Finding & Using Your Spiritual Gift

As we continue our 10 for 10 Faith Challenge as a church family here at Prestonwood, and, actually, for any believer, it’s important to be aware of our individual spiritual gifts and how to go about finding where we are best suited to make use of those gifts. In a recent interview with HomeLife Magazine, a LifeWay publication, Teaching Pastor Jarrett Stephens spoke about just that—finding and using our spiritual gifts. Below is a transcript of the questions and answers.

What are some myths that members of the body believe about gifts, passion and service to the Church?

One of the myths is that gifts and service are completely separate and distinct. I don’t believe they are separate and distinct, but rather they’re woven together. Psalm 139 says that God knit us together in our mother’s womb. He intricately designed us and I believe that in so doing, He gave us our personality; He set the course for where we would live, the family to which we would belong, the context in which we would grow up. So we have all these experiences that come along in life that make us, and I believe God sovereignly ordained it. It wouldn’t make sense for those things that make us who we are and the things that we love and enjoy doing would be completely different from how he has equipped us spiritually to help build up the body of Christ.

Another myth is that our gifts are completely separate and distinct from our vocational calling. A lot of times, people think, “Here’s what I love to do but the church doesn’t really have a place for that.” And that’s just not true. You might have a calling to the financial field where you’re dealing with numbers all day, but you have the spiritual gift of administration. So the church can find a place for you to use what you’ve been vocationally called to within service to the kingdom of God. I would even argue that it is when this combination is present that you will feel increasingly used by God and passionate about your personal ministry both in the church and in the workplace.

Is “passion” for a person’s service as vital as popular books might suggest?
I don’t know if it’s as vital as popular books suggest, I’ll leave that up for debate. But, I’ll take a passionate leader using his spiritual gifts over an impassionate leader using his gifts any day. When someone is passionate about what he or she is doing, it’s contagious; you feed off that. In 2 Timothy 1:6, Paul tells Timothy to fan into flame the gift of God which has been given to him. So what he’s saying is, exercise this gift; use this gift. If you don’t, the gift tends to fade. When you begin seeing God use you in ways that you can’t describe and working through you to help build up his kingdom, passion will follow the service.

I tell people all the time when they’re trying to discern their spiritual gift that taking a gift inventory may be a good tool on learning where to begin this journey of discovering your unique spiritual gift, but more than anything you just need to start serving somewhere, and when you sense the smile of God on your life, that’s where you need to stay. I think God will give you and equip you to do that which you’re passionate about. Obviously, there’s the obedience factor as well. When God tells you to do something, though you might not be very passionate about it at first, He will grow you in that area if that’s indeed your spiritual gift. 1 Corinthians 7:7 says that God has given us each our own gift—nothing can be more exciting than discovering that gift from God! 1 Peter 4:10 says we are to be good stewards of that gift, so making sure that we are operating in our spiritual strengths and using our gift is of utmost importance.

I think God will give us a passion and the opportunities to use and grow our gifts in many different ways. And that passion will grow once we see God using us…once we see God opening up doors to be used by Him in ways that we never imagined through the avenue of our spiritual gifts.

As a Pastor, what’s the one, two or three attitudes your members might exercise that would be most helpful to you in expanding the reach of Christ through your Church?

Humility is by far the No. 1 attitude as it pertains to spiritual gifts. No one gift is more important than another. A preaching gift is not more important than the gift of service. We all need one another. In Philippians 2, Christ said to consider others more important than yourself; take this mind that is in yourself, the mind of Christ Jesus, who considered himself nothing while taking on the very nature of a servant. 1 Corinthians 12 equates the gifts to a physical body and teaches us that we are to use our gifts in a way that serves one another and builds up the body of Christ into maturity. We want to see church members exercise these gifts, expanding the reach of Christ and fulfilling the mission of Christ.

Now, I don’t know if unity is an attitude as much as it is a byproduct of this. In John 17, Jesus says that the world will know that the Father sent Him when they see that we are one. When people see us working together, it’s something beautiful that will draw those who don’t know Christ to us because they see us being used in ways that are supernatural so to speak—the gift of giving, the way we show hospitality, the gift of teaching, in a way that is not seen in the natural realm. It is the supernatural element of our gifts that creates interest to draw people to the Body and ultimately to Christ Himself.

When you hear “finding your passion” in a Church context, what don’t you want people to think?

What I don’t want them to think is that their passion is the same thing as their spiritual gift, but that they are woven together. If you have a passion to coach kids, that’s not a spiritual gift. You might have the spiritual gift of leadership or administration. You might have passion to serve widows, but your spiritual gift is mercy. So there is a difference there. What we don’t want is for our people to say, “I have a passion for this so I’m using my spiritual gift.” That’s not necessarily the case. What we need is education from a theological standpoint on what the spiritual gifts are; how they’re defined; and what role they play in the body. But our passions are enhanced when we have the spiritual gifts to go alongside.

I think it’s very important that you search the Scriptures and ask the Spirit of God what your gift is. The only thing more miserable than operating outside the spiritual gifts that God has given you is not knowing what spiritual gifts God has graciously given you. I would encourage people to pray and ask God what it is and how to determine that. I’m all for an inventory tests, but I just want to stress the importance of rolling up your sleeves and getting in the game. God will make it very clear what your spiritual gift is, and chances are it will be something that requires you to step out on faith and out of your comfort zone. More often than not it will be something that stretches you a bit, that you couldn’t normally do on your own. The beauty of this paradox, though, is watching God work in and through you in big ways for His glory.