(This
post was born at a recent breakfast meeting with Dr. David LeShana, Becky (his wife)
and Carolyn and I. Thanks Dr. D for the
word of enlightenment. His words were “It
is not a matter or ‘do I trust God, but does God trust me”.)
In
religious circles we talk a lot about trusting God, and this is well and good,
for we should trust God. It is
called ‘faith’ and that is a good thing.
But
what about this …
Can God trust us?
In Matthew 25:14-30 we read of the parable of the talents. I think it is a lesson in how we use the
gifts we are given and the return on investment we can offer back.
One
was given five talents and turned it into ten.
The
second was given 2 talents and turned it into four.
The
third man was given 1 talent. He didn’t
even invest the money. Instead, when the
land owner asked for an accounting he made excuses for why he did nothing. He was the do-nothing employee. It is interested that the land owner took
from him the one talent and gave it to the man who had started with ten
talents.
It
is a story of trust – God giving us gifts, opportunities and skills and then
expecting us to take those small beginnings of a gift and turn them into
something masterful, wonderful, and larger than we ever dreamed.
God
wants to trust us, and He gives us opportunities to enlarge our territory, our
skills, our opportunities.
Can
we be trusted? Can we rise to the
occasion and grow, become better, gain some confidence, and make something more
out of the small portion with which we began?
That
is the crucial element here.
I
am a big believer in what we Christians call our “spiritual gifts.”
They
are tendencies, gifts, leanings, sparks of interest that God has already put
within each of us for use in kingdom building.
The
more accepted spiritual gifts are:
Prophecy/word
of wisdom
Teaching
Encouragement/Exhortation
Interpretation
of Tongues/language
Leadership/Administration
Discernment
Exhortation
Faith
Healing
Pastor/Shepherd
Serving/Ministering
Wisdom
Most
biblical scholars believe every believer has at least one spiritual gift and it
is supposed to be used in building the kingdom of God both inside the structure
of the church and in the sphere of influence of the possessor.
My
spiritual gifts, as I have identified them are:
Encouragement
Teaching
Administration
Discernment
The
idea here is to take whatever gift you feel is yours and then set about
developing that gift. That is a fine
example of allowing God to work through you.
Deeper than that, it is demonstrating to God that you can be trusted
with the gifts He has given and that you can take on more and more
responsibility as it comes your way and as you grow in experience and wisdom.
Let’s
take the gift of encouragement for example.
I’ve
used this gift in …
Singing
Leading
a worship service
Speaking
Writing,
both for publication and personal notes as someone comes to my mind
There
are other examples but that is enough for now.
An
important point to remember is this … our spiritual gifts are not meant to be
used as weapons to lord over someone, or to beat someone into submission. Rather the word I seek is edification –
enlightenment, education, instruction.
We
spread light so that others can see the way.
I like that. And we instruct and
guide. We don’t lord it over others – we
gently nudge, we show the way.
God
is looking for a few good men and women in whom He can trust to carry the sound
of good news to a world desperately in need of hope. And sometimes we use words.
Can
I be trusted?
Can
you?
Internet Church
Offering Words of
Hope Encouragement
Inspiration
One Word at a Time
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