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Unlocking the Gifts by David Williams

Mon, 4 Feb 2008

Father’s Gifts: Motivational Gifts

“…Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.  Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all others.  We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.  If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching let him teach; if it encouraging let him encourage; if it contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully” (Romans 12:3-8 NIV).

In the above passage of Scripture we see the Apostle Paul comparing the Body of Christ to a human body.  His purpose in doing this is to teach us that we, the Body of Christ, should utilise the motivational gifts in a similar manner to the way a human body uses its organs to keep itself healthy.  In the same way that each organ provides a special practical function for the human body, for its daily maintenance, so each of the Father’s gifts have a practical purpose to building a healthy Body.  This is the Father’s way of adding to the Body of Christ the nuts and bolts that are needed to run the Church (1 Corinthians 12:7).  Many times they provide the practical services that are needed on a grass roots level.  For example they provide the people who finance kingdom projects, the people who teach within small groups, or those needed for counselling, hospitality, cleaning, maintenance or leadership for the oversight of various works.  For this reason we ought to discover what God the Father has entrusted to us so that we may serve accordingly.

Recognising the Father’s gifts
In the school yard it is not uncommon to hear someone whose self conceitedness has got the better of them, being ironically referred to as ‘God’s gift to the earth’.  In pursuit of recognising what the Father has entrusted to us, contrary to school yard jesting, if we are to properly understand the motivational gifts, we need to understand that we are God’s gifts to the earth.  How is that, you may ask?  The truth is, we contain the gifts of God within our personality, and it is expressed in the way we are motivated to meeting the needs of others. 
        Whilst the rest of this chapter will be dedicated to explaining this dynamic, let us first search the scriptures for our answers. How could God’s gift dwell within my personality?  To find the answer to this question we must begin by examining the scriptures that describe the Father’s gifts.  Let us inspect the word grace in Romans 12:6 (We have different gifts, according to the grace given us).  If we study this word grace in the Greek, we see that it is the word charis, meaning ‘the divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in a person’s life through acceptance, benefits and favour…1  From this Greek definition we understand two things about God’s deposit within our personalities.  Firstly, that there is something set up within us designed to view the world in a unique way.  This unique motivation, which we will discuss in greater detail shortly, is the Father’s ‘divine influence upon our heart’.  Secondly, that that unique design once it is employed to serving others is empowered with God’s ‘acceptance, benefits and favour’ to accomplish certain tasks more easily and quickly, giving it an obvious advantage over others who would try to do the same thing without that particular gift.  What we should see is that each motivational gift, once it is employed in its area of grace will accomplish great results simply because this is how God has blessed it.
        Have you ever noticed how some people, when operating in an area of their gifting find favour with others and seem to attract the resources they need as a means of accomplishing their goals?  It would seem that such people have a ‘magnetic force’ within them.  The reason that some people are like this and others are not is because these people have embraced the way God has empowered them and employed their gift in areas that they are graced to succeed in.  It is as if when we embrace our personality gift that God has endowed us with, it releases a type of energy that attracts what is needed to accomplish the goal at hand.  If we could embrace who God has made us to be and employ ourselves to the type of service that our gift suggests, we the Church of God, would have every resource we need to expand the Kingdom of God.
         
Seven personality gifts
Having already made the point that Father God’s gift to us is hidden within the motivation of our personality, one method of recognising this deposit is to identify our motivation from His listing of gifts.  As we study Romans 12:6-8 we see that there are seven types of motivation: 

“If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.  If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching let him teach; if it encouraging let him encourage; if it contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”

        Let’s test our personality, according to this description of the Father’s gifts and see which type best characterises us: 

Prophesy:  This gift sees things in black and white, tends to be outspoken and is particularly strong willed.  Having said that they seem to be able to quickly and accurately identify when something is wrong.  Such gifts are motivated towards standing up for truth and to bring about change in society.  People with strong convictions and who are outspoken in this way make great preachers, politicians or team leaders because they will stand up for truth without compromising values.

