Steve & Shirley
“Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.” – I Corinthians 12:1
While at the beach last week we were doing one of those really FUN things… sitting in the old men chairs in Belk while the shoppers of the family were on a frenzy. My job was sitting in the lady’s shoe department on this sofa with Noah and Abby while Stephen, Joy and Shirley were off doing their needed thing.
As we were sitting there this young man (around 15) came up and sat down in the chair across from us, played on his phone and generally waited for permission to join his family… (like we were doing). One thing I noticed about him was he was a walking advertisement for Nike. From his hat, shirt, shorts, socks and flip-flops everything had a Nike emblem or saying on it. We couldn’t see is underwear, but I bet it was Nike also. After he left, Noah and I referred to him as the Nike guy.
Are you having second thoughts on spiritual gifts? I’ve been saying – that folks need to discern their particular gifts and be supported in exercising those gifts. We have done gift discernment inventories. We have offered gift discernment workshops over the years. And sometimes that’s been terrific. Some people have named a gift they hadn’t recognized and claimed a ministry that had their name written all over it. Hallelujah!
But sometimes, as things tend to do, this has gone sideways. Guess what, the dishes need to be washed. The trash wants taking out. The notes for the meeting need to be taken and distributed. Or someone has to ask people for a pledge for next year’s budget.
Sometimes there’s stuff that just needs to be done. Sometimes we need to walk the Nike boy into our midst and say “Just Do It!” Sometimes – well, really, all the time – there are mundane things that need to happen so the group, family, church, etc. can function. Someone has to show up to unlock the door. Someone has to take the food donations to the food bank. Someone has to count the offering.
Sometimes, in fact, it may even be good for us to do stuff – service – that has no glory in it, that isn’t really fulfilling for us. We do it because it needs to be done. We serve, whether the task at hand is exactly our thing or not. And maybe we even forget about ourselves while we’re doing it – which may, in the end, be at least part of the point of service in the first place.
Dear Lord, grant me grace so to lose myself in service to you that I may be truly found. Help me get on with the task at hand even if you have to send a Nike boy to sit in front of me as a reminder to just do it, in and through Jesus. Amen.
Grace and Peace
Steve
PS: Put another cabinet together last night – same results. I told Shirley NEVER let me do this again. This one is even glued together in places where glue should not have to be. I am still amazed by people who can do this – I honor you!
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The Journey 