Note: This post refers to a specific Christian belief and practice as a metaphor for how we are to view our talents and gifts, and what we need to do with them whenever we gather as a community, including this community we call Open Salon.
When I was a pastor and spoke to people about becoming members of the congregation it was not very different than it is here. Some of them always said that they are concerned about their ability to be of any actual service to the church. “Just how, they wondered, can I be of any help? Do I actually have any gifts or talents to give?”
Those were valid questions in that setting and, from what I have seen, also valid in this one. Most of us have them from time to time, yours truly included. I have feelings of inadequacy when I feel that I am not doing well at something, like, for instance, not being able to convince more of us to be more careful and caring about what we say to others, both in our posts and comments.
I also feel it here when I see posts dedicated to taking another member to task in public, or, under the mask of "being honest" criticizing a member about his/her writing skills or ability to communicate. I feel it keenly when someone attacks a person rather than the person's argument, especially if that individual is not on the same political or ideological wavelength of the critic. The argument far too quickly moves from discussion of the subject matter to one of attacking the integrity of the other writer.
But, let me assure you, such problems are not new. And I would like, once again, to turn to something I know well to use it as both an analogy and as an example of a similar problem that happened 2000 years ago. Some things, particularly those involving the human ego and human relationships, just don't change all that much.
St. Paul dealt masterfully with the question of gifts or talents, what to do with them, and how to acknowledge them, in the twelfth chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians. Paul's letter was written to a bickering church much in disarray, a church confused about its own gifts, both as a congregation and as individuals, and confused, as we often are about the source of those gifts.
All gifts, all talents, that we have, according to Paul, are gifts of the Spirit; which is, I think, nice to know, because it means that we don’t have to try to create our own gifts. They are already there, gifts from God, to us. Our job is to discover what they are, and have the courage to put them into use.
Some of you may enjoy, as I do, Garrison Keillor’s wonderful stories about his mythical home town, Lake Wobegon. He always ends his radio episodes about life in Lake Wobegon saying, “And that’s the news from Lake Wobegon, where the women are strong, the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.” While I chuckle at that every time I hear it, I also know that, deep down inside, all of us would like to live in a place where everyone is “above average.”
In this time of super stars and mega celebrities, this time when hyperbole is king, you get the feeling that you have to be at least “above average” just to be credited with having any value at all. In the inflated language of everyday life, “average” sounds like a dirty word.
Yet, by society’s standards, most people are not extraordinary at all, and so a look in the mirror leads to a lot of disappointment. We think, “I’m average at best.” And the unstated premise behind that lament is, “And, therefore, I’m of no value.”
But that’s not what God thinks. In fact, that is the furthest thing from God's mind. No, the vision of the Kingdom of God is one in which all of God’s children are not only above average, but are absolutely gifted! According to St. Paul, the Holy Spirit is at work right now bestowing a broad diversity of gifts upon each individual.
And the Spirit goes right on bestowing gifts, talents, abilities all of our lives. You have gifts. You have talents. You have abilities. You have value – infinite value. And it matters not one whit whether or not you think you do. Your gifts come from God, and God alone has already decided that you have them, regardless of what you, or anybody else, thinks.
But the members of the church in Corinth didn’t believe it. So Paul called them spiritually immature, because they had no faith in their talents, and what talents they had were being abused. Their talents were actually hurting themselves and the church.
There were instances of blatant immorality in the church, and a constant propensity toward conflict. The wealthier believers openly discriminated against the poorer members. Believers who had a dramatic and emotional conversion experience took a superior attitude towards those who did not.
In short, their community was being divided between those who thought they qualified to be part of the “gifted children’s program" and those who did not. They totally misunderstood the ways and the work of the Spirit in their lives. Too often, so do we.
One of the most important highlights in this chapter is that Paul is absolutely unequivocal in saying that the gifts of the Spirit are not uniformly distributed. If we are convinced that God really prefers the particular gifts we have, forget it. It may well be that what God wants for me says absolutely nothing about what is best for you. The gifts of the Spirit are as diverse as there are individuals.
Paul specifically names nine different gifts that he believes God bestowed on the members of the church in Corinth, and he in not saying that these are the only gifts, they are just a representative sample! The first two gifts he names are wisdom and knowledge. The third gift mentioned is faith (meaning trust in God), followed by healing, miracles, prophecy (meaning the ability to proclaim the purposes of God, not to read the future), discernment, and finally, tongues, and the ability to interpret tongues. Sadly, the last two gifts have captured the common perception about what "gifts" are. But Paul discounts the value of those gifts.
The important thing that I want you to notice is not the particular gifts, per se, but their diversity. Paul pounds the point home, time and again, that all of these diverse gifts are given by the same Spirit. All of them.
The test of a gift of the Spirit is not what it is, but that it comes from God. If your gift is reading and commenting occasionally, then that gift is just as precious as an EP on a post, or the ability to post every day, or make the Cover every post, or have every post read by 10,000 readers. Paul's point is that all gifts are from God. And all gifts are equally valued in God’s eyes.
Paul also makes it abundantly clear that the purpose of all gifts, no matter how esoteric or ordinary, is for the “common good” of the community. Starting with verse 12, through the rest of the chapter, Paul completes his argument using the magnificent metaphor that many of us know: that of the body of Christ.
