Is there an exchange policy for spiritual gifts?

I took a test to find out (or "discern") my gifts.  I got the best score for Communication.  My next scores were for Hospitality and Service.  I do not have gifts for prophecy, speaking in tongues, or missionary work.

I can’t say I was surprised at my scores.  Obviously I like to communicate (some people might say “run my mouth”), at least on paper or on line.  I like to entertain, even if feeding guests is simply calling out for pizza.  (I think enjoying being together is more important than elaborate preparation.  Martha would have been able to sit at Jesus’s feet and would have been a happier woman if only Bethany had had Domino’s.)  Service – well, ask me to do something, and I probably will, since I don’t have the gumption to refuse.

These are all very useful gifts, but anyone can have them, even atheists.  I would love to be able to see the future (speaking in tongues not so much -- really not so much).  While I would be honored to be called to be a missionary, I have to admit I won’t be disappointed if it never happens.  I’m not a terribly fancy person, but I like good plumbing.  Of course, if the chance comes along to minister to the wealthy and live among them, I will certainly give it a shot.

And it would wonderful to have the gift of music.  I’d love to be a folk singer specializing in the old folk hymns.  The problem is that I can’t sing.  My church choir director, when calling for more choir members, has said that you don’t really have to be able to sing to be in the choir.  If I joined, I think he’d stop saying that.

Joyce Meyer has spoken about her attempts to add singing to her ministry.  It didn’t work out.  What that taught her was that God wants us to use the gifts we have the best way we can.  I’m glad I heard this from her before I tried to do anything foolish.  Thanks, Joyce!

But I think God understands our wanting other gifts and forgives us.  After all, not everyone has the opportunity to take a Spiritual Gifts test, and you may have to figure things out for yourself.  (I think I’d better say that I am being snarky here.  Please don’t be offended if you knew that already.)  And if we try to do what we really aren’t meant to do, He probably gets a chuckle.

I'm just saying . . .

A Ride Even Wilder than Mr. Toad’s!

Is your Christian journey a walk?  Or is it a roller coaster ride?  Sometimes I feel like I’m going downhill in a wagon.  I’m not doing anything to make things happen, but the momentum keeps building, faster and faster.  It’s fun and exciting, but scary.  One experience leads to another, and (I hope) I grow in knowledge and spirit.

I can steer a bit, and I can sometimes avoid the rocks or bumps in the hill, if I see them.  Sometimes I can’t, and the wagon turns over.  So I can either cry, get back in, or do both.

Eventually, I get to the bottom of the hill.  It’s kind of a letdown, but necessary.  Theoretically, I should wait awhile before starting for the next hill.  This is a time to rest and reflect.

When I’m ready, I go ahead, pulling the wagon, going up the next hill, and then, at the top, getting in and, afraid but excited, starting down the hill again.

You're a lovely person, too, but your beliefs do worse than suck! Dealing with atheists.

I was watching an atheist video (something I do when I feel spiritually burned out) and a woman was wearing a necklace that said, “God Free.”  My first thought was “poor thing.”  Then I got annoyed.  Why do they have to rain on everyone else’s picnic?  What do they have to offer?  Why can’t they go on their rational way and let the rest of us do our thing?

Well, they feel they are persecuted.  (Boo hoo!  Sorry, God!)  But how am I supposed to react to atheists as a Christian?

Of course, the church will tell them that we have to love them.  OK, then what?  What do we say to our atheist friends?  You have everything to gain and nothing to lose (and vice versa)?  You need never be alone?  You’ll be happier?

Our friends may listen politely, or if they know we like such things, engage in spirited debate.  Will it change their minds?  Or does listening to a believer strengthen their convictions the way listening to atheists strengthens mine?

We can’t know.  All we can do is offer what we have.  The rest is up to them and God.

You’re Such a Lovely Person -- Why Do Your Beliefs Suck?

You meet all kinds of people in a Bible study group – literalists, fundamentalists, creationists, evolutionists, whateverists.  I am in the last category.

But it has been a leap.  I always believed in evolution.  Then I got to know people who didn’t.  They didn’t seem crazy.  And I liked them!  Then I started listening to Creation Moments on Family Radio:  little biology fun-facts that supposedly proved, at the very least, that Darwin was wrong.  They made sense.  I started thinking “Maybe Darwin wasn’t one hundred per cent right.”

Naturally I couldn’t discuss this with anyone.  My family thinks I’m strange already.  And I just wasn’t up to mentioning it at Bible Study;  I didn’t want to be assaulted by information.

Finally, I came to the conclusion “I don’t know.  I don’t care.  It doesn’t make any difference.”  (You’ll notice I didn’t use exclamation points.  I don’t think it’s worth the effort to exclaim.  It just is.)

It works for me.