spiritual gifts

Mar

2025

All God’s children have a voice

Each soul speaks in their own way

Today is the 11th anniversary of The Electric Gospel blog. (I hadn’t been paying attention last year, and missed marking the 10th anniversary.) This project started March 15, 2014, with a post from one of the ministry school students I was instructing. Allow me to share the origin story with you, which tells you something about this blog’s purpose.

In my classes, I encouraged students to compose devotional writings in their own voice and style. Much of the ministry training they received gave them templates and formulas they were told to follow. Their writings tended to be formulaic and stilted as a result. I wanted them to take in spiritual truths and express them in their own way, writing from their hearts. When they did, their expressions of faith spoke with grace and strength. I sent some of the most poignant pieces to the editors of the national church organization’s monthly magazine, and several students’ articles were published there.

One such student, Mariah, had dated someone who was controlling and overbearing. He maintained that male dominance in relationships was the biblically-commanded way. Mariah had a different perspective. She wrote about how this man had made her feel worthless and her gifts and talents unappreciated. When I sent Mariah’s article to be considered for publication by the national magazine, the assistant editors (both of them women) greatly appreciated her words. They put the article onto their schedule for an upcoming month’s issue. When it came time for the article to proceed to publication, I received communication from the magazine’s lead editor (a man). He had decided Mariah’s personal story needed editing. He provided his heavily altered rewrite of the article. He said that if the author agreed to the rewritten version, he would allow it in the magazine in that form. If she did not consent to the edited version, then the article would not be published. His version robbed Mariah’s original writing of her unique voice. It now sounded like it was composed by a staid, formal, traditional, clergy-trained man. It had become very much his writing, not hers—coming from his frame of reference, not hers. Mariah was hurt. She would not allow the magazine to run the editor’s version with her name listed as “author”—and I wholeheartedly supported her. I conveyed Mariah’s decision to the magazine editor, along with my own objections to how he had handled the matter.

As Mariah and I talked, I said I’d start a place of my own online to feature selections of spiritual writing from students. I wanted Mariah’s article to be the first to be featured. She embraced the idea (not just for herself, but also for her fellow student writers). Thus, The Electric Gospel blogsite was born.

You can read Mariah’s original piece here (just as she wrote it): “I Will Respect You.”

In those years of posting students’ work to the blog pages, I sought to give a forum to those who pressed against rigid expectations and situations that made them feel devalued.

There was a pre-seminary student who felt he wasn’t enough. He struggled to keep up with the college’s curriculum and to fit in with his classmates. When he stopped trying to compose something according to formulas dictated to him and wrote what he was feeling in his heart, his words sang with deep intensity. (His article: “A Cry from the Depths of One’s Heart.”)

There was a devout woman from a Caribbean nation who came to the college, older than the typical college students around her. She experienced implicit bias and ageism and cliquishness on the campus, which kept her feeling like she didn’t belong (in a place where everyone should have felt embraced and welcomed). I urge you to read her impassioned plea: “Do We Really Love Each Other in the Church?”

In the years since I stopped teaching, I’ve used this blog as a place for some of my own writing. I’ve tried to highlight our imperative to value every individual, to listen to each person’s voice. I’ll offer a couple of examples of past posts of mine here that might be worth your time to go back and read:

All of God’s children have a voice. Each soul speaks in their own special way. Hopefully this blog over the past 10+ years has been a place where the perspectives of Christ’s people from many walks of life have been honored and valued.

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Do not think of yourself more highly than you should. Instead, be modest in your thinking, and judge yourself according to the amount of faith that God has given you. We have many parts in the one body, and all these parts have different functions. In the same way, though we are many, we are one body in union with Christ, and we are all joined to each other as different parts of one body. So we are to use our different gifts in accordance with the grace that God has given us. If our gift is to speak God’s message, we should do it according to the faith that we have (Romans 12:3-6—Good News Translation).

Sep

2022

Humility = Service (part 2)

For Labor Day, 2022

Be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).

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This post is a follow-up to last week’s post on Humility = Service. The thoughts stemmed from readings for Pentecost 12: Proverbs 25:6-7, Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16, and Luke 14:1, 7-14.

