Luke 16 :: Shrewdness has Its Place in the Kingdom

Luke 16

Today, I had to stop and back up a few times.  These parables are not easily understood by me.  On the first glance, they seem to be a bit out of character for the rest of the Lukan text.  In keeping with the consistent theme of inclusion and welcoming of the unwelcome, we must keep this in mind as we read these stories.

In the first story, Jesus is highlighting the manager's shrewdness in dealing with people after he is reprimanded by the master for only looking out for his own needs.  It's not a large leap to imagine this manager taking a bill owed to the master and inflating the cost so he could have a little something to take home for himself.  Now the master has fired him for this sort of behavior.  The man then goes out and uses the same shrewdness, but flips it to help others and to help himself.  He lowers the amount of the IOU's for the people, helping them, and he shows some initiative that impresses the master, helping himself.  I think there is something very powerful when people outside the kingdom of God come into his kingdom and begin using their gifts and talents for "what is right."  99 percent of us, as Springs, have skill sets that make us a living outside of the kingdom of God.  I believe that God is honored and in turn blesses, when we discover how to utilize those skills for use inside the kingdom of God (whether or not that ever happens in the church).  This manager's skill set was utilized inside the kingdom to extend grace to people who had debts too large to pay.  Justice served.

Do you have skill sets that have not been leveraged for the kingdom of God yet?  Perhaps God is challenging us to look deep inside ourselves to see how we can utilize those skills and talents to extend grace to people in our neighborhoods, in our workplaces or at our recreational spots.  If you would like to talk to someone about your skills and how you can begin to make this turn, shoot me an email and I would love to sit down and talk with you.

Romans 12:3-8 :: Part or Prominence?

Romans 12:3-8 (The Message and TNIV)

"The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him." v3b

I love this passage of Scripture.  I love this entire chapter of Romans, but these verses are particularly important to me.  They are the verses that God used to help me find my place in His ministry, they are the verses that continue to sustain me in that ministry and they are verses that push me to encourage you to be who God has called you to be.  For a long time, I did not like the part I was called to play in this story.  I felt like my part was a pinky finger when the index finger got all the attention.  I wanted to travel and speak at camps and be the guy people wanted to come and do their retreats.  It took me a long time to realize that I might be better in relationships and that my place in His ministry was going to be much less in the spotlight.  When I began to understand this, I began to sense a deeper fulfillment in the part I was to play.

This is not to say that I am always good at it though.  I am being refined in many ways to play my role.  I don't like to be pigeon-holed either.  I still like to try different things.  The above verse has to stay at the front of all I do or attempt to do though.  The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.  Period.  If I want to know who I am and how important I am, I must not look at what I do, but what God is and what he does for us.  This understanding produces a humility that I cannot conjure up on my own.  It keeps my pride in check and consistently gives me something to celebrate and embrace.  God is always good and always doing something around me, even when I am sloughing off.

Have you found that "place" that only you can fulfill in the body of Christ?  When you are thinking about this "place" are you envisioning yourself doing it in a church or with your table group?  Are you envisioning a "ministry" where you can be or are you thinking bigger than that?  What would it mean to think bigger?

Core Practice::Spiritual Gifts

I know and use my spiritual gifts to accomplish God's purposes.

For 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, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.

Romans 12:4-6 (TNIV)

Imagine this. What if all of the Christ-followers in your neighborhood joined together to use the gifts God has given them to accomplish His purposes in your community? What if it didn't matter what "church" you went to, but that you had a place to use your gifts right where you live? What if when a neighbor was sick, a Christ-follower utilized her gift of hospitality/mercy and rallied the other neighbors to serve the sick? What if the single-mom on your street had a car problem and a Christ-follower, gifted in mechanics, rallied the other mechanics to help her get her car running again? What if...you get the picture?

Too often as Christians, we have relegated our gifts to use in the church. We are called to care for one another, but when we fail to use our gifts in the world where God has placed us, we rob power from the gospel we are living. When asked why his church didn't have a drama ministry, one pastor promptly said that if people in his church were gifted in acting they ought to go to the local theater and act for the glory of God there. Might the same be true for all of us...those of us who can manage, manage for the glory of God where you work. For those of us who design, design for the glory of God in the world we live. For those of us with a mercy gift, go to the hospitals and volunteer an hour a week serving the sick. For those of us with a teaching gift, discover ways to teach where you live.

In order for us to use the gifts God has given us, we must be aware of those gifts. While there is debate whether or not every gift is a spiritual gift, given by God, there seems to be no debate whether any gift can be used for the glory of God. We believe that the lists of spiritual gifts in the New Testament are representative lists, not exhaustive lists. This means that we believe people have gifts that are not included in these lists. What is most important is that we understand that gifts aren't spiritual because you use them at church. Gifts are spiritual when they are used to bring glory to God and build one another up. Don't wait for someone at church to ask you to serve. Begin by using your gifts right where you are...right now.

Other Competencies: Spiritual Gifts flows out of a bedrock belief in Compassion - that God calls all Christians to serve people in need. Another related belief is our belief in the Church (all Christ-followers working together) as God's primary means to accomplishing his purposes.

Resource: Years ago, Willow Creek Community Church provided an excellent resource called "Network" to help us discover or gift mix. Erik Rees wrote a great book called S.H.A.P.E.: Finding & Fulfilling Your Unique Purpose for Life.

Kids Q&A

Kids' Big Idea: I love my neighbor by using my gifts to serve them.

Memory Tool: Hands open extending outward.

What things do you think you are good at? How do you think you could use those things to help others? Help your kids understand that even the little things they do to help others brings glory to God. They are making God smile when they use their gifts to help other people.

What types of things would you like to try? Exploration often begins by trial & error, for kids and adults. If we want to be a more compassionate person, then put yourself in position to be compassionate. If your child has a heart for older people, take them to visit a nursing home where they can make a resident smile. If your child has a nack for fixing things, find a way to help a neighbor fix something that has quit working.