I saw this several times. The first time I was pretty young, and thought it was a nice idea, but I already had a pretty fair idea of what I was good at and what my role in church was shaping up to be.
The second time it came around, I pointed out that the program seemed to be just encouraging people to run around saying "Hey, look at my hammer!"
The next few times I had to wax the driveway those nights.
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.
Maybe we're pushing a rope. What effects do we want, what service will produce those effects, and what gifts are needed in those services?
If God sends another Billy Graham, that seems like a good signal that the church needs a new evangelism program. If somebody has some obviously remarkable gifts that seem to require new modes of service, that's great, but I think most of the time things are less obvious.
I have decided that such books and classes serve only to open doors that they immediately close again. People feel ungifted. A class points out some possibilities they might not have considered. Everyone immediately treats the list as complete, including those who say it is not an exhaustive list and try to mean that.
ReplyDeleteDisclaimer. My wife loves teaching those classes and people thank her for it.