Acknowledging our ability to be of service to others

As we consider, humility and service, a second point needs to be made. If you read the previous post, maybe my descriptions missed some of you. Quite likely, a number of you are not pushy or bossy or intrusive or insistent. You let others go ahead of you. You’re patient while waiting your turn. You are completely content to be the quiet person in the back of the room. You aren’t looking to be on center stage. That may be just fine … but it also may be unhelpful. Let’s consider what can happen when you are too humble, too self-effacing, too willing to keep quiet on the sidelines.

I’ve seen humility go too far and impede godly service to one another. Too often, people who have gifts to serve and gifts to lead are asked to use those gifts, and they say, “Oh, no, not me. I can’t do that.” They sound like Moses when he hesitated, saying, “O my Lord, please send someone else” (Exodus 4:13).

I remember a meeting of a board of elders at a congregation. It was suggested that the elders do more than have meetings. The proposal was that every other month–instead of just meeting around the table at the church–they would start with a prayer, then go out to scheduled appointments to visit with church members. The elders around the table turned pale as ghosts when the suggestion was made. Doing the actual work of ministering to others frightened them.

Or there was a woman in a congregation, someone others looked up to. Others would approach her for advice. She was spiritually well-grounded, and others could see that. When her pastor asked her to take on a more formal role, as a deaconess in the congregation, she professed all sorts of humility and said she wasn’t worthy of such a role. Maybe that was okay. Maybe she didn’t need any official title. If she continued doing the mentoring she was doing when others approached her, that would still be good. But she needn’t have shied away from stepping up to higher responsibilities, when asked to do so for the good of others.

When someone calls upon you to “come on up” to a higher position of responsibility, or to a task of leadership to which you are particularly suited, are you ready to answer that call? Or will you let an excess of humility get in your way?

If you are called to come up to a higher place and serve others around you in your life, don’t wave a white flag of humility and say you’re not worthy. It’s quite true that none of us are worthy by our own virtue to serve as ambassadors for Christ. But Christ, in his mercy, has given each of us gifts and calls each of us into unique roles of service. “If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly” (Romans 12:8 NLT).

This principle applies not just in your church life, such as the church examples I gave. Being ready to step up and serve applies daily in your personal life. Each of you has connections, situations, opportunities that arise day by day. When an occasion arises which calls you into action, that’s not a time for you to hide in humility and say, “Oh, it’s none of my business,” or, “Someone with more knowledge or skill should be the one to help.” The situation is in front of you now. The friend or neighbor or family member is needing you now. Don’t pull back, afraid. Be open to others’ needs. Be ready to help as best you can. Most of all, just be. Be present. Be there for people when they need you. When someone is calling out with a need, recognize that God may be calling you to step into action. Often those calls are not verbally expressed, but you know the need is there. Without being a busybody, you can offer yourself as a friend, as an ally in Christ. You can offer resources and referrals to other sources of help too. Look for those real-life opportunities to be Christ to your neighbor. “Who knows? Perhaps you have come to [the position you are in] for just such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).

Acting on behalf of others is a way of exercising proper humility. You don’t use humility as an excuse in such situations, backing away and ducking out. You exercise humility by putting others’ needs ahead of your own, others’ comfort and care ahead of your own potential discomfort and fears. You use your time and your talents in the interests of others. Having humility and compassion means you’re not just looking out for yourselves. Through your love and labor, you become humble and devoted servants to one another (cf. Galatians 5:13).

In your lives, what opportunities are presenting themselves where someone is saying, “Friend, come on up” to a higher place, to an added responsibility, to a role of helping or leading others? Keep your eyes and ears open for those opportunities. Keep your spiritual senses tuned in. Recognize that God is calling you to use your gifts in humble service to your neighbor. When you see someone hungry, you’ll be ready to give them food. When you see someone thirsty, you’ll give them something to drink. As Scripture urges (Hebrews 13:1-3), you will “let mutual love continue.” You will “show hospitality to strangers.” You will “remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them.” You will do whatever you can to assist those who are feeling tortured (experiencing pain or suffering in their lives), ”as though you yourselves were being tortured” along with them. You will “continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God” by doing good for others and by sharing yourself and what you have with others, “for such sacrifices are pleasing to God” (Hebrews 13:15-16). You will welcome into your life “the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind”–those who cannot repay you–knowing “you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 7:13,14). In doing even just the little things for those who seem the least significant or least influential in this world, you offer service to Christ, who says to you, “‘Truly I tell you, just as you” do these things for “the least of these who are members of my family,” you do it for me (cf. Matthew 25:35-40). Amen.

