On Spiritual Gifts

I must admit this week’s study on spiritual gifts has been a challenging one. I was one of those who had that old school view that spiritual gift inventories helped guide you in the direction of church ministry. When in reality, it is the Holy Spirit who gives an assignment and the gift for the assignment.

There were two things in last week’s study that stood out to me. The first is the difference between spiritual gifts and talents. I’ve always known that there’s a difference between the two but I’ve always considered a talent to be something like singing, being able to play a musical instrument, even cooking. I never thought of my being able to teach as more likely being a talent rather than a gift and that my spiritual gift might be something else, which the Holy Spirit could use in conjunction with my talent/gift for teaching.

Another thing that stood out to me was the fact that the gifts might change over time. As Jerry said in class, just because you can do something this time doesn’t mean that you will always be able to do the same thing. The secret is to ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. As Henry Blackaby said in his Experiencing God study, when the Holy Spirit reveals to you a need or a ministry, that’s God invitation to you to join Him in what He is doing.

I suppose that this is why the statement he made on page 32 is so significant. He wrote: “Don’t look at your abilities and natural talents and serve only in those areas you feel competent. If you do, you’ll eliminate yourself from significant areas of service.” We may not all have a burning bush experience, but God does invite us to join Him in His work. I am convinced that He could use us like He used the Old Testament patriarchs, taking them to foreign lands or to stand before kings, only if we are willing—for He is able. First, we must be willing to talk to the people we live with and work with before He can trust us in something bigger.

One reason why this rang a bell for me is because Saturday night, my three-year and I was watching Veggie Tales and they were doing the story of Gideon. Gideon was a man who God was calling to lead an army. But Gideon didn’t see it. He wasn’t a soldier and he wasn’t a commander. In fact, he seemed to lack courage. But he decided to trust God and go, even though God kept shrinking his army. If he had only thought about what he was good at or what he could do, he would have eliminated himself from this significant area of service. No one would have ever known his name.

What is your area of service? What would God have you do? It used to be said that God would not call you to do something you wouldn’t like. It’s not the liking that the measure, but the gifting. If it is something that causes you to take pause and say, “God, are you sure?”, then you’re likely looking in the right direction. Otherwise, we must ask the question, are we serving for God’s purpose or our own?