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30-June-2006 THE REST OF THE STORY
Where's Paul Harvey when you need him? I witnessed something the other day that cried out for further explanation. I was working in the garage and saw a neighborhood teenager walk by holding the leash of his family's new puppy. He (the boy) was also carrying a plunger. It's not every day you see a teenager nonchalantly walking a puppy and a plunger. If I were more outgoing I would've simply approached him and asked what he was doing. My reclusive nature left me searching for answers. Was the boy simply borrowing a plunger for his dad, and decided to take the dog along on the errand? Was he out walking the dog, came across a discarded plunger, and in a spontaneous teenage boy manner decided it just might be fun to have a plunger? Is carrying around plumbing equipment some sort of wacky new teenage fad? I suppose the puppy could be extremely well trained, meaning the young man took the plunger on the walk in a remarkable display of forward-thinking courtesy toward his neighbors in case the dog needed to borrow their facilities and something went awry. THE HUMBLE SERVANT It's once again time to discuss shedding excess pride. As usual, follow the steps below in proper sequence for maximum effect. This month's method works especially well for the shy, conservative, average-Joe kind of guy:
SPIRITUAL GIFTS The following piece includes a discussion on spiritual gifts. If you have any interest in taking a spiritual gift survey, I found one online at this address: http://www.acts17-11.com/gift_inventory.html I did not take this particular survey and cannot endorse this website simply because I don't know enough about it. However, a quick glance indicated that it might be a good place to learn about your spiritual gifts. FAITH IN THE ADMINISTRATION The birthday party of a four-year old is highly focused on gifts. More specifically, it is highly focused on the NEXT gift that will come immediately after the one most recently unwrapped. A secondary focus is cake frosting. Because this is a Christian endeavor I will stick to the subject of gifts today because the Bible talks more about those than it does cake frosting. Let's start with a review of Romans 12:4-6.
"Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us..." Romans 12:4-6 (NIV) My understanding is that Paul is talking exclusively here about "spiritual" gifts (abilities) that we receive from God. Our job is to apply them toward God's purpose. I think most of these gifts are given before we become Christians, but I don't think we realize them to their potential until they are used for God. For example, if God bestows upon you the gift of teaching, I suspect you'll derive greater satisfaction from teaching a children's Sunday School class than instructing radical environmentalists how to get in touch with the soul of a maple tree. Not that there's anything wrong with maple trees. Or most environmentalists. Well, at least the ones that shower regularly.
So what is your primary spiritual gift? If you don't know, finding out may be as simple as asking your friends and family what they think it is. My primary spiritual gift was not obvious to me until I took a spiritual gift survey. I used to mock personality tests until I took one during a previous job (long story). The computer-generated report that came back from this personality test was unnerving in that it described me exactly. That experience heightened my interest in taking a spiritual gift survey, so I eagerly awaited the results when my bible study group at church participated in one. Did I have the gift of teaching, or maybe wisdom? Maybe I would score modestly high in multiple categories, revealing me to be a multi-skilled Christian equivalent of a utility infielder in baseball. (Cue Richard Dawson) The survey said ... I have the gift of administration. Administration? How boring is that? No offense to the survey people, but I didn't believe "administration" was even in the Bible until I looked it up myself. There it was in 1 Corinthians 12:28. Some translations use the word "governing" instead of "administration" but that didn't make me feel any better. Imagine your boss calls you into his office to review your workplace strengths. You would probably be excited until the first thing mentioned is how consistently you put your expense report in the proper envelope. That's how I felt when I got the survey results. To make matters worse, one of the areas in which I scored lowest was "faith." Yikes. This news was something I needed to work through. What Christian really wants to say, "Well, I may not have much faith, but at least I know how to get things done around the church!"? I went through a process similar to the well known "Five Stages of Grief," except I wasn't sad. Also, there were only three stages. So maybe it wasn't very similar after all. The first stage was realizing this survey wasn't an official worksheet God put in the Bible, therefore I shouldn't put TOO much weight in the results. The more important second stage was realizing that if Administration was a gift given to me by the God of the Universe, perhaps I shouldn't dismiss it too quickly. If you look a gift horse in the mouth it may bite you on the face, I always say. Besides, having a knack for sizing up and strategizing a task is a useful thing. In the final stage I accepted the fact that God had given me the gift of, well, administering things. So what to do with the low score on "faith?" Well, I confess the survey got that one right, too. Please don't read this to mean that I don't have faith. I just have to admit it is simply not my strength spiritually. I spend too much time and energy thinking about how and why God does and doesn't do certain things. I'm sure everybody does to some degree, but surely those with the gift of faith waste less time on that stuff and have a much different relationship with God than I. God made me this way, but I think He wants me to work to improve my spiritual weaknesses. For example, I should purposefully exercise my faith, like a runner preparing for a race, in order to make it stronger. Years ago I went through a brief encounter with losing my job in a round of layoffs. This prospect worried me until I finally confronted it with God. Through prayer He helped me look at the situation in the proper perspective. If I truly believe in God and that I will live with Him in eternity, then why should I care if I might have to go find another job? So what? And then a funny thing happened. Once I put my career concerns in God's hands, I just don't worry about my career anymore. Of course (and I'm not just saying this because my boss and his boss are on my mailing list) I do try to do a really good job, but do I worry when I hear an ominous rumor at work anymore? Nope. Consider this: "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2 (NIV) Jesus Christ isn't simply the object of my faith, He's the author and perfecter of it. If we just trust him a little, He'll teach us to trust Him a lot. Copyright (c) 2006 by Mark Alan Stuart. All rights reserved. The Ark of Mark is a periodic online Christian humor column. For contact information, or to join or exit the mailing list, please visit www.thearkofmark.com. |
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