyone to our first worship service."
Another woman offered to play the piano, a few promised to sing, and some even pledged money to pay the new minister.
A few years after that initial meeting, Faith Lutheran Church of Lavallette was erected. Today, it sits thirteen houses from the Atlantic Ocean, on property that was donated by a very generous man, and continues to be a very visible ministry in town. We try never to forget that all of this happened because every person contributed something. It's true that everyone matters in the body of Christ.
You see, great ministry happens when everyone makes a contribution. It happens when people see the need and meet it by offering a gift that God has first given to them. What becomes very obvious when gifts are being used to bless the Lord is that every single person matters and every single gift they possess is needed. I don't mean this in some abstract theological sense, but in a very practical way.
Go ahead and see for yourself! Start using your gifts and you will find a deeper sense of ownership and sense of investment like you've never felt before. Church will no longer be a place where you only come on Sunday, it will become a thread that weaves itself into your life so securely that everything else will pale in comparison. You might even begin to feel some passion for the ministry. Imagine that!
That is the vision that God has for every Christian and for every church -- that it be filled with faithful people who share all things for the advancement of God's kingdom here on earth. God's vision is that all of us take ownership of the ministry he calls us to and that we invest our best to make the gospel known to all.
Time For Reflection
1. Name three gifts that you believe are your God-given gifts and could impact your ministry greatly if you used them to build up the kingdom of earth. If you are already using your gifts, what fruits have you seen from your labor? (Examples might include: new members have joined the church, new food pantry is feeding the poor, a grief ministry was started because of you, and so on.)
2. Do you believe that most Christians use their gifts to serve God? Why or why not?
3. Have you ever been surprised to find out that you had more talent than you first expected? If so, please describe.
4. What do you think of the church being the body of Christ? What part of the body would you be?
5. Describe ways to show God how thankful you are for the gifts you possess.
