Thursday, May 17, 2012

What is your gift?

"Each of you should go on living according to the Lord's gift to you, and as you were when God called you." Paul's letter to the church in Corinth.

Gifts? What gifts? Do you ever feel you have no gifts?

The Roman Catholic writer and scholar Thomas Aquinas discussed in Summa Theologica, ,II.2 spiritual gifts. He founded the main tradition for gifts of the Spirit in the Catholic Church of Middle Ages Europe. He drew his approach from Isaiah 11: 1-5, where it speaks of these gifts : wisdom, knowledge, counsel (right judgement), understanding; strength (courage, fortitude), reverence (piety), and fear of the LORD. Through wisdom, knowledge, counsel, and understanding, the Spirit shapes and steers the mind, creating change in the way a person thinks and puts information together. The Holy Spirit provides perspective, reminds us of the right past events, and reveals new opportunities. Through the gifts of courage, reverence, and fear of the LORD, the Spirit shapes your will, so that you choose to use what you learn and think for the purposes God is calling you to do.

Paul wrote of spiritual gifts in the same letter to the church in Corinth. His gifts were given by the Holy Spirit. They included words of wisdom, words of knowledge, faith, healing, miracle working, prophecy, distinguishing of spirits, tongues, and interpretation of tongues.

Gifts, what gifts?

Other gifts include mercy, giving, equipping, leadership, teaching, exhortation, grace, peace, rest, eternal life, children, a new heart, celibacy.

Somewhere in there I believe we will find ourselves, for I believe God has gifted each of us with at least one gift. At least. We are given a gift. Period.

I think much of what is labeled problems in the Church today is a lack of discerning what gifts people have been given, then giving them a venue to use that gift.

So today I pray that you will read this (as readership is falling for some reason), then go out and attempt to ascertain what gift you have. In the coming days, I pray you then try to use your gift.

The fact is that places where ministries flourish: Identify peoples' gifts as well as their talents and skills; Refine and train their gifts and talents; Make opportunities for their use; Work hard to support them in their ministry.

If your church isn't doing that, heck if you're not doing that, let's get started.

Churches that try to take command of the gift forget that while the gift is given for others, it is not given to the organization, but to a person. That's how the Spirit chooses to operate. They can practice discernment and perhaps even provide discipline at times. But discipline is something on the edges; it is always to be placed within the context of who's giving the gift and who's getting it. A wise church leadership spends time and effort at finding spiritual gifts, and letting them blossom.

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