A Gifting.

I’ve been thinking about gifts lately.
No, not those gifts. Not the ones you buy or make to give someone for Christmas. The other gifts, those spiritual ones. The ones God already gave us.
Those gifts.
Anyway, gifts.
And while we are talking about this, let me clarify something:
During the course of this blog post when I say the word “Gift” I don’t want to restrict myself to those listed as technical “Spiritual gifts” (teaching, prophecy, mercy, discernment, etc), i.e. the ones listed in the Bible, but rather my definition is “Any thing, talent, or ability you possess that God has given you that you didn’t ask for.”

For whatever reason, I was born decently organized. Be it paperwork, houses, party rooms, whatever, I can pretty easily figure out where something needs to be and then I have the ability to put it where it should go. I never asked to be organized, I just came that way.

As you well know, I was an event coordinator for a while and this skill in particular came in especially handy.
But here is the interesting thing: I helped coordinate a few parties this week (just for fun, not for work) and I was overwhelmed by how my brain absolutely DID NOT function along those lines anymore, and I was also shocked at how my legs did not hold me up under pressure and long days like they used to. I stopped coordinating parties only like a year ago and let’s just put it this way: I am no longer in my finest hour.
Yikes.

Another thing about me that you maybe don’t know is that I have played piano for, if my math serves me right, 18 years.

Now to be completely fair to those who really have PLAYED piano for 18 years I should really say this:
I took piano lessons for 13 years, and the other five have really just looked like me still knowing how to read music.
 In other words there was not much playing going on. True, I had not lost my knowledge of how to play, but my ability in the non-lesson-taking years left something to be desired…
This became very apparent to me the other day when I sat down to “tickle the ivories” and really, it was more like assault than tickle. There was nothing gentle anymore. My piano playing muscles were “rusty” to say the least.

About 2 years ago I was given some stuff called Eye Shadow Insurance by a friend. Pretty much it’s this cream you put on your eye lids that keeps your eye shadow on. Great stuff (I know, guys, this sounds like Blah, blah, blah to you). But halfway through my using of the little tube the thought occurred to me, “Maybe you should just save this for special occasions. You certainly don’t need this for every day…” So I put it away; used it for special occasions.
But here’s the problem. The other day I got it out to use…for a special occasion…and, well, it kind of smelled.
Smelled the way cosmetics smell after they have sat too long; not gotten used enough; lived in the cupboard.
The stuff had seen its better days.

After each of these experiences I think I said to myself, “What a waste! What have you been doing your whole life!??! How have you let things get this far???”

Do you know what I mean? To find yourself somehow at a loss about something you used to be brilliant about? Or to find that something has lost its glimmer in the time you thought you were preserving it?

What a waste.

And I think about these gifts we have—these qualities, characteristics, talents, abilities—that we never asked for, never prayed for, but were just given.
I Peter 4:10 says that “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”

Have you ever known somebody that you just could never get enough of? Or what about a person who, after you have not seen them for a time, you find yourself saying , “Wow! I just need to see So-and-So!”

And why is that, do you think?

Could it possibly be because they offer a grace of God to us that we need? This verse here says that God’s grace comes in various forms, and that it gets administered to people through the use of the gifts we have been given. So I don’t know what other conclusion we can come to but that we feel drawn to people who offer the grace that we need the most in our life. And relationships, you know the ones that are a two-way street, I would say are made up of people who both offer what the other person needs.

That’s why people hang out. I think that’s a huge part of it. Both parties are getting their grace-tanks filled by the other.

What happens then to the body of Christ (made up of his chosen people) when people do not use those gifts that God has given them? Now I understand that this verse probably is talking about the prescribed gifts in the Bible, but we cannot deny that God gifts us with all kinds of abilities, things, talents, whatever, outside of this list. Don’t take my word on this verbatim (as you probably shouldn’t about anything—you need to search out these things for yourself), but I think I am on to something.

And what happens when we just put our gifts aside and say, “Well, I’ll use it when the time is right”?

Might I suggest, that, like my ability to plan a party, play the piano, or the effectiveness of a makeup product, gifts that go unused become—get this—a little worse for the lack of wear. As P.G. Wodehouse would say, “It would be idle to deny that he was something of a mess.” Gifts do not “winter” well.

What is our hang up then? If we know that our gifts are given to us by the Lord, to be used on anyone who is in need of the kind of grace we offer, and we know that they do not age well if left unattended, why are we not just out there running amuck with them?

I think the first reason is fear, but in the church it is typically masked in some kind of false humility. We don’t want to look like we are better at something than someone else.
Another is something the church says “Not causing another to stumble.” Which a lot of times gets translated into us not using our gifts because we think it might arouse jealousy in someone else. Again, not wanting ourselves to “look better than someone else.”

You think I’m kidding, don’t you?

Well, what if you have an amazing voice, but you’re not using it for the Lord (apart from a reason like God has told you to take a step back from a ministry). Why not? Is it because someone has said to you, “Oh gosh, I just wish I could sing like you…” and then that made you feel guilty that you could sing and they couldn’t?

Or what if you are really good at teaching, but you aren’t teaching? Are you not teaching because you don’t want others to think that you think you “know it all”?

What if the Lord has given you a knack for entertaining or design (and btw, don’t ever let anyone say, “Well I don’t have the gift of hospitality.” Hospitality is not a gift—it’s a command), but you are not inviting people over to your house? Are you not because you don’t want them to think that you are “showy” or “trying to impress” them?

Or what if you are an athlete or artist or hunter or any number of other things we are good at, but you are not including somebody in your life in this activity because you don’t want them to “feel bad about themselves”? You know what I am talking about.

This might sound totally counter-cultural, but I am going to pose a very serious question:
But what if you ARE better at it than they are, whatever “it” is and whoever “they” are?

I know, I just tread into some serious mud.

But at the same time I just don’t think so! Because isn’t that the point? That we are better at other things than other people? Because we were gifted with things others weren’t!
Here’s the catch, though: They are better at different things than us.
Which is exactly the way it is supposed to be. We can’t all offer the same grace.

So there can be no room for pride here, there can be no room for jealousy.

No room for pride based solely on the fact that YOU DID NOTHING TO DESERVE YOUR GIFT. You didn’t work hard to get it (sure some things, like playing the piano, take practice, honing, but the original skill or bent is given), you didn’t seek it out, it came to you.
And there is no room for jealousy because we are called to use “whatever gift” we have received, which implies that we indeed HAVE received a gift. You don’t need someone else’s gift: you have your own.
Which boils down to, “Don’t think more highly of yourselves than you ought” and “do not covet.” Pretty standard guidelines.

Bottom line? We are robbing the treasury in God’s family when we do not administer his grace in all its various forms.

Wolfies, you are a part of the way God wants to touch this world! You are a part of the way he is going to show the world himself. Because after all, it’s HIS grace, it’s HIS gifts, he just wants us to administer them. You never know who might need the kind of grace that you offer. Don’t hide it under a bushel, kids. No. Let it shine.