Spare Change

why is that beautiful unwrapped gift sitting on your shelf?

Posted by Bryan

how long has it been since you've taken a spiritual gift inventory?

i just took one, after about a year. In fact, i added a link to it on my right column, for y'all to partake at any time in the future.

i took it for a couple reasons...
...to see where i am weak, to ask for strengthening....to see if gifts had been strengthened, according to new ministry.

here's my results (from weakest to strongest):
showing mercy:10
prophecy:11
serving:13
giving:14
teaching:16
exhortation:16
evangelism:18
administration:21
pastor/shepherd:21

these results don't really surprise me. I want to be more merciful and i'm asking for that regularly, recognizing that answers to spiritual requests can at times be refining processes. I don't want this for my benefit, though, it's only by faith that i can ask for it. frankly, its frightening to think of all the ways the Lord can develop mercy in me. but my fears are selfish.

i also wish serving were higher. i justify it (incorrectly) by saying its weak because pastor/shepherd is so high. for example, i answered "do you like to work behind the scenes?" with "almost never." This is because i enjoy leading the charge. however, a good shepherd doesn't always have to be in the front. there are other times, it is the work he is doing at the rear of the flock, making sure all the sheep stay together in a safe group, that he is doing his best, most important work.

baaaaa...i sure have a lot to learn.

i think i'm still in denial over my gift of administration. its because my first inclination is to liken it to "bookkeeping." and that makes me want to hurl.

where i'm most administratively minded is putting a plan to the vision. taking the big picture and developing a process to "cross the jordan" so to speak.

here's how their results have compiled:
How do you compare with the rest of the Body of Christ?

Laity
Most dominant gifts of 244,220 people surveyed
Evangelism		3.51%
Prophecy		1.89%
Teaching		10.08%
Exhortation		9.43%
Pastor/Shepherd		23.97%
Showing Mercy		27.21%
Serving		6.93%
Giving		1.51%
Administration		15.46%
Pastors
Most dominant gifts of 41,392 people surveyed
Evangelism		6.48%
Prophecy		2.27%
Teaching		17.34%
Exhortation		4.84%
Pastor/Shepherd		36.16%
Showing Mercy		8.86%
Serving		2.42%
Giving		0.78%
Administration		20.86%

this is how they at the website interpret their findings:


Could the results from these comparison charts be skewed? Probably to some degree. Two factors to consider are 1) Results are not compiled from the Christian public at large but only those who are Internet users. 2) On the laity side, a much larger percentage of those taking the spiritual gifts inventory on-line are women (63.7%). Women tend to score high in the Gift of Shepherding because the characteristics of the gift of shepherding are very similar to the God-given instincts of mothering which comes natural to most women. Although many women have the gift of shepherding and it manifests itself in many areas of service, we believe women should take this factor in consideration when evaluating whether or not they actually have the gift of shepherding.

my "take" on the same summaries:


pastors are only half as good as the laity in giving, who are woefully bad themselves. this tells me we are all a bunch of turned inward, bickering idjits, arguing like a bunch of upper-room apostles about who is the greatest. its shameful that we're so low in our giving. the same thing is true, with only slightly better results, in serving.

the vast majority of folks fancy themselves to be pastor/shepherds, both those behind the pulpit as well as those filling the pews. could this be a problem? is this why churches split? if the people in the pews are called to lead, then they need to lead. if the people who are leading are not called to do so, they need to quit being so full of themselves and step aside. i think the "high" ratio of this gift could be more about how we perceive ourselves, rather than how God has truly gifted us. these inventories only work if we're honest with ourselves.

does it say anything to you that exhortation is higher than evangelism? it just seems funny to me that we want to exhort people to godliness, to encourage people to hope, but are less willing to tell others about the only way to be godly and the only source of real hope. and by 'funny' i don't mean 'ha ha' funny, i mean 'dear Lord, please forgive us' funny.

one more criticism. why is 'teacher' higher than giving and serving? is it because we are having a "disconnect" with the Scripture that says were are not to be mere hearers of the word, but doers as well? we have everyone hungry to get into small groups, to have their needs met, to have someone put some salve on their "father wound," but we are still struggling to meet the demands of ministry in a lost, hurting, and dying world.

it's the end of the week. and i'm not trying to bring you down, here. but let's get real. we have work to do. and we better quit thinking about ourselves and start being salt and light. and starting now, each of us better be willing to say with conviction, "it starts with me."*



*disclaimer: this rant was not a manipulative attempt to increase my prophecy score in future assessments.

October 17, 2003 10:39 AM