Stewardship and Spiritual Gifts

One of the cool--and challenging--things about moving regularly is that you don't have time to get complacent spiritually.  At least, not in regard to attending church and listening to preaching and teaching and such.  When you have to find a new church home every couple of months or years, you get used to evaluating carefully what's being said, testing it against the Bible, looking at groups of people you've recently met and asking yourself, "How is this community living out the Biblical ideals of the body of Christ?" and "Is this the community God wants me to join to fellowship with, learn from, and grow with?"  It often makes me think more seriously and extensively about what's said in any given sermon or Sunday school lesson, mulling it over and trying to decide whether what was said was sound doctrinal truth and, if so, how I should apply it to my life.

This morning, I attended Sunday school for the first time at what I believe will be our new church home here in Lawton, OK.  The topic was stewardship.  I've thought about that a lot over the years, but the Sunday school leader presented a few aspects I hadn't considered much before: that stewardship applies not only to the obvious things, like our time, money, general abilities, and our bodies (the temple of the Holy Spirit), but also to things like our testimony and our Talent(s).  

Testimony in this context meant that each of us has a unique testimony of which we are the steward: we are meant to understand our testimony and share it with others for the edification of the body of Christ and to help bring people to relationship with the Lord.  If we neglect to use our testimony for the Kingdom, instead hiding it away, we are being poor stewards of something that is unique that God has given us for the advancement of the Kingdom.  I had not thought of it that way before, I guess.  But after some consideration, it seems to me to be a valid and Biblically sound idea, that each person's testimony is valid, beautiful, and meant to be shared for the advancement of the Kingdom, and to refrain from sharing it at the appropriate times is to miss out on a chance to advance the Kingdom and give glory to God.  

I also thought a lot about what they meant by being a steward of one's Talent(s).  When I hear 'talents,' I assume someone's talking about how well he draws or she writes or he plays baseball, but this morning Talent with a capital T meant your spiritual gift(s), which God has entrusted to you and wants you to invest for the growth of the Kingdom.  The premise, which may or may not be widely known in all evangelical circles, I'm not sure, is that--in addition to the fruits of the Spirit and general enabling through the Spirit to live in a way that honors God--each believer is given one or more special spiritual gifts.  These are particular areas where he or she particularly--supernaturally--excels at an aspect of the Christian life or a charismatic demonstration of his or her faith.  Not all spiritual gifts are the charismatic kind, though.  One online resource for helping Christians identify what might be their unique set of spiritual gifts lists as many as twenty-eight kinds of spiritual gifts.  These range from the more obvious kinds, like speaking in and interpreting tongues, to the less obvious kinds like teaching, hospitality, or administration.  This doesn't mean that only some Christians are expected to be organized or hospitable, but rather that God gives to some a remarkable, supernatural ability or inclination in these areas (for example, I know a young woman who almost certainly has a spiritual gift for administration.  She ENJOYS organizing things.  Like A LOT.  And she has continually, selflessly, and joyfully used this gift to benefit the ministries she has been involved in so that they are better able to advance the Kingdom.  This seems by all appearances to be more than a case of an ordinary orderly individual.  At the other end of the spectrum, I also have met a young man who seems to have a spiritual gift for healing.  He sees it happen supernaturally and somewhat regularly.  I've heard some of his stories first-hand--it's CRAZY what God chooses to do sometimes.).  There is something deep-seated in their souls that compels and enables them to do these particular things to the extent that they (or those around them) can identify these abilities as coming from the Lord.

Considering this, I went looking for something like the link I included above, similar to a different assessment that a young woman who discipled me in college had once had me take.  Though some of the results were different (which may have something to do with a different, more specific test format or that some of the areas of emphasis in my walk with the Lord have varied over time and were unduly reflected in the last set of results?), some of the results stayed pretty consistent.  And this set of specific results really resonated with me.  I've been thinking about callings and careers and purposes a lot lately, and I'm beginning to think a way to go for the time-being might be to pursue avenues surrounding what seem to be the spiritual Talent(s) God has given me.  If some or all of these things (in particular, hospitality, music, missions, exhortation/encouragement) are in fact Talents from God, then I can have confidence in pursuing these avenues as I seek to be a responsible steward of these things for the advancement of His Kingdom and His glory.  I was once told by someone that I had the "spiritual gift of 'hello,'" meaning, I think, that I'm burdened and enabled by the Lord to care tremendously about making people feel welcome and included in the Body and at getting to know people and helping them to connect and build meaningful relationships that last even after I get out of the picture.  This happened multiple times in Cru in college, and it happened in London pretty intensely, too.  I feel absolutely compelled to not leave that new person standing in the corner--I want them to experience fellowship.  I love opening my dorm/flat/apartment to people so that they might be able to experience a deeper community within the Body or even come to know the Lord for the first time by being welcomed into a community that will bring them face to face with Jesus.  I also feel called to music, in a variety of ways--I'm not entirely sure which direction I'm called from this point, but I do believe that God wants me to keep using that Talent to encourage the Body and to bring Him glory.  I also know that I find immense joy in experiencing new cultures and that the prospect of maybe moving to Korea later this year (and the opportunities culturally and spiritually that would include) is less scary to me than moving to Lawton, OK, has been.

