Gifting and Power for Ministry

"For the Kingdom of God does not consist in talk, but in power."

1 Corinthians 4:20

Have you ever felt this way?  Have you ever asked these questions?

Why am I not as gifted as ....?  Why can't I do .... when others can?  Why does God not give me the right gifts to do ministry?

Even as I write these sentences, I find them sad and short-sighted.  Yet, I know I often feel them and I often hear them expressed by others in life and ministry.

Why does God gift each of us in different ways?   I have no idea.  I do know that He calls us all to be the body of Christ.  A body without different parts just will not work right.  Instead, health means that all the parts of the body are present and working to help the rest of the body.

What does this mean for the ministry?

Having walked with believers and ministry workers for decades, I believe that most of us secretly wish we had different gifts.  We wish we could be like someone we look up to in ministry.  We are painfully aware of our shortcomings.  Deep within we believe that life and ministry would be different if we were just different.

In answer to this natural, fallen human tendency, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12 that we should not wish we had other gifts than the ones we do (gift envy), and he instructs us not to look down on those with different gifts (gift projection).

As I grow older, I am more and more convinced that there is a place for every type of person in the Kingdom of God.  In fact, I believe there is a place and ministry for every type of person.  The key to success is matching our gifts, calling, experience, and talents with the ministry to which we are called.

To put this positively, when God gives the call to a specific ministry, He also gifts us for the task.

What does this mean for us?  When we are looking at a ministry opportunity, we must know who we are in Christ and we need to understand what the ministry needs to succeed.  This requires wisdom and a bit of knowledge.  Today I want to offer some of Paul's wisdom regarding how God gives to His church spiritually gifted people just like you!

As Paul describes,

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.  To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

1 Cor. 12: 4-7

Notice the phrase in the middle of these verses, "There are varieties of service and activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all."  In 1 Corinthians 12-14, Paul writes to a church where jealousy, envy, and ignorance have brought about division within the body.  It appears that this church has a variety of gifted folks.  In fact, Paul describes more and different types of gifts in writing the Corinthian church than he mentions in writing to any other church in the NT.

The problem is that this church wants to see some gifts and callings as greater than others.  From the context, we can see Paul argues such thinking is ridiculous!  Everyone and every gifting/skill set is needed!  All the different types of gifts are needed in ministry, and in the varieties of service in which we find ourselves.  The key is to serve where we are gifted and called while also affirming and encouraging others to service in different areas according to their gifting and calling.

So how do we know who God has made us to be?

Here is where wisdom is needed.  Unfortunately, it is a wisdom that often takes experience to discern.  I find that most of us learn this wisdom by getting into a ministry area to which we do not fit.  Let me share a brief story to illustrate.  

I had a good friend in seminary who came to school from North Carolina with his wife who was studying to be a psychologist.  He had loved his pastor in college and he wanted to be like him.  He wanted so much to be a pastor who could impact people's lives like he had witnessed.

He began in the M.Div. program, which is a degree to train for ordained ministry.  After a year, he was miserable!  His grades were very good, because he was bright.  Yet, he had no peace and joy in the work.  Before coming to seminary, he was an accountant.  After months of forcing himself to study theology, Greek, and such, he found himself nightly in the library studying tax law.  He found it fascinating (I cannot even imagine!).  Finally, he called his old firm and asked if they had a position in Boston.  He shared that he needed to get back to work in something he loved.  That was a Thursday afternoon.  The next Monday, he began to work at the Boston office of his accounting firm for $80,000 a year (remember this was the mid 1990s)!

What can we learn from this?  First, it pays to be an accountant!  Second, he was trying to force his way into a life and ministry to which he was not called and gifted.  The result was misery and a lack of success.  When he finally came to his senses, the Lord opened other doors and blessed his work.  In fact, he later applied for law school, did extremely well, passed the bar, and became a tax lawyer.  Last I heard, he was also working toward a political career.

If you are not good at understanding yourself (and most of us aren't good at such self-knowledge), I encourage you to find a trusted friend, pastor, or counselor to help you gain some self-understanding.  I also recommend that you take some personality tests and that you take some tests to help you discover your spiritual gifts.  While these tools are not fool-proof, they can be helpful tools in the hands of a wise counselor to help us gain self-knowledge.

Most importantly, get out in a variety of ministries and environments to see what brings you life, joy, and success.  Try everything!  If you fail at something, do not get down, but learn from it.  Why did you fail?  What happened?  If you find that you are good at something, but still not empowered and full of joy while doing it, ask why?  Perhaps the gifting is present, but the direction of this ministry was not quite correct.  Most importantly, try a variety of ministries and areas of labor!

At all times remember that God is one who has given you a desire to serve Him.  He will never forsake you and He loves you dearly!  If you are in a tough spot now, this does not change God's love for you.  If you have failed miserably in a certain ministry, this does not change God's love for you.  He even uses our failure.  In fact, He seems particularly good at using our failures to give us wisdom and direction if we have the heart and faith to ask for wisdom with what happened!

Rest in the reality that God is the one who prepares us for life and ministry.  His Spirit leads us to fruitful fields of labor.  We should strive to discover where and how God is leading us while at the same time be encouraging and acknowledging that others are called to different tasks.  

May the Lord lead us and guide us to use our gifts and personality to pursue His calling for us!