Scripture quotations, except where otherwise indicated, are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Aug

2022

Humility = Service (part 1)

Thinking of others, not just of ourselves

The thoughts for this post and another that will follow next week stem from readings for Pentecost 12, August 28, 2022: Proverbs 25:6-7, Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16, and Luke 14:1, 7-14.

If you are familiar with the TV show, The Price is Right, you know the call to bidder’s row: “Come on down! You’re the next contestant on The Price is Right!” What would you think if someone barged down the aisle, uninvited, and insisted, “No, I am the next contestant; I should have been the first contestant; I should always be first in line”?

A more everyday example: I was driving recently on a section of city freeway that was under construction. For several miles, the right lane was marked “exit only” for each upcoming exit, causing congestion in the remaining lanes. In spite of that warning, in between each ramp, some drivers would speed down the right lane, then cut back into traffic at the last minute, not exiting.

That sort of behavior gets us mad. But let’s be honest. Isn’t such behavior something we all exhibit quite often? Are we always considerate, patient, humble, kind, looking out for others’ well-being? Or do we do our own end-arounds, trying to bypass others, putting ourselves ahead even if it means leaving others behind?

Too often, a lack of humility shows up in our hearts and lives. Let me describe some scenarios. You’ll recognize what I describe–but don’t be too quick to point a finger at some neighbor or relative or coworker. Think first of ways that these descriptions also might apply to things you feel or say or do.

There’s a group of people at a meeting. Everyone’s input is important, because everyone is affected by the decisions made. But Mya Myview thinks her viewpoint is the most important. Everyone else must eventually agree with her, or she’s not happy. She speaks up first. She speaks up loudest. She interrupts and contradicts others when they offer their thoughts. When the decision doesn’t go her way, she storms out of the room. Mya much needs a healthy dose of humility.
Bob Bossy isn’t the boss, but he acts like he is. At work, he hovers over his colleagues and tells them how they should do their jobs. At home, on any project he works on with his wife, he’s going to control the planning and the process. He’ll tell her exactly what to do and how to do it–although most of the time she has as much know-how as he does, sometimes more. But he has to feel like he’s in charge. Bob can’t be humble; he’s too busy being bossy.
Sophie Selfie knows, she just knows, she’s the most talented person on the planet. At her high school, she expects to have a solo at every choir concert. She assumes she should get the lead role in the school play. She posts videos of herself online all the time, showing off her singing, her theatrics, her tips for hair and makeup and wardrobe that are all just perfect. She’s offended and angry that her number of followers on social media isn’t growing as fast as she deserves. Sophie Selfie thinks humility is for lesser people than herself.
Roger Rightly is certain he is right with God, certain his religious studies have made him an expert on all that is true. He’s certain that others must practice religion just as he does if they want to have God’s blessing. He writes letters to the editor of the local newspaper, condemning the immorality of those who don’t live up to his standards. If someone that he deems unworthy visits his church—maybe with clothing or piercings or jewelry he thinks inappropriate, or not matching his mindset as to what families should look like or how gender norms should be—Roger makes sure they feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. His mission is to make the world line up with the lines he has drawn around religion and belief and behavior. Roger Rightly lacks mercy and doesn’t understand humility.

Likely you could share other examples–about people you’ve known …. or confessions from your own life. Humility is not natural to our spirits. One way sin has affected all our spirits is how self-absorbed and self-indulgent and self-promoting we all can be. We think highly of ourselves. We look down on others. We prioritize our own desires. We neglect others’ needs, sometimes even trample on others.

