The Next Step

For the last few years now while I've been in school I've been applying for jobs consistently. It was hard work and was not very rewarding initially. There’s nothing like having the feeling of “not being good enough” for the job – or so we often think. (Really... the interviews never went badly but God just kept the "job" door shut (and told me to study instead) because He knew I'd still have enough funds even without a job. Oh me of little faith.) Two weeks ago I applied for a job at a local Hospital and just heard back that they, "are not interested in making an offer at this time", and that they, "wish me success in my career search." Once again a door slammed in my nose. But I still kept walking, plodding, and kept taking the next step.

With each door I’d grow more and more in my faith, and would further develop my patience as God would test my faith a little more, and a little more, and still more. Recently with thousands of dollars in recent unexpected business expenditures I needed a job more than ever. 

It slowly began to dawn on me that if I really wanted a job bad enough I would need to keep knocking and sooner or later a door would open. This was about 2 months ago. Sure enough a door did open! A week ago I was talking with a friend who’s good at networking and he mentioned how he had referred me to a lady who owned a number of apartments because he liked the work he’d seen and also knew what I stood for. I thought to myself, "Well that may be an opportunity but we'll see if the door stays open and it's truly God's will.

The job ended up working out. I just accepted a job as an on-call manager/maintenance person for a few rental properties in the Cincinnati area. Although it's small, it's the next step, it pays really well, and I'm happy with it! If there’s something that this has taught me it's simply, "take one step at a time and the answer will come." God's timing is perfect! Had I not been working on another smaller group of rentals that I help maintain I would never have landed this bigger contract and the one who referred to this property owner would never have even thought of me.

 "I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me." - Philippians 4:12-13

"...godliness with contentment is great gain." - 1 Timothy 6:6

What about me you say... well, remain content where you are, keep plodding, with the opportunities God had placed before you, and keep walking through the doors in front of you that are open and you'll get farther than you ever thought you could have gotten. Whether it be a job, career, spouse, calling, unsaved soul, or ministry dream, keep knocking on the door of heaven for an answer and keep plodding away.

The  answer will come – probably not in our time, and in a way we least expect it, but it will come.            Until then we must be patient and keep taking the next step.

>>For more thoughts on being faithful, plodding, and taking one step at a time --  click ((here)).

"Remember, miles are covered one step at a time..."

Spiritual Gifts in the Bible and the Church

Introduction

What are spiritual gifts? Do I have them? These are some of the questions that I started asking myself a few years ago during my sophomore year of college. Since then I’ve taken multiple tests to understand how and in what ways I’m most useful in God’s kingdom. I believe God has many places where we could be useful in the kingdom, but it's up to us to discern where it’s best for us to be. There are four primary proof texts in the N.T. that many use to discuss to topic of spiritual gifts: 1 Cor. 12-14; Rom. 12:3-8; Eph. 4:11-16; 1 Pet. 4:10-11. Hopefully, this paper will help you answer some of the questions that I had, that I mentioned in the beginning.

Gifts for All Decided By God

Scripture is pretty clear that we all have been given “the gift” of being one with Christ through Christ’s death on the cross; However, we all “each have received a gift” (1 Pet. 4:10-11) and individually been given gifts or talents that we can use as ministry minded Christians in the kingdom. Note the word all. Some think they have been excluded - that is a false assumption. These gifts were also given according to “the measure of grace” that God has allowed to work in our lives (Rom. 12:3-8). All of these gifts will have the honor that he wants and deems best (1 Cor. 12:22-24). In 1 Cor. 12:13 we even find that some gifts are more important than others such as love being more important than faith and hope.

Definition and Goals of a Gift

What is a spiritual gift? It’s a talent that God has given us for the benefit of the local body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:7; 14:12), and for preventing division amongst other things. These gifts that God gives us are the “supernatural graces which we as Christians need to fulfill the mission of the church.” (Spiritual gift, Wikipedia.) What is the end goal of a specific gift or ability given to us by God? It’s so that the body of Christ would be strengthened and benefited. And, remember if a gift is used in such a way that isn’t loving - it’s useless and worthless (1 Cor. 13:13).

