Greetings,
With the new year I will often put together goals and at the same time I will take a spiritual gifts inventory. A spiritual gifts inventory is like a test or evaluation that helps you to determine what spiritual gifts you are strong in and which you… aren’t blessed with. So, with my usual introspective attitude at the beginning of the year, I went to a website to take a spiritual gifts test. It had been several years since I had taken this specific test and they switched some things around.
As the loading circle churned around and around my screen while I waited for the results, I thought about how much had changed in my life over the course of the last few years. I wondered if there would be anything different in this test from the many that I had taken in the past. I was curious if a person’s spiritual giftedness lasts a lifetime or if it changes throughout someone’s life. It was just a short time that the loading circle spun on my monitor but there were many thoughts scrolling through my brain. As the image appeared on the screen, I couldn’t help but laugh. I knew the people closest to me would never believe it, so I took a screen shot of the test results. My strongest spiritual gift came up as administration. Administration?! I was sure I must have answered all the questions in reverse. Maybe I had read the instructions wrong. Then I read the description below the word administration and I felt better.
It stated, “The Greek word "kubernesis" means one who steers a ship. This expert had the responsibility to bring a ship into the harbor through the rocks and shoals, under all types of pressures. As an administrator you have the Spirit-given capacity and desire to serve God by organizing, administering, promoting, and leading the various affairs of the church. The administrator is not a glorified file clerk.
"As an administrator you are a take-charge person who jumps in and starts giving orders when no one is in charge. You will put a plan on paper and start delegating responsibility. You may lean toward organizing things, events or programs, OR toward organizing people, emphasizing personal relationships and leadership responsibilities. In the first case, you usually organize details and have people carry them out. In the second case, you tend to organize people and rely on others to take care of the little things.”
I realized that the test designers for this particular test apparently had decided that leadership should be consolidated with administration. In the past It was normal that administration was on the bottom half of my spiritual gifts list along with mercy and service. It changed my perspective of administration a little. It was comforting to me to remember that God make me unique and has given me gifts that are unique. The amazing thing is that within the entire global church, God has made each one of us unique and has gifted each believer with certain gifts that are vital to the growth of His bride, the church.
Ephesians 4:11-16 (ESV) says "And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love."
Other verses to look up on Spiritual gifts: Romans 12:6-8; 1 Peter 4:10-11; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31
There are many online spiritual gifts inventories. If you haven’t taken one lately I would encourage you to take one. Confirm what you probably already know to be your gifts and begin operating within those giftings.
Love ya,
Chris
It stated, “The Greek word "kubernesis" means one who steers a ship. This expert had the responsibility to bring a ship into the harbor through the rocks and shoals, under all types of pressures. As an administrator you have the Spirit-given capacity and desire to serve God by organizing, administering, promoting, and leading the various affairs of the church. The administrator is not a glorified file clerk.
"As an administrator you are a take-charge person who jumps in and starts giving orders when no one is in charge. You will put a plan on paper and start delegating responsibility. You may lean toward organizing things, events or programs, OR toward organizing people, emphasizing personal relationships and leadership responsibilities. In the first case, you usually organize details and have people carry them out. In the second case, you tend to organize people and rely on others to take care of the little things.”
I realized that the test designers for this particular test apparently had decided that leadership should be consolidated with administration. In the past It was normal that administration was on the bottom half of my spiritual gifts list along with mercy and service. It changed my perspective of administration a little. It was comforting to me to remember that God make me unique and has given me gifts that are unique. The amazing thing is that within the entire global church, God has made each one of us unique and has gifted each believer with certain gifts that are vital to the growth of His bride, the church.
Ephesians 4:11-16 (ESV) says "And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love."
Other verses to look up on Spiritual gifts: Romans 12:6-8; 1 Peter 4:10-11; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31
There are many online spiritual gifts inventories. If you haven’t taken one lately I would encourage you to take one. Confirm what you probably already know to be your gifts and begin operating within those giftings.
Love ya,
Chris