Servant:  Though we are all called to serve with the gifts given us, this gift is motivated to be a servant to others.  They tend to be hands on and practically minded and can easily recognise people’s needs.  They seem to have the power to keep things in ‘working order’.  People motivated in this manner are best suited to practical works that keep things in running order. 

Teacher:  The teacher views the world from a logical, factual, systematic point of view.  Such people are motivated to study and investigate the truth or mechanics behind any matter.  In turn they have been graced with an ability to teach others.  This gift will thrive in any teaching capacity.

Encourager: The encourager is always the optimist in every situation.  People who are gifted in this manner are usually highly motivated toward personal growth and often see negatives in a positive way. Every organisation needs individuals who keep a positive outlook in life and who can see the bigger picture of its goals and vision. 

Giver:  The giver has a generous heart.  They are motivated to support and contribute to the needs of others.  As a result of this giving nature such people are usually blessed with an abundance of resources to give away.  It seems that this gift also carries the power to create the wealth to resource projects.

Leader: The leader is highly motivated and highly organised to accomplish goals. Such people love writing lists of things to do and are not shy in delegating these responsibilities to others.  Whilst such people may seem bossy they have the power to manage people, see the bigger picture and get projects done. 

Mercy: The mercy gift is very compassionate toward others.  Merciful people take great interest in comforting people in their physical and emotional need and are both loving and kind.  Their strength seems to be in bringing healing to others.

Once we identify which motivation best characterises our personality we should understand that this is the grace of the Father upon our lives and it is out of this grace that we should serve others.  In fact we learn from scripture that this is Father God’s expectation upon us, to use our gifts faithfully in one capacity or another:

“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10).

“If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ...” (1 Peter 4:11b).

For some, employing their gifts may mean pursuing a line of work where their gifts are best suited, or getting involved in some type of ministry where their gifts are needed.  For others, who may never receive a position or job description of what they are to supposed to do with their gift, if they serve others in a manner that seems natural to them, whether leading, giving, serving, caring, encouraging, teaching or defending others they will always find themselves being good stewards of the grace that was given them.
        Let us now view how each personality type serves others in a humorous illustration.  Suppose each person were seated around a restaurant table enjoying a meal together.  All of a sudden someone decides to reach out for the salt and pepper.  As this person reaches out their hand, the prophetic person warns, “If you reach over your glass of water you will knock it over and make a mess.”  Immediately the glass of water topples over.  Now there is a great commotion and everyone is reacting to this incident.  The teacher is trying to work out how, by the angle of the person’s arm did they knock that glass over?  The servant picks up the glass and begins wiping up the mess and offers to pour another glass of water.  The leader asks the waiter, “Please get some napkins and something to clean up this mess.”  The encourager says, “No problem, chin up, after all it’s only a glass of water.”  The giver offers to give them their glass of water.  And finally mercy comforts them saying, “Don’t worry, it happens to all of us.  We’ll fix it up in no time.” (Adapted from an audio tape by John Paul Jackson entitled, What does the Bible say about Prophets.)
               
A word of wisdom
As we work alongside those who differ from us we must be careful not to judge them or frustrate them, but to understand that they are bringing to the work another perspective.  Hence the apostle’s words,

…Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.  Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all others.  We have different gifts, according to the grace given us (Romans 12:3-6a NIV).
         
As we can see then, we must be careful not to judge the unique grace upon someone else’s life.  In fact if we are going to work together within the Body of Christ, people should respond to the other according to the manner of responsibility God has entrusted to them.

The necessary building blocks for other ministry gifts
The Father’s motivational gifts also provide the platform for individuals to grow into other listings of gifts.  For example, a personality given to prophesy could develop in the area of their conviction and become a five-fold ministry pastor, teacher, evangelist, prophet or apostle.  The servant gift, mercy gift or the giver might feel moved to pray for the Holy Spirit’s gifts of healing and distinguishing of spirits so that they can better their ability to meet people’s physical and spiritual needs.  A teacher may seek Jesus’ teaching gift to minister to the wider the Body of Christ.  An encourager may acquire the Holy Spirit’s power gifts and become an evangelist.  A leader may develop into an apostle.  Whatever the case may be, our motivational gifts are a much-needed cog in the Church’s infrastructure and it’s goal to reach the world.