The Gifts Differ

As I said before there are four primary places where gifts are mentioned. In these passages they all overlap which suggests that none of the four lists that you’ll find in the texts are intended to be comprehensive; however, these are the gifts that the text outlines so they are the ones we will review in this paper. Some of the gifts focus on leadership (i.e. - apostles, administrators, teachers, pastors, and evangelists), others “require divine intervention or divine revelation” (i.e. - prophecy, healings, miracles, tongues and their interpretation), some are general gifts that all Christians are commanded to have that involve an extra measure of virtue (i.e - faith, service, giving, mercy, or evangelizing), and others speak to only a select few Christians (i.e. - miracles, tongues, or administration). (Elwell, Walter)  These gifts truly differ. Here is an overview of the gifts in 1 Cor. 12-14… The gift of wisdom refers to the “ability to make skillful and practical application of the truth to life 

situations”(MacArthur, p. 298); The gift of knowledge refers to, “the capability of grasping the meaning of God’s revelation, which is mystery to the natural mind”. (McArthur, p. 299) The gift of faith refers to a special ability to lay claim on the promises of God. The gift of healings refers to giving spiritual healing and (in a lesser way) physical healing. The gift of miracles refers to the special ability to do miracles, wonders, and signs that glorify God. The gift of prophecy although it has some controversy surrounding it contextually, refers to someone who has the ability to speak forth or proclaim the word. The gift of discernment refers to, “the ability to examining and judging in order to determine what is genuine and what is spurious.” (MacArthur, p. 304) Finally, the gift of tongues and of interpretation of tongues refers to having the ability to speak in foreign languages easily and aptly through the Power of the Holy Spirit - this one is not used often today.

Here is an overview of new gifts outline for us in Rom. 12:3-8 that weren’t mentioned previously in the above text. The gift of service is much like the gift of “helps” or being useful wherever needed. The gift of teaching refers to the act of teaching and would apply to pastors, teachers, s.s. teacher, and all who disciple (which includes all Christians). The gift of exhortation (12:8a) is one who “is called to one's side” who comforts and helps another. The gift of giving (12:8b) refers to just what it says - that of “sharing or imparting that which is one’s own.” (MacArthur, p. 175) The gift of leadership (12:8c) refers to one who “stands before others” and “administrates, guides, or pilots” a team, individual, or organization, or church. The gift of mercy refers to one who “actively demonstrates sympathy for someone else and who has the necessary resources to successfully comfort and strengthen”. (MacArthur, p. 177). Here is an overview of the gifts in Eph. 4:11-16… There is the gift of Apostles and Prophets which refers to one who the original apostles and prophets and in our day refers to those who are messengers of the gospel who were tasked with equipping and strengthening the local church. Evangelists refers to who's who proclaim the good news. Pastors and teachers refers to one who “shepherds a flock” and “teachers” can include deacons, overseers, one who rules in the church, and elders. Then in  1 Pet. 4:10-11 there are more gifts mentioned but I already covered them in the above paragraphs.

Discerning Our Own Gifts

There are a few key ways we can try and figure out what we are good at or should be doing in the kingdom. First, I believe there are internal ways. Do you have the ability to see a need in the body? Do you have the capacity to meet the need well? Do you experience satisfaction when you meet the need? Second, I think there are external ways such as: confirmation from the body of Christ that your contribution was helpful, and recommendation from the body that you are able to meet a need well. Finally, There are helpful spiritual gifts tests online that one can take. Some to take might be: www.spiritualgiftstest.com/test/adult and gifts.churchgrowth.org/cgi-cg/gifts.cgi?intro=1.

Reflection on My Own Spiritual Gifts Test

I have already take quite a few of my own spiritual gifts tests but taking some more (those above) were also helpful. Yet again, I scored high on Pastor, Leadership, and Administration. To be honest though these tests I thought weren't as good as some others I've taken. They did help me in that they verified what I already knew and probed me to think deeper about some things that I may or may not be strong or weak in.

Please Note: This paper isn't finished - in fact nothing I do is finished. You could consider this draft #1 so bear with the errors. I hope this is of some help to you or at least helps you begin the journey of understanding spiritual gifts better, and understanding the spiritual gifts you do have.

References:

Elwell, Walter . "Holy Spirit, Gifts of."BibleStudyTools.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Oct. 2014. <http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/bakers-evangelical-dictionary/holy-spirit-gifts-of.html>.

MacArthur, John. The MacArthur New Testament commentary. Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson, 2007. Print.

"Spiritual gift.", Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Mar. 2014. Web. 4 Oct. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_gift