Gifted to Serve

A few weeks ago we did a two part series on spiritual gifts for youth group.  It wasn’t my idea and to be honest it didn’t seem like an overly exciting topic to me.  God has a sense of humour because I was the one who ended up teaching the two weeks.  The first week we talked about the purpose of spiritual gifts.  Nothing new here, just a huge reminder that the purpose of spiritual gifts is to build up the church.  Nothing wrong with talents, they are God given too but spiritual gifts aren’t given for our own benefit but rather for the benefit of the church.  A good reminder in that study is that we don’t receive gifts based on our spiritual maturity.  In fact, what gifts we have has no relation to our spiritual maturity, as seen in the Corinthian church.

But the more interesting study was looking at descriptions of the gifts and figuring out which ones we have and which ones others have.  (We looked at descriptions that Mark Driscoll used in a sermon during his sermon series in 1 Corinthians.)  In preparation for the study I went to a friend of mine and asked if she knew what her spiritual gift was.  She said no.  This is someone who feels that she has very little to give to the church.  As I read the definition for the gift of service as well as some questions to figure out if that’s your gift any arguement she could have had about not being a servant was wiped away and she got a sheepish grin on her face.  She saw herself in the description. 

Later, at youth, after I read through all the different descriptions we shared about what we thought our own gift(s) were and what other peoples gifts were.  Only one person didn’t see themselves in any of the gifts (but others shared what gifts they thought that person might have).  What I saw was people who questioned if they had anything to give or wondering how they could be involved suddenly being able to articulate what they do well, what they can offer the body of Christ. 

It’s amazing for me to realize, and pass on, the fact that all of God’s kids have a place in the body.  Each one has a purpose.  Because my gifts are more front and center I can (and have) considered myself superior and thought of others, whose gifts were more background and hidden gifts, as inferior.  Studying the gifts rounded that picture out for me.  It’s not just preaching or teaching.  There are the very important gifts of encouragement, mercy, giving.  Thinking about those sorts of gifts brings to mind those who have demonstrated those gifts in my life.  People who have come along side me and given me a pat on the back, a card in the mailbox, cleaned up after an event without me knowing, offered to helpe me in anyway possible.  I value these gifts.  These are not inferior gifts.  They are pure blessing. 

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.  1 Corinithians 12:12

Missing the Powerful

Because one of the things I’m focusing on developing right now is my prayer life I’ve been doing some reading and thinking about prayer.  I ran across a couple quotes from DL Moody.

Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure

If you have so much business to attend to that you have no time to pray, then you have more business on your hands than God ever intended you to have.

It is easy to understand that prayer to God is powerful and important but somehow there is more glamour in thinking about being a prayer warrior than actually bending the knee, quieting the heart and communicating with God.  Why is it so difficult?

I guess there are a few things stacked against us: we have an enemy who works his wiles to keep us from praying, we have our flesh that wants to be comfortable, we have our pride that wants to focus on us, we have our minds that are overstimulated and our hearts that cool so quickly in love for God.  Oh, and the self-sufficiency to think that we can actually manage on our own, that we’re actually doing okay.  Maybe mix in a bit of doubt that God will actually move.  Makes for quite the daunting combination. 

I’m frustrated with myself for my lack of prayer.  And I’m frustrated with the church.  (The greater church.)  Why are we so lacking in this as a body?  Why is something so central to spiritual growth and breakthrough so neglected?  I’m sure there are a lot of prayer warriors who are waging battle unbeknown to the rest of us but where is the corporate prayer? 

And what I’m scared of, and wondering, will a great work of God be absent until we pick up our cross and kneel?