Thank God we have a Savior who didn’t think of his own place in the universe first, but put us ahead of himself. “Christ Jesus … though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name” (Philippians 2:5-9). It is because Christ was willing to humble himself on our behalf that we have life, we have hope, we have salvation. And Christ calls us to follow him on the path of humility. Christian faith asks of us: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4).

God’s proverb says: “Do not put yourself forward … or stand in the place of the great; for it is better to be told, ‘Come up here’ than to be put lower in the presence of a noble” (Proverbs 25:6-7). Rather than pushing and promoting ourselves, we do well to serve others diligently and humbly. When we do, then we may be called upon to take up roles of leadership or positions of responsibility. As Jesus emphasized, “All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Luke 14:11). The leaders Christ seeks have hearts like servants. “The greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves” (Luke 22:26, cf. also Matthew 23:1-12).

When we practice humility, we engage in service to others. Rather than thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought, we “think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned” (Romans 12:3). We recognize that within the body of Christ, each of us has individual gifts and abilities (cf. Romans 12:4-8). As “good stewards of the manifold grace of God,” we will “serve one another with whatever gift each of [us] has received” (1 Peter 4:10).

Humility means not pushing others around, but lending a helping hand. Humility means not insisting on my way, but listening to the thoughts and concerns of others. Humility means no inflated views of how good or right I think I am compared to others, but recognizing that only by the grace of God I am who I am (cf. Ephesians 2:8-9, 1 Corinthians 15:10). When we have that perspective, we will go forward in a path of service to others, knowing that we are what God “has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life” (Ephesians 2:10).

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To be continued …

Next time: Acknowledging our ability to be of service to others

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Aug

2020

Healthy self-assessment

For the sake of our service in Christ

by David Sellnow

The Epistle appointed for this Sunday got me thinking. Of course, all of Scripture is inspired and prompts our pondering on many levels (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16-17). But a particular line in today’s pericope sparked the thoughts I’ll share here today.

Here’s the verse from Paul’s letter to the Romans: “For by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned” (Romans 12:3).

Thinking of ourselves with sober judgment is difficult. We tend to go overboard in one direction or the other. Some church members may hold their own opinions and desires paramount over others and will try to control a congregation’s agenda to suit themselves. At the same time, other church members can be overly humble and self-effacing. Yes, we are called upon to live in humility (Ephesians 4:2). But that doesn’t mean adopting so low a view of ourselves that we hold back from serving others. Church leaders often struggle to find persons for needed ministry roles when members shrink away from teaching or witnessing or leadership, thinking themselves not up to the task.

Trust me, I’m not lecturing anyone with this bit of blogging, as if I’ve attained the ability to do appropriate self-assessment. I’ve erred on both ends of the spectrum. At times in my life, I’ve been way too full of myself, thinking I was somebody important. At other times, I’ve been overly hard on myself, thinking I had no value to anyone and nothing to offer. Perhaps your own self-image has followed a similar pattern, sometimes puffed up, other times entirely deflated.

We’re not alone in this dilemma. Even Moses had to learn about estimating his abilities humbly and honestly. Having grown up in a position of privilege in the royal palace, he envisioned himself as hero to intervene on behalf of his people, the enslaved Israelites. “One day, he went out to where his own people were. He watched them while they were hard at work. He saw an Egyptian hitting a Hebrew man. The man was one of Moses’ own people. Moses looked around and didn’t see anyone. So he killed the Egyptian. Then he hid his body in the sand” (Exodus 2:11-12). Moses had thought too highly of himself, presumed too much authority too soon, and ended up fleeing for his life. He spent decades as a shepherd in a foreign land and started a family there. After many years, God decided it was time for Moses to take on the mantle of leadership. But when the Lord then came to call Moses be his prophet, Moses balked. “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:11)? He objected, “Suppose they do not believe me or listen to me” (Exodus 4:1)? Even after the Lord demonstrated miracles that would validate Moses’ divine calling, Moses still offered an excuse: “O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue” (Exodus 4:10). And when the Lord kept pressing, saying, “I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to speak,” Moses pleaded, “O my Lord, please send someone else” (Exodus 4:12,13).

