However, I believe spiritual gifts are only one part of the picture.
In my opinion, spiritual gifts are often
overemphasized to the neglect
of other equally important factors.
Natural abilities that you were born with also came from God. So do
your experiences and inborn
personality traits.
Your Creator planned these factors as well.
I also believe most churches get the process backwards. They say, "Discover
your spiritual gifts and then
you'll know what ministry you're
supposed to have."
I believe the exact opposite of this: Start experimenting with different
ministries and then you'll discover your gifts!
Until you actually get
involved in serving, you're not going to know what you're
good at.
Heart
The Bible uses the term "heart" to represent the center
of your motivation, desires, interests, and inclinations.
Your heart
determines
why you say the things you do (Matt. 12:34), why you feel
the way you do (Ps. 34:7),
and why you act the way you do (Pr. 4:23).
Physiologically, each of us has a unique heartbeat. Each person has
a slightly different pattern. Likewise,
God has given each of us
a unique emotional "heartbeat" that races when
we encounter activities, subjects,
or circumstances that
interest us.
Another word for heart is passion. There are certain subjects that you
feel passionate about and others that
you couldn't care less about.
God had a purpose in giving you your inborn interests. Your emotional
heartbeat reveals a very important key
to understanding His intentions
for your life. Don't ignore your natural interests. People
rarely excel at tasks they
don't enjoy doing. High achievers enjoy what they do.
Abilities
These are the natural talents that you were born with. Some people have
a natural ability with words. They came
out of the womb talking! Others
are naturally good with numbers. They think mathematically
and they can't
understand why you don't understand calculus.
Exodus 31:3 gives an example of how God gives people "skill, ability,
and knowledge in all kinds of crafts ...."
in order to accomplish His purposes. In this case, it was artistic
ability to be used in building the Tabernacle.
It's interesting to me
that musical talent is not listed
as a "spiritual gift," but it certainly is a natural
ability that
God uses in worship.
One of the most common excuses people give for not getting involved
in ministry is "I just don't have any abilities
to offer."Nothing
could be further from the truth. Many national studies have
proven that the average person
possesses from five hundred
to seven hundred
skills!
The real problem is two-fold
First, people need some process of skill identification.
Second, they need a process to help them match their abilities with
the right ministry.
There are people in your church with all kinds of abilities that are
not being put to use: recruiting, researching,
writing, landscaping,
interviewing, promoting, decorating, planning, entertaining,
repairing, drawing, and even
feeding.
These abilities should not be wasted. "There are different kinds
of service, but the same Lord." (1 Cor. 12:5)
Personality
It's obvious that God has not used a cookie cutter to create people.
He made introverts and extroverts. He made
people who love routine
and those who love variety. Some people work best when
given an individual assignment
while others work better with a team.
There is no "right" or "wrong" temperament for
ministry. We need all kinds of personalities to balance the church
and give it
flavor. The world would be a very boring place if we were
all plain vanilla. Fortunately, ministry comes
in more than 31 flavors.
Your personality will affect how and where you use your
spiritual gifts and abilities. For instance, two people may
have the
same gift of evangelism, but - if one is introverted and the other
is extroverted - that gift will be expressed
in different ways.
When you minister in a manner that is consistent with the personality
God gave you, you experience fulfillment,
satisfaction, and fruitfulness.
It feels good when you do exactly what God made you to do.
Experiences
God never wastes an experience. Romans 8:28 reminds us, "And
we know that in all things God works for the
good of those who love
Him,
who have been called according to His purpose."
At Saddleback, we help people consider five areas of experience that
will influence the kind of ministry they
are best shaped for:
• Educational experiences: What were your favorite subjects in
school?
• Vocational experiences: What jobs have you enjoyed and achieved results
while doing?
• Spiritual experiences: What have been the meaningful or decisive times
with God in your life?
• Ministry experiences: How have you served God in the past?
• Painful experiences: What are the problems, hurts, and trials that you've
learned from?
God sovereignty determined your shape for His purpose, so you
shouldn't resent it or reject it. "What right
have you - a human being - to
cross examine God? The pot has no right to say to the potter: ‘Why
did
you make me this shape?' Surely a potter can do what he likes with
the clay!" Rom. 9:20 21 (JB)
Instead of trying to reshape ourselves to be like someone else, we should
celebrate the shape
God has given to each of us.
Wise stewardship of your life begins by understanding your shape.
You will be the most effective and fulfilled in ministry when you use
your spiritual gifts and abilities in the area
of your heart's desire
and in a way that best expresses your personality and experiences.
What God made you to BE determines what God intends for you to DO.
