by Rev. Dr. James D. Kearny, Jr.
Spiritual gifts, simply put, are tools given to the church by the Holy Spirit to build the Kingdom of God. They are normal and essential expressions of the Holy Spirit’s power and presence given to the followers of Christ in order to fashion ourselves and our lives on earth to resemble God’s original design – to shape a bit of heaven out of earthly clay.
We receive the gifts of the Spirit when the Spirit comes upon us at baptism. The gifts must be cultivated through a life of obedience, worship, learning the teachings of Jesus, allowing the Spirit to transform our character, and asking for the manifestation of these gifts through prayer. We must be filled with the Holy Spirit for these gifts to be really energized.
The apostle Peter is a good example. In Acts 2, the Spirit descends, fills the disciples and they rush into the street and preach the good news. Peter gives a stirring sermon to a hard crowd—the very people who had called for Jesus to be crucified. What happened? The same Spirit fell upon the crowd and they were cut to the heart. Three thousand believed and were baptized. So, Peter had the gift of preaching, but until the Spirit fell and filled him, it lay dormant. The same is true of us today. Many of us have gifts of the Spirit that are not active, because it takes the Spirit to activate them.
Christians in the West are slow to embrace the spiritual gifts because we prefer to use our ample human resources: our education, our systems of government, our top men and women, our wealth, our problem solving skills. Yet Jesus has given each of us spiritual gifts, to equip God’s people for works of service in order to build up the body of Christ into maturity. (Eph. 4:7, 12, 13)
I do not mean to denigrate our human, “natural” resources and abilities. They are gifts from God, too. But imagine if our supernatural resources were added to our natural resources when fulfilling God’s call on our lives!
Take the spiritual gifts of leadership and administration.
“Leadership” (Romans 12:8) comes from the Greek word “pro-istamenos,” literally “to stand before.” Paul uses it to mean those officials and administrators who stand before the church. He uses the word again to describe church elders providing for the needs of the church (1 Thess 5:12).
“Administration” (1 Cor 12:28),“kubernaytays,” comes from the word for a ship’s captain, pilot, or owner.
I believe Paul is using two different words to refer to the same gifting. The hands-on work of a ship’s pilot is just as much a position of leadership as is standing up in front, casting vision and providing for needs through organizing others’ activities.
As leaders, we often fuss over our position in the hierarchy—pastor, senior pastor, associate pastor; owner, CEO, vice-president; regional manager, assistant regional manager, assistant to the regional manager. That’s because we associate leadership and titles with ego and self-promotion. This emphasizes human ability, natural talent and the fallen tendency to use our gifts to promote our own interests.
Organizations will spend top dollar in order to get the top person in their field. This happens all too often in the church. When I was called to be an associate pastor of a large church, a well-meaning admirer commented that I had made a good beginning, and if I were to look sharp and work hard, I could parley my way up to senior pastor of the church.
This is not God’s way. To exercise the spiritual gift of leadership/administration, to stand before others and advise, to pilot an organization through a tricky set of shoals, one must follow the example of Jesus, “who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, … he emptied himself.” (Phil 2:6, 7, 8)
Of what did Jesus empty himself? His power, his omniscience, his glory. So, in becoming completely human, how did Jesus heal the sick? How did he know what was in people’s hearts? How did he lead his disciples? Ok, brace yourself: I believe that Jesus didn’t do any of these things because he was God in the flesh. How could he? He had emptied himself of his divine power. Jesus performed all of those supernatural acts through gifts of the Spirit.
Jesus was not impressive. When he showed up, no one said, “Hey, there’s God!” Rather they said, “Not him. Not the carpenter’s son.” They took offense at his acting as a rabbi. So to be a leader like Jesus, we are to empty ourselves of all self-seeking. We are to empty ourselves even of our impressive credentials and natural abilities. Spiritual gifts are a gift. We are to simply receive the gift, use the gift and then give God the credit.
As a Reformed theologian/pastor, I affirm Christ’s work in all arenas of life, not just church on Sunday morning. I believe that the spiritual gift of leadership/administration is given to followers of Christ to be exercised wherever they are called.
I am also an actor, trained and practiced, so I understand the ambivalence artists often have to leaders, as leaders, and to the very idea of leadership.
If you are an artist and you have complaints with your leaders, it might be a sign that God has given you a gift of leadership. Your gift gives you an innate sense of how leaders should lead and therefore you are disappointed when your leaders do not measure up.
If you are an artist and you see a need and solution that no one else is moving on, God might be calling you into leadership. Do not assume that your “natural” tendencies preclude (or exempt) you from exercising “supernatural” abilities. You might have leadership gifts that haven’t been brought out yet in Kingdom service.
And leadership might be the means through which God wants to build your faith, character, and love for him. The practice of this gift is not just for the maturing of the saints you are leading. The practice of leadership matures the leader as well.
Each of us should seek God to discover his or her call to serve. Jesus said that he only did what he saw the Father doing, he only spoke as he heard the Father speak. We should not attempt to establish God’s kingdom in our ways, with our wisdom, with our strength.
That being said, if you do not have the gift of leadership/administration, and the Father still calls you to lead in a certain situation, go for it. It will be the exception, and you will probably feel outside your comfort zone. But if the Father wills it, he has a good reason for you to lead.
God has created you and gifted you uniquely. You have works to perform that, if left undone by you, might not get done at all by anyone. Consider your identity, your gifting and your calling. Life is not a dress rehearsal. Wait for your cue, get on stage and play your part.
After 15 years as a carpenter, and professional training as an actor, James Kearny was called to serve as a pastor. James is passionate about exploring the intersection of ministry and the arts while striving to lead God’s people to be mature followers of Christ. A graduate of Yale University, James met his future wife Cristie while pursuing acting at Cornish College on Seattle’s Capitol Hill. A call to ministry led them to seminary, then to a large Presbyterian church in Knoxville, then back home to Seattle where he is senior pastor of Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church. James and family are grateful to be ministering to a neighborhood near and dear to their hearts and their history.