God considered Moses the right man for the job, but Moses had stopped seeing himself as someone who could do anything of significance. Of course, we know whose view of the situation was accurate and whose wasn’t. With God’s strength supporting him, Moses became the leader God intended him to be. After his death it was written, “Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. He was unequaled for all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt … and in the sight of all Israel” (Deuteronomy 34:10-12).

When it comes to our own service in Christ’s kingdom, may God preserve us from presumption and arrogance as well as from minimizing or degrading ourselves. May we not think of ourselves more highly than we ought … but also not more lowly than we ought. Rather, may we consider our abilities as God’s servants “with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned” (Romans 12:3). We want to see ourselves through a lens of humility, but not a warped lens that fails to see ways we can bring benefit to others in our world. As the apostle Paul urged elsewhere, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2:3-4). A key part of looking to the interests of others involves healthy self-assessment of gifts and talents and skills we possess, which we can use in caring for others. Rather than saying, “O my Lord, please send someone else” (Exodus 4:13), when we have the abilities and opportunities, God help us to say, “Here I am; send me!” (Isaiah 6:8).

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Dec

2019

Working together to further the church’s mission

by Dillon Solomon

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on March 24, 2017, this letter to a congregation addresses issues that can be seen in many Christian churches.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ’s church,

I hope this letter finds each and every one of you well! I thank God that we have the opportunity to be counted among the Lord’s believers and for all the blessings he has given us as a congregation.

Through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ Jesus, we have been made alive. Through that very same life, death, and resurrection we have been welcomed into the family of God and have been made part of the body of Christ himself. “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Jesus Christ … Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household” (Ephesians 2:13,19). With this divine citizenship comes a holy unity, a bond that pleases God. In fact, he urges through the apostle Paul, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit– just as you were called to one hope when you were called” (Ephesians 4:2-4). We are called by the same gospel message to faith in the one true God.

Along with this spiritual unity, God desires unity within our physical church. We can take these same passages and apply them to our work as a congregation. We strive to be patient with one another in dissenting opinions and bear with each other in love when we face difficult decisions. Keeping this fact in mind will go a long way towards unity: each and every member of the congregation looking out for the best interests of the congregation and God’s universal church as whole. Every single member is integral to the success of the congregation, as every single member is a part of the body of Christ.

“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. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully” (Romans 12:4-8).

Only through unity can we accomplish—to the best of our abilities—the mission God has placed before us. We acknowledge that there will never be a truly perfect unity on this side of heaven. In spite of that, it is good to discuss things with one another, and even argue a little bit, regarding the best interests of the church, so that you can grow as a congregation. So I encourage you to keep working together towards a strong fellowship in Christ—a fellowship that allows for divergent opinions to converge into one mind, within the one body of Christ, as you work towards furthering Christ’s church.

Finally, brothers and sisters in Christ, I urge you not to become apathetic. We have a tremendous blessing from God by having easy access to his word. It can be easy to sit back and go through the motions of being a Christian or even to worry about our own internal struggles as a congregation. However, God speaks to us through the apostle James, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead” (James 2:26). Our works as are the beating pulse of our faith; they are the indication of living faith. It’s hard for us to put a sign of invitation out in front of our church if no one can feel the pulse of our evangelism. Jesus himself told us, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). But our reason for doing this shouldn’t be simply, “God commands it.” Instead, take a moment to think about what Jesus has done for you, all of the sins he has taken away, and how, now, you have a place reserved for you in the eternal bliss of heaven. Is that not an incredible feeling? How can we not want to share that feeling with others? And so I urge you, as redeemed children of God, take this feeling of joy and use it. Use it to embolden our evangelism efforts. Use it to tell that friend or coworker the simple, yet powerful, message of the gospel. Because sometimes that’s all it takes: “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all!

Dec

2019

Developing talent in the church

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on September 26, 2014

I had written the following article with with a church focus … and also wrote a non-religious, soccer-oriented version of the article that was published in the September 2012 Minnesota Soccer Times. Church-oriented readers might appreciate the spiritually-focused version of the article.

