A New Groundwork: Discerning Your Gifts

“The world needs ditch-diggers, too.”

 

If you’ve ever seen Caddyshack, the slapstick comedy about golf, you will recognize this line and the sarcastic way in which it was delivered. But you didn’t have to see the movie, to understand what was being said. Many people in our world consider there to be a hierarchy among professions. Some jobs are more important than others, the thinking goes. The “skilled” workers are, to continue the analogy, more valuable than the “unskilled” workers. We’ve all felt this reality, either from the perspective of the “skilled” or the “unskilled” worker.  But while this may be the prevailing mindset in our world, from the Christian understanding of things, nothing could be further from the truth.

Martin Luther, the theologian who launched the movement that became known as the Reformation, addressed this point with great clarity. In Luther’s day, those who worked in the church were perceived to be of greater importance than anyone else. Luther, though himself a church worker, soundly rejected this idea. Everyone, Luther believed, played a part in making the whole of society a success. Whether you were a priest who worked in the church or a mason who built the church itself, or a custodian who made sure it was clean, all played an equally important role in ensuring the success of the church.

Scripture makes this point time and time again. Perhaps the Apostle Paul made it the best, when he said plain and simply, “God shows no partiality.” (Romans 2:11)  The distinctions we create amongst ourselves, the hierarchies we establish, have nothing to do with God’s perspective.  A CEO, a minimum wage worker and an unemployed person are all the same thing to God: His children. And every child of God, in their uniquely created being, has the ability to contribute an equally significant share to the whole of society.

Take a simple loaf of bread.  We adore the finished product and easily laud praises on the baker. But, as Luther reminds us, when we give thanks for our bread, we need to give thanks “for everything that contributes to having and enjoying our daily bread…the flour bin and baking oven but also over the broad fields, the farmlands, and the entire country that produces, processes, and conveys to us our daily bread.” (p.70)  Everything comes from something, the point goes. And every “something” no matter how small or unseen, plays an equally significant role in the creation of the whole.

The same analogy can be made for many parts of our modern lives. The very fact that this article is posted on the Internet, speaks to the tens of thousands of people who contributed to its creation. They didn’t write the article, but without their technological genius and creativity, you wouldn’t be reading it. Every one of their contributions, seen and unseen, are of equal proportion.

This Biblical understanding of work offers a great sense of freedom. Freedom to invest ourselves in the gifts we have been given, whatever they may be, knowing that our value is not determined by our visibility or notoriety, but in our contribution to something larger than ourselves.

But in addition to this idea that the parts are equal to the whole, there is a deeper spiritual point about our inherent value before God. Some of us are paid more than others. Some work longer hours than others. Some are more respected by society than others. But the truth is, our work does nothing to justify our existence before God. We are chosen and loved unconditionally by God, regardless of who we are or what we do. Remember this when you find yourself feeling less important that your more accomplished colleague. Remember this when you are feeling compelled to speed up your pace in the rat race. If you recognize yourself as God’s beloved child endowed with a unique set of gifts, what will matter most is not keeping up with the Jones’s, but discovering how best to use your gifts.

A Christian counselor can help you discern your gifts. At Seattle Christian Counseling, we can help you take hold of an understanding of the work you do from God’s greater perspective. The days of determining our value by the level of promotion we’ve achieved, or the number of zeros on our paycheck, can be over if we want them to be. Contact Christian counselors today to get started on re-interpreting your life as one of God’s beloved children. The results can be greater than any promotion or professional accolades you could receive.

 

Reference
Quotation taken from:
Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work. Timothy Keller.  Dutton. ©2012

 

Photos
Courtesy of Stuart Miles, FreeDigitalPhotos.net