gifts

Last week’s conversation (in place of the Message) stirred up lots of great conversation about spiritual gifts and how they work in the life of the church. A number of people contacted me directly and indirectly with questions, insights, and offers to be involved in ministry in ways that they believed were consistent with their gifts and passions.

One of the questions I was asked was what the difference is between a spiritual gift and a talent. Ami Veiler told us that she loves to sing and if you have heard her you know that she has a wonderful talent for singing. She went on to say that what excites her about singing on Sunday mornings is that she wants to use her talent to encourage and inspire us in our walk with Jesus Christ. Her motivation grows out of her spiritual gift of encouragement. On the other hand, someone might have a talent in carpentry, but his or her spiritual gift may not be craftsmanship — it is teaching. A mistake that is often made is to assume that just because someone is skilled at something that it must be their gift.

We also did a survey last week and I wanted to give an overview of the responses we received. Seventy-one percent of those who responded (195 forms were turned in) said that they know their spiritual gift or gift mix. Of the 71% who know their gift, 64% of them indicated that they are using their gift here at HOPE in some ministry area. That is great news! Thank you to all who are engaged in exercising your God-give
gift here at HOPE.

Of those who know their gift but indicated they are not presently using that gift at HOPE about half said the reason is either “no one ever asked” or “not sure who to approach.” This information will be very important as the Health Team looks to help us become more effective in being a gifts-based ministry. The other half of our respondents indicated that life circumstances are preventing them from using their gifts at HOPE at this time. There are seasons when benefiting from the gifts of the community is all we are able to do, and that is why we are here — to serve each other.

For the 46% of those who said that they do not know their spiritual gift, almost all of them indicated that they have high to moderate interest in discovering their gift. The Health Team will be addressing how to best offer the spiritual gifts inventory in ways that everyone can access.

I am very encouraged by the results of the survey as well as the response to the dialogue we had on Sunday. Discovering and using your spiritual gift is an important aspect of spiritual health, and as a church we want to help each individual be healthy and growing!

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