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Player Development on God’s Team

by David Sellnow

“Everyone is important on this team,” the soccer coach said at the 13-and-under squad’s preseason meeting. He sounded like he meant it … but as the summer wore on, Mindy wondered. She and three other girls spent most moments of most games on the sidelines. For five minutes of each 35-minute half, they’d give the starting midfielders a breather—time enough for those players to come off the field and get water. Then the starters resumed their roles, and the subs became spectators once again. Mindy’s interest in soccer waned. She lost hope in her own potential as an athlete. A year later, when the high school held tryouts for the JV team, Mindy didn’t participate.

According to Fred Engh, founder of the National Alliance for Youth Sports and author of Why Johnny Hates Sports, this sort of scenario plays out far too often in children’s sport programs. Rather than encouraging confidence, strengthening skills, and building game readiness in all players on their teams, too many coaches are content to let weaker players be little more than benchwarmers so that the “better” kids can notch more victories.

I’ve been wondering—do we do something similar sometimes in our churches? Every individual in the church is an equally valuable member of God’s “team,” so to speak. We know that there is no favoritism with God (Ephesians 6:9), and that the healthy involvement of every person in the church is God’s desire (1 Corinthians 12). So we’ll want to engage in “player development” that not only helps each member of God’s team grow stronger in faith and faithfulness, but looks to get every teammate “into the game,” that is, actively serving in the mission of the church.

Sometimes we do that; sometimes we don’t. A couple examples from actual congregations, in which “player development” was not pursued …

An accomplished violinist offered to play for church. The pastor of her large congregation (not a fan of the violin) felt that pipe organ was the most effective instrument for corporate worship, and declined her offer.
At a tiny church, two members had some skill for keyboard playing—one quite more skilled than the other. The less accomplished pianist was asked to discontinue playing for services, because the other volunteer was a stronger musician.

Now a couple instances of positive “player development” …

A small church didn’t have enough voices for a full choir, nor anyone with the qualifications to serve as choir director. Undaunted, a small group of singers got together and practiced anthems they could sing in unison (sometimes accompanied by a member who played bluegrass guitar). They also rehearsed new hymns so they could lead the congregation in learning them.
Before a church school’s Christmas services, students in the school’s band take turns playing solo, duet or quartet pieces as pre-service music while worshipers gather.

These few examples focus on involvement in church music—which is only one aspect of the church’s life. Innumerable ways exist for involving God’s people in godly service, if we are willing to work with each person’s God-given gifts and acquired capacities. For example, a college student didn’t think she could do evangelism, but her pastor asked her to come along. Her bilingual fluency enabled her to serve as his translator when visiting nearby Hispanic neighborhoods. (In the process, she became quite capable as an evangelist too.) In the church that asked one of its two musicians to step down because her talents for playing and time for practicing were limited, could not a plan have been created to keep her involved—perhaps once a month, with simpler song selections and liturgy assigned for her days to play?

If our efforts to involve members consist of bulletin announcements saying, “Volunteers needed for this or that,” likely we’ll find the same group of “starters” stepping up to play all those roles. If our concepts of Christian service tend to remain fixed, in the form of standing committees or particular duties that habitually have been in place, quite possibly we are overlooking unique aptitudes and varied talents that some of our members on the sidelines possess.

Just as every player on a sports team desires—and needs—to take part in each game the team plays, each member of “God’s team” needs nurturing and encouraging to use skills that God has given him, to employ abilities God has bestowed on her, to get into in the “game” which is far more vital than all mere earthly pursuits—the mission of Christ’s people to sing his praises and to “declare his marvelous deeds among all peoples” (Psalm 96:3).

Rafe Esquith, an award-winning teacher in a central Los Angeles elementary school, laments how many kids’ sports programs just “keep feeding the ball to their best players.” (The chapter, “Put Me In, Coach,” in his book, Teach Like YourHair’s On Fire, would make profitable reading for every physical education teacher and youth sports coach. The whole book is worth reading by anybody involved in teaching, at any age level.) Esquith consistently labors in his PE classes to teach all the kids an understanding of the games they play and patiently instructs them in the fundamentals of each sport. Every child is seen as a player in progress, as someone with potential to be shaped and developed.

A similar attitude will be beneficial in our spiritual pursuits as “teams,” that is, congregations. The tasks and undertakings of different individuals will be different, but all can become part of the teamwork of church work. God calls on every Christian to pursue life as a “living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. … In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully” (Romans 12:1,5-8).

