Just as gifts were controversial and led to much confusion (and destruction) in the Corinthian church, so to our attitudes and approach to this area can be just as damaging. I know of one person who left Christianity altogether because he was angry at God and other Christians for not allowing his perceived ‘gift’ to be honoured and appreciated. Our susceptibility to allow the world’s categories of thinking to shape our approach to this whole issue is very real.
Also I think there is a tendency amongst many Christians to sit back and not participate in such a way as to discover what areas of giftedness they may have for the benefit of the church. This is a great problem and means too many of us to expend our energies and talents for the benefit of ourselves and other causes…to the detriment of the great gospel cause.
So here are a few extra thoughts I had on how to approach this whole area. Feel free to add more into the discussion.
1) Be blown away by the most spiritual person ever.
Jesus built the church and changed the course of eternity through humble self-sacrifice towards the undeserving. If we are not grounded in Him, thrilled and amazed by his grace, shaken to our core by his radical example of servant leadership…we will muck up this whole area of spiritual gifts. If we grow in our appreciation of the gift of Christ, then we will be a great gift to the body of Christ. I will be protected from spiritual self-centeredness, spiritual pride and spiritual jealousy…all of which are terrible oxymorons, but I know they fester in my heart and the Gospel needs to shake it out of my system.
2) Don’t wait for a sign from God about your spiritual gift….just get serving
Just about every person I know of who we might say are really gifted in ministry have been filled with a passion and desire to serve…anywhere. I spoke to someone from another church last night who said they have realized they are not highly ‘gifted’ to work with teenagers. However because there is a need, she is going to keep serving. Now isn’t that a great attitude? Of course if she was absolutely hopeless and was causing damage to that area of ministry, then it would be good for her and others to be put out of the misery. After all, if you can’t play piano, sheer desire is not going to work for the common good in the music team.
3) Remember that gifts are identified in the body of Christ.
I know this sounds simple but you and others will never know how you can serve the body unless you are serving the body. I don’t think you can ascertain your gifts in isolation or through filling in questionnaires. Because serving has so much to do with your gospel attitude it is possible to be really good at doing something, but for you to forget it’s for the common good. This is again the Corinthian problem.
4) Ask God to gift you in whatever way for the common good
I wonder how many of us have actually done this with sincerity and passion before our great God in prayer. It’s a scary thing to do yes…and a wonderful thing. Asking to be gifted for the benefit of others drives you once again to the heart of the gospel. My suggestion is that we all pray this and then grab a hold of the next opportunity to benefit the church that comes along.
5) Don’t be too precious about ‘your’ gift.
I don’t think people should be ultimately identified by their gifts, rather our identification rests with the fact that we have the giver. Also, over the years God will use us in all manner of different ways to benefit others. Don’t typecast yourself, this will not be for the common good.
6) Don’t think it should all come naturally
It seems to me that people who are gifted at various things in church have spent a lot of deliberate time working out how they can do what they do for the common good. Patience, practice, training, frustration…will accompany any gospel service. A gifted ability in some area doesn’t mean exercising that gift is easy. Because of this, often we need others to tell us what we might be gifted at. This is because they are the ones who actually benefit from our service, while we are the ones exhausted from it.
7) Pray for and revel in the spiritual giftedness of others
Maybe this is the hardest one for many of us. Church should be a place where we benefit from and rejoice in what others contribute and bless us with. Pray earnestly for your friends at church that God will gift them for his glory, not just you.
One final note: 1 Corinthians 13 is deliberately placed and really sits behind a lot of what I'm suggesting here. We'll see why next Sunday.
