Ok, I'm trying to make sense of something.
Let's say you have a skill. (Why don't we use...oh, COOKING, as an example?)
Let's say you use that skill occasionally in a semi-professional manner. (Maybe like catering wedding receptions/rehearsal dinners/etc. And you're damned good at it.)
Let's say you volunteer to use that skill to serve others. (Cooking meals for about 50 people on a mission trip, maybe?)
So...what if the "powers that be" tell you that, simply because you don't meet the "requirements" (umm...not over age 60), you will not be allowed to utilize your skill and will, instead, be considered an "unskilled laborer" and will be assigned instead to a team of people who don't have any special skills?
And let's say you have a bit of a red-headed temper. ;-) Let's just say I'm still considering my options...
All kidding aside, this particular situation has really driven home to me a bigger truth.
We are SO quick, as "the church" to assign labels to someone...at what cost? We overlook the gifts/skills that God has given to individuals--lumping them, instead, into the "categories" that we want/need filled. We make our own list of requirements and try to force people to fit into our mold of what WE think parts of the body should look like/do.
Do we ever stop to think what that could potentially do to the person we're labelling? I mean, I'm a confident person and I'm pretty solid in my knowledge of my giftings and my skills...and in how they should be used. But what about a new believer? Or someone just beginning to understand that they have a unique gift that only they can offer the kingdom? What happens when we tell THEM that "oh, you should be a teacher" simply because there's an opening in the Sunday School department? Let's say they can sing like an angel, but you don't think you "need" another soprano in the choir. Does God gift so haphazardly that he wouldn't be aware of this person's gift?
I. Don't. Think. So.
We're an F'd up bunch.
Ok. Rant over. This isn't fleshed-out very well, because...well, it IS a rant. I'm still thinking about the deeper implications of this WRONG way of thinking.
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11 comments:
Timely, D. I just had a spiritual gifts conversation this week with a girl I'm discipling. She's a younger believer and very doe-eyed and idealistic (which is sweet and fun), and I started asking her questions to get her thinking about where she might be skilled or gifted, and in what ways she might like to start serving.
I'm a compartmentalizer, but I want to be careful of not shoving her into a box. The place she's in right now is new and fun and exciting, and I want to encourage and nurture instead of dictating and "discipling" her into my own rigid tendencies :) Thanks for the reminder.
You've got to get out of that inbred small town.
Well...actually, the person who issued this edict is from Evansville.
But you're right nonetheless! :-)
Sorry for the rude comment. I logged back in to delete before it was seen, but too late. I hate being so negative. Have a great weekend!
The occasional rude comment is allowed, J. :-) Especially when the blogger is in agreement!
I'm pretty negative myself right now. It's been a rough week. Still desperately seeking that balance between being transparent with people and knowing when to step back and guard my heart. I'm NOT mastering the juggling act. And I keep getting stomped on.
Maybe that's part of the game...and everyone forgot to tell me the rules. Not sure I want to play anymore.
Dena,
Whoever is doing such a thing is silly at best, downright stupid at worst. Serving is about accepting offers of talent wherever they may be. And thanking the participant for being willing to serve. It is not about filling quotas. If this is the place that you worship, then it is time to find a new one.
If it is a place where you felt God leading you to serve, swallow the pride. Because maybe they needed, still following the kitchen theme, a dishwasher and couldn't get anyone else to do it. Well God supplied you.
I do not know the situation really well. But I do know God has me serve in mays that are very uncomfortable to me.
I must agree with Nate on this one. The Lord is not so much concerned with our talents as He is with our willingness to be obedient to Him and pliable enought to serve in whatever capacity is needed at the time. Its not about our talents. Talent is a dime a dozen. It's about allowing ourselves to be put in a position that allows the Holy Spirit to do His wonderful work in us, transforming us into someone who will bend down and wash feet even though we have been called to be a King.
So...you're saying if I'm a licensed and gifted plumber and there's a plumbing job that MUST be done in order for the rest of the team to be able to take a shower and I signed up for the team to do plumbing job and there's no one else with my experience/ability to do the task at hand, it makes sense to randomly assign someone else to the job?
I completely disagree. God gives us the talents/skills He does for a purpose.
There were over 20 carpenters/dry-wallers/painters/etc in this group and only 2 who were experienced in cooking for large groups.
In the end, I cooked. And washed dishes. And scrubbed appliances with steel wool and wire brushes until I bled. And I was happy to do so. Because that wasn't the REAL purpose for me being there--God used my talent (cooking) to put me in a position where I could speak encouragement to some pretty discouraged people...and that's what it was ALL about all along. Had I been put on a construction team, I wouldn't have had the time to spend with the people I needed to be with.
Whoa there my redheaded sister :)
It doesn't sound like the "right" answer is an either/or kind of thing, D. I think it's possible for leaders to be so focused on the needs that they ignore the gifts/talents of the workers; but it's also possible for the workers to be so focused on their gifts/talents that they're unwilling to bend to fill a need.
I don't know your situation well enough to even begin to say where it fits on that spectrum. However, in my (admitedly limited) experience, I've seen several situations on the latter end and none on the former end. Maybe that's just because I'm lucky enough to have a pretty healthy church with leaders who don't weild their authority like a stick. I don't know. But my point is, there's definitely a category for people needing to lay down their "talents" and do the work that's in front of them. Just as there's a category for people who have no idea what their gifts are because they've been pushed and pigeonholed by insensitive, business-minded spiritual leaders.
Now THAT I can agree with! :-)
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