Spiritual Gifts

“That’s a come-along. Papa’s used one before.” So said Robin to our daughter as I was using a come-along to tighten the zipline we were installing in our yard. But as I told Robin later, I had never used one before. I just knew what a come-along was and the general principle that it worked by. In this particular case I had made a loop in the cable and attached one end to the come-along, with the other end of the come-along anchored on the trailer hitch of our van, which I had asked Robin to park in the yard. The end result was the zip line being tightened enough for the children and adults to use it.

That recent episode got me to thinking a bit about my work history and spiritual gifts. Since graduating from high school I have had three basic jobs. The US Navy trained me as an electrician, work I did for four years in the Navy and then two more years for a burglar alarm company. In college I majored in occupational therapy. After graduation I worked in that career for 27 years in a rehabilitation/acute care hospital. Late in my health care career I went to seminary on a part-time basis and have now served as a pastor for the past seven years.

On first glance those three vocations would not seem to have anything in common, except perhaps the fact that at one point in time they have each been the vocation I identified myself with. “What do you do for a living?” “I’m a pastor.” But as I thought about them for a bit I found something common to each of them. They all involve “fixing things.” They all involve having an understanding of how things work, how they are not working at a particular time, and how to get them working again, if not as originally designed then to work again in a way that is functional. They all require, either explicitly or implicitly, a measure of mechanical aptitude. Looking back I can see that as I trained in these three different vocations that whole idea of understanding how things worked was present, whether it was stated in those terms or not.

Earlier in my life of faith in Jesus I’ve taken spiritual gift inventories. These are questionnaires that help a person understand what kinds of things that might be gifted in, things that they could then use as they love and serve the Lord. I’ve done them at least twice, with the same basic results each time. Nothing really emerged as a particular gift. No pronounced inclination toward teaching, or caregiving, or what have you. I don’t even recall what the various categories were. I only remember that the assessments were quite unhelpful for me, as far as giving any kind of clarity to what I may be good at in serving the Lord. Mechanical aptitude was certainly not on the list.

Mechanical aptitude was not on the list, but it has come in handy here on the reservation many times, in many ways. A few were obvious, such as the washing machine that broke Sunday evening and the window blind that broke last night. The blind was repaired, and  the washing machine is being replaced.

A less obvious way happened yesterday while I was out running. A man in a pickup who I have talked with here a number of times stopped me to ask “What is the deal about Abraham and Sarah?” That is a question where the answer could go in a lot of different directions! He told me that a friend of his said something about Abraham and Sarah, and so he thought to ask me to explain. With the gears spinning in my head I landed on this:

“Abraham was a man who believed there was a God. He knew that God wasn’t a tree, or a water bottle, or any other kind of object. He knew that there was a God who existed, a God who couldn’t be physically seen, and who he knew he had to worship. He knew that this God set the terms of the relationship between man and God. Man did not set the terms.”

I said a little bit more, said a prayer with him, and we went on our separate ways. I pray that the next time this man and I talk that the Lord shows me the next piece to share with him, as the Lord uses me in His service. Who would ever think that mechanical aptitude was a spiritual gift? Not me, at least not until recently.

God gives spiritual gifts to all of His children, but as I have looked a bit in my own life I think that some of those gifts have fallen outside of the things we might traditionally expect. 

What kind of things, perhaps even unexpected things, has the Lord given you that you can use to serve Him? May you come to understand your own gifts, and use them to God’s glory. Amen.