Mission and Spiritual Gifts...

I was an undergrad when I first heard about Spiritual Gifts and the fact that I had a special gifting endowed on me by the Holy Spirit. This revelation was mind blowing to me and I was amazed that I had never heard of this before. I remember wanting to tell as many people in my church as possible that we had these gifts and I used my scheduled turn to lead devotions at band and choir practice to share my new found insights.

I also remember thinking that there are some gifts I would want more than others; some were just more exciting than others. After all, who wants the gift of martyrdom! Over the years since that first encounter I have taken a number of Spiritual Gift Surveys to determine where my gifts lie and while my gift mix has varied based on what survey I was responding to, I generally score high in apostleship, leadership and teaching. I also generally score low (very low at times) in areas such as administration, mercy and intercession.

The purpose of spiritual gifts is clearly explained by Paul,

"A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other." 
1 Corinthians 12:7 (NLT)

So no matter what our gift(s) are, we are to use them to help others. This is often understood that the gifts we are given are to be used in the church only to help build up the body. Recent leadership teaching has even emphasized the need to only work within your gift mix if you are to be truly effective. I don't agree and let me tell you why.

1. Our spiritual giftedness does not turn on and off when we walk in and out of a church building. Our gifts are 24/7 and therefore we can and should use them at all times.
2. We can't limit our ministry to just those areas that we are good at. I score low on administration but my ministry requires that I do paperwork, so I do it. I score low on mercy but if I am engaged in mission, then I will meet people who need a shoulder to cry on. I am not gifted in intercession but I need to pray for those in my community.
3. If you are serious about mission, then you need to be willing to go wherever Jesus is leading/sending you. Those places will not always be within your gift mix.
4. Too often we use the excuse "That's not what I am gifted at," as a cop out for not wanting to do the work. (I know because I've done it!)

The mission of the church requires Jesus followers using their gifts to help build up those within the congregation as well as those who are in our mission field. Mission often requires us to go outside our gift mix to accomplish the task we are called to do.

Blessings!