Once and Done?

If you troll through the newsfeed on Facebook with any regularity, you often see various “quizzes” in which one can determine which Harry Potter character he is, what color she is, or what part of the world he should live in. Last night, for example, I saw a quiz on the Wizard of Oz, one of my all-time favorite movies (sorry, Mom, I know you hate it). After answering a few short questions, I discovered that my personality best correlates with Glenda, the Good Witch. Good to know.

Facebook isn’t the only place where such quizzes exist. Open any magazine, and you will find the same thing: Take this five minute quiz to determine if he’s the only for you, or Answer these nine questions to see if you need to get a new job.

We like categories. Most specifically, we like to see where we fit when it comes to categories. It’s just one more way in which we try to decipher our place in this world. Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species isn’t reserved only for the scientific realm; the classification system carries over to social science as well – where do we belong?

In our quest to find our niche, we often allow our classification to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Christians, too, can easily get sucked into this mentality.

A case in point would be spiritual gifts. “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working but the same God works all of them in men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good” (Romans 12:4-7). More than likely you are familiar with the rest of the passage; the spiritual gifts are specified and described.

Many Christians are intrigued to know their spiritual gifts, which is good – it’s a sign of spiritual maturity, a desire to take a relationship with Christ to the next level. Thus, there are whole curriculums, Sunday School classes, and seminars that have, and are, offered to help Christians discover their specific gifts.

What’s not good is the fact that most Christians consider this a once-and-done education.

To explain, once the training is complete and the Christian has diagnosed his/her spiritual gifts, s/he tends to “superglue” that badge to his/her chest as an immovable, permanent identification badge, allowing him/her the permission to take and leave various tasks for the kingdom. For example, if a person has determined that his/her spiritual gift is teaching, that means that s/he automatically give him or herself permission to say “no thank you” when it comes to serving in the nursery.  Or if a particular person has discovered that mercy is his/her spiritual gift, s/he is in no way obligated to paint the women’s bathroom at church.

There are several problems with this sort of mentality. First, when I read Romans 12 and other passages concerning spiritual gifts, I see nothing that suggests that the determination of spiritual gifts is a static activity – that it is something you discover once, and it never changes. Go ahead. Re-read the passage. Let me know if you see something that I missed.

If the truth be told, that sort of mentality is decidedly self-satisfying, not Spirit-led. To explain, to be in a dynamic relationship with Christ is to be in tune to His voice. “. . .but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires” Romans 8:5.

Our job as Spirit-filled people is to listen closely to His voice and do what He asks us to do when He asks us to do it. Likewise, when He asks us to do something, you can be 100% sure that He will equip us with the exact spiritual gift that we need at the exact moment that we need it. Therefore, it would seem as though the concept of spiritual gifts is more fluid versus fixed. The gifts themselves are fixed, but the recipient doesn’t just get one gift for life. Period. To believe that idea is adverse to what the Bible teaches about a life in the Spirit.

Likewise, to pick and choose service opportunities according to the spiritual gifts categories into which we have lumped ourselves is decidedly self-driven. For example, I am going to decide whether or not to serve in the capacity versus listening to see whether or not the Spirit is calling me to serve in that capacity. What we say and do is to be for God and should be determined by God, not by our preferences or natural inclinations.

Discovering our spiritual gifts is a good quest. However, it should not be a one-time destiny, thereby becoming a self-imposed limitation of what God can do with our lives. Check out Romans 12 again. . .what if God’s plan for YOUR life ultimately includes EVERY ONE of those gifts?

The potential blessings – for us and others – are limitless, beyond human imagination.

“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” John 15:4-5.