Now there are a variety of gifts. . . – 1 Corinthians 12:4a
Pursue love and strive for the spiritual gifts. . . – 1 Corinthians 14:1a
My husband and I were just talking about gifts and then I walk into my office to see that our devotional is also talking about gifts today.
Tim and I were discussing a friend of ours who has a very clear gift- he is a phenomenal singer and also teaches others to sing. I told Tim that my trouble is that I have no idea what my gift is. And no, don’t invite me to take a test to find my gift. I am more of an organic person who thinks I should be able to figure this out for myself. The way I see it, I have worked on this for 60 years and hopefully I have about 20 more to keep trying to get it.
Anyway, in school I learned how to make tests like that come out any way I wanted. I remember taking an aptitude test in grade school that said I should be an electrical engineer. At that point in my life I had no doubt I would be an actress, so the next time that kind of test rolled around, I paid more attention and made sure my answers would make the result what I wanted. Lo and behold, it did. I was told I should grow up and be in the performing arts. I don’t even know if they still give kids tests like that, especially as young as I remember being, but they aren’t that hard to skew.
I told Tim that I am mediocre at lots of things. I can write OK, I can decorate OK, I can cook OK, I can act a little, teach a little and I am a marginally alright singer. I am not the first person anyone calls for anything.
I am not super hospitable and I guess I have moments of being tactless, since I tend to tell the truth. I can go through all of the gifts and I don’t seem to have any one in particular.
I guess I’ve always thought of gifts as something tangible, that you can see, hear, touch. Things like being a singer or dancer or actress. Being a great cook or great artist. Being smart and compassionate with a strong stomach so you can be a doctor, or sly and a fast talker so you can be a politician.
I have learned over the years that there are spiritual gifts and after reviewing that list, I am not so sure I have any of those either. It says that these gifts MAY be given out by the Holy Spirit, so maybe sometimes we just aren’t picked to get one.
Maybe there are gifts that are not mentioned in the Bible. They exist, but aren’t really helpful enough to be handed out by the Holy Spirit or mentioned in the Bible. Instead of the fruits of the spirit, maybe they are the vegetables of the spirit.
I think mine would be the gift of questioning. I am never sure about anything. I doubt, I question, I consider, I ponder, I ask and when I think I have it figured out, I get confused and start to question again. I pose questions in this blog and almost never have an answer. When I talk with people I am usually asking questions. In my acting workshops I ask questions as much as I teach the few things I know.
I like to hear the answers my students come up with. I like to see how they choose when we play “Would You Rather?” I want to stop the game and ask each one why they made the choice they did. I want them to defend why they’d rather have a pet goat than a pet chicken.
A three year old will ask you Why? Why? Why? to everything. I want to do the same to pretty much everyone I know. Not to put them on the spot, but to make them think AND because I really want to know!
No one will call me to make them a cake for their next event or to arrange the flowers for their next party. No one will ask me to paint them a picture or call me to sew them a dress. But if you need someone to question everything and yet have absolutely no answers, I’m your woman. Just give me a call.
I’ll be waiting by the phone with questions. It’s a gift.
