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When I was in public elementary school, there was a program called “Gifted and Talented.” Certain students would leave class to participate in this special course, while those who remained behind were left to wonder, of course, whether they were gifted and talented.
Sometimes in the church, we can look at the pastors, worship leaders, and others in public-facing positions and think: “Those are the gifted and talented people. The rest of us are just here to observe and help as best we can.”
The Bible says something very different. We’re all gifted—in both similar and different ways. We’re all called to share in Christlikeness, and yet we each have special tendencies, attunements, and skills that complement the body. The Holy Spirit Himself distributes these gifts as He wills, for the common good (1 Cor. 12:7, 11).
I’ve become acutely aware of this in my own church. A dear friend has the gift of sympathy. I’ve watched her in conversation with people sharing a painful hardship, whether a sickness, the death of a loved one, or a job loss. She immediately knows what to say. She asks just the right questions. She grieves naturally alongside the one who is hurting. I look at her and think, “She’s just better at this than I am.” In those moments, I’ve learned from her giftedness.
Some think of spiritual gifts as merely a consoling encouragement to those who really aren’t too gifted in the first place. The assumption is that the “experts” up front can do almost anything in the church and that because we can’t clone them, the rest of the body has to help. That’s a wrongheaded assumption, too. The better I’ve come to know pastors, teachers, and other leaders, the greater my awareness that they need the gifts of the rest of the body.
Paul wasn’t joking or simply consoling the less gifted and talented when he used his body metaphor in 1 Corinthians 12. He really meant it when he said that the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you” (v. 21). All the parts are necessary; all the people are necessary. Each brings a different, special gift to the church, and we use those gifts for God’s glory as we join them together and the body of Christ grows in this world.
Our task is to know God, love God, and see ourselves for what we are: redeemed sinners called to serve not just God but His church. Serving the church requires sober-mindedness. “I think God has gifted me to do this,” uttered from the right heart, isn’t prideful. It’s recognizing what God has given you for the sake of others. What has God given you, and how are you using it for His church?