I suppose now I've gotten to the rambling stage of this post, so it's time to wrap it up and get out of here.  I guess what I'm trying to say is that I am really mulling over the idea of being a steward of Talents, what role that can and should play in my life in general, and what role that should play in my life at the present and I'm spending these next few transitional months in Lawton figuring out more about who I am, who God wants me to be, and what His calling(s) is/are for my life now and in the future.  I'd love your prayers and your feedback as I ponder these things and seek God's guidance about how to put His good gifts to work.  I have more thoughts and anecdotes about the topic of spiritual Talents, but I think that'll have to wait until a later post.  For the moment, I have dishes then sleep calling my name.  Thanks for reading and wandering with me!

Cheers,

Emily

Here we go again!

After a several-month-hiatus, it's time for this blog to come back into active use! For anyone who hasn't heard yet, I'm spending 7 weeks abroad this summer. I fly to London on Thursday, May 13th, to visit friends. On June 1st, I fly to Pisa, Italy, then take a train to Florence (Firenze), where I will be studying opera for the month of June. On June 30th, I fly back to London, where I will stay with friends until I fly home to the US on July 2nd.

I am extremely excited and also nervous about this trip. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study opera in Italy, surrounded by the history and the language (more on those in a future post).

It's also wonderful to have a chance to catch up with the dear friends I made last semester. It's been just under 5 months since I saw them, and I've definitely missed them. I'm excited to see what God's been doing in London since I left, excited to go back to HTB for a few weeks, and excited to have a chance to do a bit of sightseeing that I ran out of time to do when I was there last fall. I'm also planning to visit a couple of grad schools while I'm there (more on that later, too).

At the same time, as departure draws closer and closer, I find myself getting nervous. I'm not at all nervous about London, but I am nervous about Firenze. I'm nervous I'll have trouble picking up the language, getting around, and making friends. I'm especially nervous about finding an English-speaking community of believers to worship and fellowship with for the month. God's been gracious already to me in this regard, though, because at least one other student going on this study program loves Jesus, too. Finding that out was really an answer to prayer. But I must admit I still have to remind myself of God's past faithfulness to me to calm my fears as Thursday gets closer.

I intend to keep this blog much more up-to-date than I did last time I was 'cross the pond. The posts may be less thought out or less carefully crafted, but hopefully they'll be a genuine representation and record of what I'm doing, what I'm learning, and God's constant faithfulness to me.

To-Do list before I leave:
-finish unpacking from the semester
-laundry
-repack for seven weeks
-buy an English-to-Italian phrase book
-get a haircut
-finish making my best friend's birthday/graduation gift
-have lunch with my best friend and give her the gift

Thanks again for reading!
Cheers!
-Emily

Joshua 1:9 (NIV) "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

God Sets the Lonely in Families

Ok, now it's time to commence the back-tracking to cover important events that happened several weeks ago but which I never managed to write about here. This first one is possibly the most significant and consequently colors all the rest of my experiences this semester.

Pretty much anyone who knows me knows that I adore hugs. I think they make the world a better place. So the fact that I went a full week without being hugged by anyone when I first got to London was remarkably difficult for me. So many of you back home did an incredible job of being there for me through emails and instant messaging and such as I settled in to my new surroundings and began to adjust to the culture, but I still knew that I needed to have a physically present community of believers with whom I could fellowship if this semester was going to be even half of what I hoped it could be. Therefore I knew even before I left the USA that finding a church was going to be one of the most important tasks in my first days in London.

Last spring, a friend of a friend who'd previously studied in London had recommended that I check out a church called Holy Trinity Brompton. I looked it up, realized that it was within easy walking distance (maybe a 20 min walk) from my flat, and decided that since it was one of the closest churches to where I was living, it seemed like a good place to at least start my search for where God wanted me to be in community for the semester. I got up early and went to the first morning service on the first Sunday I was in town (Sept. 6th). It turned out that this was the service aimed at families with younger children, so although the people sitting around me were quite welcoming, I left without any significant contacts or acquaintances and unwillingly resigned myself to the prospect of another week devoid of physical fellowship with the Body of Christ.