If we consider the measure of faith and personal giftedness that God has granted to each individual in his church, how many other areas of service might we identify?

If a man has athleticism and the gift to teach patiently, let him coach at the church’s combination sports camp / vacation Bible school.
If a woman’s gift is a capacity for careful listening and godly advising, let her serve as a mentor for young mothers in the church.
If an older child’s gift is brotherliness—a kindness and gentleness in dealing with younger children—let him be a helper in the Sunday School preschoolers’ class.
If a teenager is gifted with artistic flair and a knack for expressing the gospel’s beauty in visual forms, let her create artwork for banners or for backgrounds on the church’s projection screen.

What opportunities for “player development” can you discover for the talented people God has put together as your “team”?

Dec

2019

Thoughts on the day of Pentecost

First publication on The Electric Gospel – June 8, 2014.

Pentecost was an Old Testament festival — a time at which worshipers would gather in Jerusalem. The Lord used that occasion (fifty days after Passover and the death and resurrection of Jesus) to give birth to his New Testament church. Miracles attested to the significance of the message the apostles were given to speak on that day … but the message of Jesus was (and always is) the central thing. Calling attention to Jesus is what the Spirit of God does.

In the church today, people sometimes get confused about the role played by the Holy Spirit. The following message ponders the Spirit’s work.

A Message, Not a Mumble[1]

by David Sellnow

[Jesus said to his disciples]: “Now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

John 16:5-15

**************

When I was pastoring a congregation in West Texas, one day a young woman called our church. She was confused and searching in her religion; someone had told her Lutherans were reliable in that regard. She was 20 years old, and grew up experiencing so-called “Spirit-filled” worship. As she became an adult, she became skeptical and uneasy about much of what went on in her congregation.

She said, “When the old men in the church get the spirit and start running around all wild, it scares me.” She was scared, too, by the preaching, which was mostly about judgment day, the rapture, and how you’d better be ready. But she wasn’t sure if she was ready or even how to be ready. It was supposedly a Spirit-filled church, but her spirit was spooked.

In our congregation, we had not experienced any of our old men–or young men or mothers or daughters, for that matter — hooting and hopping and running around the chapel all filled with a spirit. In many years of worship services, I don’t know of one where anyone stood up and spoke in tongues. So, did that mean we didn’t have the Spirit — if we didn’t babble in tongues or fall down slain or quake uncontrollably or burst into spontaneous laughter? Did the Spirit bypass us? Are those outward signs the best expression of what the Spirit does? Is there always such external evidence of the Holy Spirit’s presence?

Certainly, the Spirit has given supernatural gifts on certain specific occasions for certain special reasons. At the birth of the church in the New Testament, on the day of Pentecost, he gave his apostles the power to communicate in other languages so they could better spread Christ’s message (Acts 2:1-12). On occasion he used the gift of tongues as a way to verify that Gentiles were to be as much a part of his kingdom as were Jews (Acts 10:44-46, 11:15-18). But God never decreed as a general rule that tongue-speaking would be the mark of his church in every place or forever. In fact, the apostle Paul went on record saying, “Where there are tongues, they will be stilled” (1 Corinthians 13:8). In that section of his letter to the Corinthians, Paul described tongue-speaking as an aspect of the childhood stage of the church (cf. 1 Corinthians 13:11). It was no longer useful or necessary after the apostles’ time when the full Word of God was completed.

So now, let’s ask again: What is the real work of the Holy Spirit? What does the Holy Ghost do? Who has the gift of the Spirit?

Jesus answered those questions when he promised that the Spirit would come. He said that when the Holy Spirit comes, he comes to convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment (John 16:8). He proves the world to be wrong in its views about sin, the way the world endorses sin and excuses sin and encourages sin. He convicts individuals’ hearts with the message of God’s law. He brings us to our knees in repentance. And the Spirit also convicts or convinces the world in regard to righteousness and judgment. He shows that all righteousness is in Jesus Christ, who is the ONLY way to the Father, who goes to the Father himself and is the one way and truth and life for us to come to God. And the Spirit convinces the world that there is a day of judgment coming. For, as the apostle Paul said when preaching to a pagan audience in the city of Athens, God “has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed (Jesus). He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31).

