Giftedness and The Five Fold Ministry

There is a lot of talk about giftedness these days. Certainly parents are interested in what gifts, abilities and talents their children have and how they can help them develop. There are many types of gifts and talents. In the church we have natural talents and gifts and spiritual gifts as well. Each one of these abilities has been given by God at no cost to the recipient. Hence the term gifts. When we look at what a gift is, we like to define it as an ability which exceeds average performance, with average effort. In other words there is a "grace" to do something well with relatively nominal effort. If gifts are the grace of God flowing through a person, we aught to have respect for every person's gift because it is God who is behind its use. If a church or person feels they are lacking in power, then to begin to use the group's gifts more effectively will bring about the power (grace) of God in their midst. Each person's giftings are for this reason very important for the church. However, we have only given lip service to the development and nurturing of the five fold ministry, and giftedness within the Body of Christ. Our Churches are not structured to provide adequate mentoring or development of the grace of God within each Body. If we really understand giftedness and the interdependent nature of the five fold ministry and the value that has for the work of the church, we would quickly make changes. We would invest everything in the "mining" of those talents and abilities which will by grace bear eternal fruit for the Kingdom of God. The grace of God is the way we were saved and the grace of God flowing through the Body of Christ is the way the lost will be saved.

Read: A Journey In The Wilderness -
Becoming Fruitful In The Kingdom