The most encouraging aspects--the reasons that kept me looking forward to the following Sunday and made me want to give Holy Trinity Brompton (aka "HTB") another chance--were that the people who had sat near me and welcomed me had encouraged me to come back and attend the 5pm service, since that was the service that most of the students and young adults attended, and that a lady from the church had taken the time to pray for and with me before I left. She told me after she'd finished praying for me that God had given her a 'picture' of someone stepping out almost in a leap of faith only to find solid ground beneath their feet. She said that it meant that God was telling me that He had prepared a solid foundation for my time here in London and that I needn't be afraid to trust Him and step forward into everything He had in store for me this term (British lingo for "semester"). Although I was naturally wary of anyone saying that God was giving them pictures or visions, this seemed to actually apply to me (it was certainly encouraging, though a bit bewildering) and wasn't unbiblical, so I felt like I needed to trust God and come back once more to give the 5pm service a chance.

I spent that week in increasing spiritual distress as Sunday drew nearer. I was loving every minute of exploring London and taking classes, but inside I ached for a fellow believer's presence. I prayed intensely for God to send me some sort of community that Sunday--even just one or two people.

That Saturday and Sunday, I attended a festival down on the banks of the Thames (I enthusiastically participated in the swing dancing opportunities it afforded), then headed straight to HTB on Sunday in time for the 5pm service. After a week of spiritual loneliness, communal musical worship and prayer were so, so good. Once again I was pleased to find that the young lady sitting in front of me welcomed me and made a point of introducing me to the minister in charge of students (Jamie Haith) after the service was over.

During the service, I'd started praying that God would allow me to make good enough acquaintances that there would be one or two people I could invite over for dinner after the service since I hadn't eaten yet and I really wanted to share a meal in fellowship with other believers. I was feeling very discouraged that, by the time it was time to leave after the 5pm service, I hadn't gotten to know anyone well enough to actually invite them over. I nearly stayed for the 7pm service, too, in hopes of maybe making connections at that service, but I finally admitted to myself that if I hadn't made connections at the 5pm, then my chances were even lower for the 7pm. Plus, if I'd stayed for the 7pm service, it would have been 9pm or later when I would have gotten home and I would still not have had dinner. So, with downcast heart, I made my way out of the church building, not wanting to go home. As I walked out the doors, I noticed the table set up with the "Students" poster and Dan Millest, one of the Students ministry staffmembers, standing there chatting with a couple of guys. I'd met him last week when I'd visited the Students table at the morning service, and eager to delay what seemed like the inevitable a little longer, I went over to say hello before heading home. He remembered me from the week before, and within moments I found myself spilling how hard that week had been without Christian community in London. He turned to the two guys he was talking to (James and David) and said, "Well, some of the students go to a pub after the Five on Sundays. These guys are heading over--want to go with them?" And of course I jumped at the opportunity to meet more students! Thanks, God!, I thought. Dan commissioned James, "Make sure she gets connected, oh, and make sure someone prays for her." Wow, I thought, This is even better than what I was hoping for! So off I went with two complete strangers to a pub that I'd never heard of to hang out with people I hadn't met yet. And I was so happy, I could barely stand it!

On the walk to the pub (called the Zetland Arms for anyone who cares to know), we passed a cookie shop ("Ben's Cookies"--it's supposed to be great but I haven't had an opportunity to try it yet) and a discussion ensued about the difference between a 'biscuit' and a 'cookie.' *cue drumroll* British Cultural Lesson! As near as I can tell, the relationship between biscuits and cookies is a bit like rectangles and squares. All squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares. Likewise, all cookies are biscuits, but not all biscuits are cookies. 'Cookies' to the Brits are what we consider cookies in the US--often soft and chewy with things like chocolate chips in them. However, 'biscuit' is a broader term that also includes things like shortbread cookies and similar things that here are called "digestives."
Anyway, back to HTB!

When we reached the pub, David bought me a pint, I ordered dinner, and people began to come over voluntarily to say hello. God seemed to be having fun exceeding all my expectations for the evening. Not only did He send me the one or two people I'd prayed for to share dinner with, he sent me over a dozen to hang out with for the next four hours! Despite the stereotype that Brits are reserved when they first meet you, these students enthusiastically initiated introductions with me. One girl (Jess) just walked up, said hello, and hugged me immediately. No handshake necessary, apparently! Several other similar instances occurred over the course of the evening. I just kept thanking God over and over; He'd sent me to a group of people who like hugs just as much as I do and genuinely care about one another. The love of Christ is evident in these people, and I was so grateful to be there. Ok, God, I thought, I get it. This is where you want me to be. You couldn't have made it any clearer! Since it was the weekend of the Thames Festival, there was a fireworks display down by the river that night. A number of the students were going and invited me to join them. Once again, God surprised me! Standing on a bridge watching the fireworks, James remembered that no one had prayed for me yet, so he introduced me to Maz, who proceeded to pray for me right there on the bridge. As she prayed, she quoted Psalm 68:6a which says, "God sets the lonely in families" and I thought, Amen! That is exactly what He has done for me tonight!

And that, dear family and friends, is story of how God proved His faithfulness and sovereignty in placing me at HTB for this term in London. As this post has turned out quite long, I'll save more stories about HTB and the Students group for another post. Cheers!