The Unlikely Gift

When it comes to discerning our spiritual gift, it is important to know that a spiritual gift is not a talent, nor is it something we have trained ourselves to do through a disciplined life.   What makes a spiritual gift a spiritual gift is that it is a gift of the Spirit.  The church makes a serious mistake as it assumes that a school teacher will make a good Sunday School teacher, or that a banker is the person to chair the Finance Committee.  I remember on one occasion some years ago asking someone who was a counselor to serve as a member of the Staff Parish Relations Committee (a personnel committee in the Methodist Church) only to be told "No, my spiritual gift is in evangelism."    

Even as the Spirit gives the gift, so can He be trusted to reveal the spiritual gift to the one receiving it.  A pastor or friend may be helpful in the discerning process, but the Spirit will reveal His intent to one who is open to listening.  Since each one of us is gifted by the Spirit with some gift which can be used to build up the body of Christ, we each one need to spend time listening to the Word and the Spirit.  The witness of the church and its service in the world for Christ is diminished when we keep ear plugs in our ears.  

And, of course, once we discern the leading of the Holy Spirit, we do not need to discuss it with others to gain consensus.  Instead, we need to act upon it with obedience and faith.  We should not be afraid of what seems unlikely.  When God acts, the practical test does not always apply.  When I was eighteen years old, I could not even conceive of speaking in public.  I was such an introvert I could not talk my way out of a paper sack.  Yet, God called and gave me a gift for preaching.  It had to be a gift.  I could never have done it, otherwise.