So that’s what the Holy Spirit is all about—showing us the truth, convincing us we are sinners, revealing the only real way of righteousness, and announcing inescapable judgment on all who would believe otherwise.Jesus answered those questions when he promised that the Spirit would come. He said that when the Holy Spirit comes, he comes to convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment (John 16:8). He proves the world to be wrong in its views about sin, the way the world endorses sin and excuses sin and encourages sin. He convicts individuals’ hearts with the message of God’s law. He brings us to our knees in repentance. And the Spirit also convicts or convinces the world in regard to righteousness and judgment. He shows that all righteousness is in Jesus Christ, who is the ONLY way to the Father, who goes to the Father himself and is the one way and truth and life for us to come to God. And the Spirit convinces the world that there is a day of judgment coming. For, as the apostle Paul said when preaching to a pagan audience in the city of Athens, God “has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed (Jesus). He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31).

Repenting of sin and believing in Jesus are not things we have the capacity to do for ourselves. The Spirit of God is the one who brings individuals to faith as the chief work that he does. He causes you to repent of sin and creates within you a trusting attitude, a reliance on Jesus and his love.

Everything the Spirit says and does is to direct attention to Jesus. According to Jesus, the Spirit “will not speak on his own… He will bring glory to me by taking from me what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine” (John 16:13-15).

The Spirit isn’t into self-promotion. The Spirit doesn’t pump his own image or push his own agenda. The Spirit is one with the Father and the Son, and the message of the Father and the Son is the message that he shares. A so-called “Spirit-filled” church that isn’t pointing you strongly to Jesus isn’t really all that Spirit-filled. That young woman in West Texas needed the Spirit’s comfort in Jesus most of all – and that’s what the Spirit really is all about. The Spirit “brings glory to me,” Jesus said. He takes the message of Jesus and makes it known to you. He takes the Word of the Father and reveals it to you. The Spirit isn’t campaigning for his own election as the most important member of the Trinity. He quietly takes the role of servant and preacher to bring glory to the Father and the Son. The true voice of the Spirit is a message, not a mumble. It is the message of Jesus Christ as the bringer of righteousness, the Savior from sin, our advocate in the judgment. Just because something is full of excitement and enthusiasm and ecstatic hallelujahs (or less intelligible words) doesn’t mean the Spirit of God is in it. Where the Spirit of God is, there the message of Jesus is proclaimed.

The young lady who was fearful about so-called “spirit-filled” religion decided she would leave her parents’ home and church and move to Memphis. I hope she found spiritual peace. The time we spent on the phone we talked about sin and grace, about righteousness and judgment. We talked about Jesus’ true message, about Jesus’ true comfort. Her heart was happy to hear such good news — the real good news of the gospel — not just spiritual-sounding noise.

Praise God that you heard the true voice of his Spirit, revealed to you in his Word, believed by you in your heart. If it happened quietly, in no spectacular fashion, that’s fine. You probably don’t even remember the first day you believed. But you do believe. In your heart you trust Jesus as Lord. That’s only possible when the Spirit of God is living in you.

So thank God for sending you his Spirit, and offer yourself–your lips, your words, your testimony–as an instrument for the Spirit to use in bringing faith to others. You don’t have to speak in tongues. Simply communicate the love and truth of Jesus.

PRAYER:

Jesus, thank you for delivering on your promise to send your Spirit to us. We don’t look for your Spirit to come to us in flashy or spectacular ways. What we need most is the conviction and comfort of the Spirit deep in our hearts. Continue to bless us with your Spirit as he communicates with our hearts and minds in your holy Word, dear Jesus. Amen.

[1] Adapted from article originally published in Lightsource magazine (2000) and message aired on the Lutheran Chapel Service radio program (2014).

Each soul speaks in their own way

Acknowledging our ability to be of service to others

Thinking of others, not just of ourselves

For the sake of our service in Christ

Player Development on God’s Team

A Message, Not a Mumble[1]

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