May 5, 2010

Discover, Develop and Deploy your Spiritual Gifts

When the topic of Spiritual Gifts comes up in church, I’ve observed that it typically evokes two responses in people – one of great passion or one of casual indifference. Now this is a topic that I’m personally very passionate about, but that wasn’t always the case. To explain what I mean by that, let me give you some background about my own journey that you may be able to relate to.

When I look back over my life so far, I see several distinct eras. The first is what I think of as the “Era of Ignorance.” It’s pretty much just like it sounds: I was clueless. I didn’t grow up as a Christian nor did I open a Bible until I was about eighteen years old. I wouldn’t have recognized a spiritual gift if it jumped out and bit me, much less have known what to do with it.

The next era of my journey is what I call the “Era of Confusion.” During this time I was only a few years old in the Lord, and whenever I heard people talking about spiritual gifts, they were arguing. I witnessed many heated debates about which spiritual gifts were better, holier, etc. In fact, there was so much arguing about it, that I became paralyzed and decided that I didn’t want ANY spiritual gifts if that’s what it produced! I sort of put all that I’d heard about spiritual gifts on the back burner and wanted no part of it.

Now fast forward several years to my time in seminary, which I think of as the “Era of Discovery.” I made a choice not to be ignorant anymore and did a word study on every single spiritual gift. I traced the etymology, applied the Greek that I’d learned and followed the reference of each gift throughout the Bible.

Through these studies I gained a lot of knowledge about spiritual gifts, which has been very helpful. Here’s the “nutshell” version of what I discovered:

• Every Christian is given one or more spiritual gifts and most have a primary spiritual gift.
• Spiritual gifts can be abused or neglected, but if they’re received in salvation they can never be lost.
• Although you’re given your spiritual gift at the moment of regeneration, it’s not uncommon for a spiritual gift to lie dormant or undiscovered for years.
• Spiritual gifts aren’t the same as the gift of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Holy Spirit means coming to faith (being born again). Spiritual gifts are divine and intended for service.
• There’s a distinct difference between spiritual gifts and spiritual fruit. Spiritual fruit has to do with character – the life of Christ made in me. Spiritual gifts have to do with service and empowerment to build others in the body of Christ.
• Spiritual Gifts are different than natural talents. Natural talents are abilities that we get in our physical DNA – when we’re born. Spiritual gifts are what we get in our spiritual DNA when we’re born again.
• The word for “gift” – charismata – literally means a grace gift. That means that whatever spiritual gift we have, we didn’t earn but were given sovereignly by the Holy Spirit because he has a purpose for our lives. We’re to walk unto good works, meaning that it’s not just a gift – we’re meant to use it!

So I learned all of these basic principles and I could define them.  The end result was a sort of “salad bar” of knowledge about the various and diverse areas of spiritual gifts. I could describe each of them and where they came from. I could tell you which ones I thought I had, and boiled it down to five or six general spiritual gifts that I identified with.

What I can tell you is that all of this knowledge had little or no impact on my life.

My final (and current) era is the most significant. I’d describe it as the “Era of Empowerment.” This era was the result of discovering that God had given me the PRIMARY spiritual gift of prophecy and a cluster of ministry gifts, like teaching, through which that gift is expressed. This realization truly began to reshape the decisions I make, which in turn has transformed my life and my ministry.

Where are you at when it comes to spiritual gifts? Are you in the era of ignorance, confusion, discovery or empowerment?

Understanding what your primary spiritual gift is and how it fits with the purpose that God has for your life is absolutely empowering and brings incredible focus to everyday choices. It can shift you from “stalled” to “supercharged” in your career, relationships and ministry.

We’re beginning a new series this week called “Your Divine Design.” In it, we’ll unpack four major Biblical passages about spiritual gifts and look at a framework to organize these passages. Through this journey, we’ll examine your motivational (i.e. “core”) gifts as described in scripture as well as God’s intentions for how we’re meant to express our spiritual gifts.

If you’re reading this and are unsure of exactly what your primary spiritual gift is or feeling as if you know but haven’t found the right outlet for your gifting – don’t worry! This series is a great starting point whether you’re ready to discover, develop or deploy your unique gifts.

READY TO LEARN MORE? REQUEST A FREE DVD.

God has a unique purpose for your life, and learning how to discover, develop and deploy your particular spiritual gift plays a huge part in fulfilling that purpose. Now through May 15 you can request a FREE COPY of the new DVD Your Divine Design. It’s my heart’s desire that through this series God would reveal your particular gifting to you in such a way that your life and ministry will be transformed and magnified like never before.

Keep Pressin’ Ahead,

Chip