East to Weston (the Original)

Last night we each took a spiritual gifts test at Bible study, and then spent some time sharing about them. It was a fun and fascinating time of discussion and discovery. Some had never taken such a test before, some took tests that confirmed their suspicions, and some had new things show up they hadn’t considered. As we discussed, I realized again how much I enjoy this subject of discovery in our Christian lives. And I have a word to say about spiritual gifts.

I find most of our attitudes about spiritual gifts to be closely tied to our view of ourselves, right down to good old fashioned self-esteem. A couple of things tend to come out of this tie. One reaction is to be unhappy with the spiritual gifts we’ve been given when they don’t seem to be among the loftier gifts more valued in Christian circles (pastor, evangelist, healer). When we discover gifts of hospitality and administration, its easy to feel like a lesser spiritual person. The other reaction, which is quite the opposite, is to feel embarrassed about sharing our gifts if they are of the more supernatural type, such as faith, healing, missionary, or apostle. When people ask, we shrug and say, “Well, the TEST says I’d be a good missionary, but I don’t know ….”

I find both of these reactions inconsistent with what God would have us believe about ourselves. First of all, as we are made in Christ’s image, and we can call ourselves children of God, the King, there should be no doubt that we are loved and valued and worthy, no matter who we are, what we look like, or what our gifts and talents might be. To put it somewhat elementarily, as Christians we have every right to a strong sense of self-esteem and self-confidence. In fact, I think it is part of our calling. We are, each of us, uniquely gifted, uniquely talented, and wholly loved. And so if I discover that I have the gift of administration, I want to embrace that, be thankful for it, and learn to use it to glorify God and his Kingdom. As He has gifted me in that way, I want to honor that gift by using it well.

Second, if we view ourselves the way God does (as much as is humanly possible), we should see something beautiful. God doesn’t view a pastor as more important to His work than the behind-the-scenes administrator of Sunday morning power point. The missionary roughing it out in the jungles of the Amazon is doing work just as important as the guy who fixes fences for his neighbors in need. God made each of us exactly as he planned, and he doesn’t make mistakes or faulty plans. Each of us has a role in the greater work of Kingdom building, and regardless of what God has called us to, it IS important. I feel like I can’t say this strongly enough. He asks us only to be faithful with the one, two, five, ten talents we’ve been given. Use them, grow them, find ways to bless others with the very gifts and talents with which God has uniquely blessed each of us. It is then that we glorify God, which is our chief goal on this earth.

Posted by hjw on 08 March 2007 at 10:50 PM | Permalink