Dear Friends,
Yesterday in our new members class, we addressed the topic of
spiritual gifts. Those in the class had previously been asked to take a
spiritual gifts questionnaire designed to help assist them in discovering
their spiritual gift(s). It is an always an interesting time when
participants gather and share their results. Many are surprised by what they
have discovered about themselves as often the questionnaire reveals potential
areas of giftedness, they had never imagined they possessed.
For the next few days, I would like to explore the nature of
spiritual gifts, and hopes of helping us all gain a clearer understanding
of why they are so critical for the success of the church, and the
spiritual development of the believer.
Just what is a spiritual gift. It has been described as
"The ability to function effectively and significantly in a
particular service as a member of Christ’s body, the church, that when
exercised leads to the building up of the body." David Jeremiah, a pastor
and author states, “No church be what God intended it to be, Jesus wants it to
be, or the Holy Spirit gifted it to be without a knowledge of spiritual
gifts."
As a pastor I am always stressing the point that members need to
recognize they are meant to be contributors not consumers. God means for them
to be engaged participants in the work of the kingdom. The true measure
of ministry should never be determined by bodies, budgets, or
buildings. The most accurate measurement of the success of any church’s ministry
is how many members have discovered, developed and deployed their spiritual
gift(s).
Too often the church has been viewed as a football game where
there are 50,000 wildly cheering fans in the stands in desperate need of
exercise with 22 players on the field in desperate need of rest.
Every Sunday morning the church should become a meeting of
the ministerial association where everyone sitting in the pews has come
prepared to learn, grow, and be equipped to use their gifts to make a
difference in the King's kingdom.
D. L Moody was right when he said, "I would rather put a
thousand men to work than to do the work of a thousand men. "One is always
too small a number to achieve greatness," says John Maxwell.
Sometimes we as pastors grow frustrated when we see believers
sitting on the sidelines without any idea of the contribution they could
make, simply because they are unaware of the abilities they possess.
Peter reminds us that "each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10 KJV).
The ESV expresses it this way: “As each has received a gift, use
it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”
For the church to be an effective force in the world, its members
need to be equipped, and engaged in service, and one of the most critical parts
of the engagement process is learning and applying your spiritual gift(s). We
will talk more about this tomorrow, as we learn how we discover those spiritual
gift(s).
Yours in faith and friendship,
Pastor Tom
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