Beyond the call, there’s some talent …

Leadership of any type is a big job and usually demands unique talent and skills, including leadership roles within the church.

My last blog post was a simple defense of those who consider themselves to be ordinary, and enjoy being so. We often hear church leaders say God does extraordinary things through ordinary people, and that’s very true. However, what we rarely acknowledge is that God also uses some highly talented and skilled people for some of His most demanding work.

Before anyone jumps to a wrong conclusion, let me first state that any effective work in any type of ministry first, and foremost, relies on the call of God on that person’s life, and His enabling and empowering through the Holy Spirit to be capable of being used to accomplish anything in a ministry capacity.

With that said, I think we often overlook that some of the greatest characters in scripture weren’t just “ordinary folk” but very gifted, skilled, and educated persons.

For example, the greatest character we see in the Old Testament is Moses, who was chosen by God to lead His people out of slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land. While Moses had a rough start, he grew up in Pharaoh’s household where he would have had the finest education and training available to anyone. Moses basically grew up as a Prince of one of the greatest nation’s on earth at the time … good experience to have if you would later be responsible for leading a few million grumbling people through the wilderness for forty years! While Moses relied foremost on God’s guidance and enabling to succeed in such a demanding leadership position, the talent and skills he developed as a leader in Egypt were also a real benefit to him.

In the New Testament, the most dynamic person we see after Jesus Christ is the Apostle Paul. More than any other apostle, Paul greatly impacted the world in spreading the Gospel. Yet Paul, like Moses, was not just an ordinary guy. As a scholarly and disciplined Pharisee, Paul would have been the equivalent of a seminary-trained religious leader. While the Holy Spirit gave Paul the words to write in his letters that comprise a large part of the New Testament, you can also see the sharp intellect of an intelligent and capable leader.

Throughout scripture, we see God prepare many for service by first putting them through experiences that would educate them, hone their talents and provide them with needed skills. For example, Daniel would be schooled in King Nebuchadnezzar’s household before rising to promise as a leader. Joseph would endure hardship before rising to second in power over Egypt. And other characters in both the Old and New Testaments faced a time of being equipped before being used in a great way by God (there are many exceptions … David became famous as a teenager by defeating Goliath, but before he would become king he had the opportunity to learn by serving King Saul).

These examples should be both an encouragement and a challenge to today’s leaders to learn from. What it shows us is that beyond the call to ministry, there is often talent, education, and skills needed to grow into the leaders God wants us to be. God often starts with the ordinary, but then fashions those He calls into the leaders He wants them to be. That often means study, honing talent, and building skills.

God has called YOU to do something in service to Him. How are you being equipped to be as effective as possible for the ministry you serve in?

Scotty