Here is the majestic and daunting proclamation that the Church is the Body of Christ, and that each member is useful to, and needful of, all the rest of the members of the Body. The body, and its many and diverse members, show how the gifts of the Spirit contribute, each in its own way, to the unity and health of the Church. And I believe that metaphor is helpful when viewing other communities such as OS.
Paul says that no Christian is complete, whole, when alone; just as no bodily part is complete, whole, vital, and functional, without the others. No part of the body is independent of the rest. All of God’s children are necessary if the fullness of the Kingdom of God is to be expressed.
And the “higher” gifts are not what you might think. The “higher” gifts have nothing necessarily to do with what society values as “talent” or “gifts.” The higher gifts of the Spirit are any that are beneficial to others, and to the community as a whole. On OS reading is a high calling. So is commenting, or taking the time to send a PM to a member who is hurting, or leaving a kind comment when someone is struggling with a problem and needs to know that others care..
Ultimately, of course, all of the gifts get rolled into one in Chapter 13, the chapter on love that we discussed in my last post. Paul argues that all of the gifts of the Spirit are ultimately expressed in one word: love. Not only is love the Spirit’s greatest gift, but it is the standard by which all other gifts are measured and tested.
All gifts are to be measured as to whether they come from and result in love. If they come from love, they are rightly viewed as gifts of the Spirit. If they result in love, then one can know that his or her gift is a product of the Spirit moving in one’s life.
This has far reaching implications for us. In the first place, you are one of God’s own gifted children. Whether a new member or an old one, whether you write well or not, whether young or old, whatever your politics, or whatever your social standing, your sexual orientation, or any other diversity, you are a valuable, gifted child of God.
Despite all of our negative self-images, despite all the feelings of inferiority, despite all outward appearances from the world’s perspective, despite any estimates of your worth by either friends or enemies, each one of us is a uniquely gifted child of God. And whatever gifts you possess are to be used to lift up one another, to reach out with your own gifts in love. This is both a blessing and an obligation. And it applies here on OS or to any other aspect of our life where we interact with others.
The praise that we receive from others, and the wrongful pride that praise often induces in us, will falter and fade; and the normal human question will always be, “But what have you done for me lately?” But the love of God for those who use their gifts in the love of others will be boundless and eternal. All who use those gifts with care and concern for others are, indeed, “above average!” And we don't even have to live in Lake Wobegon.
Monte
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Amen, Monte.
Rated.
Rated.
You're the only pastor I know who can tell me something without "preaching". And I say that as a compliment. We don't have to be believers to know that "Do Unto Others" is a pretty good tenet to live by.
You're a king among men my dear Monte.
I receive many gifts from reading articles on OS. I rate most everything I read because I view it as a gift from the writer, even if I don't agree or it makes me feel uncomfortable.
Why would they aspire to excel if they are busy working on being a conformist? Many are too busy being just equally average. This is a full time job! And one of my favorite short stories shows the consequences of such a society. It is called, "Harrison Bergeron," by Kurt Vonnegut.
Thank you for this opportunity for reflection.
Thanks for your post!
Thank you for a fantastic post. I really needed it today on a number of different levels. You make me really miss being part of a U.C.C. community (I even chaired a Diaconate and pulpit search at the age of 32).
It's discouraging after having been unemployed for 5 months and at my age (57) I begin to wonder if my gifts have eroded, are no longer relevant or whether I need to reassess my gifts and talents and abilities.
Your post is a wonderful reminder to keep things in their proper perspective.
Thank you again.
Beautiful post Monte. Thank you.
Thanks for coming back to OS.
Leeandra
Sooo...this is a valuable & meaningful & rich-in-wisdom post. We should all put the word LOVE in big letters on a post-it note on the computer screen & it will subliminally imprint on our collective brains.
God bless you all.
Monte
This was a lovely read. Thank you.
So much for "speechless." You are big, big love.
Forgot to mention that in my last comment/s. Sorry for the double click!
Once again you have completely misunderstood----or worse, twisted----the meaning of our holy scriptures. The Corinthians were only following the words of the Lord Himself, Jesus Christ Almighty, when he said there were a heck of alot of goats, and that they should be separated cleanly fromthe community of good hardworking, family-values oriented sheep. Send em to the goat factory...
It's the goats that make it tough for us sheep. We are are a good lot of breeding little buggers. We NEED to have the way cleared for our kind to prosper. That sometimes means constructive and helpful criticism of all this goaty stuff, especially on so-called "literary/intellectual" venues like Open Salon. Did you see all these goddamn female rabble rousers lately? They are writing about sexual matters in the most obscene and enflaming manner. I for one, and, sir, I am not in the minority--- do not appreciate my children being exposed to this kind of trash. Also the criticism of our government, which
so called "men of the cloth" like you are encouraging. Let Mr. Obama do his job. I don't trust the shifty bugger, but I respect the wishes of the (goaty) American public to choose him to lead. I hope he realizes that me & the rest of the sheepish ones are watching him closely, though.
Now, as for this theology of yours: love, love,love. You sound more & more like some hippy - dippy, not a real minister. Love is EARNED, where I come from. Not just given out freely, willy-nilly. Why can't you radical love-mongers ever learn that shit, dammit?
Ach, have you seen my shepherd lately? We sheep are getting kind of nervous, all out in the pasture alone here, lost, with some big damn storm brewing on the horizon....
JME.ha
Thanks for this perspective.
Rated.
What a gREAT post and just the message from God that I needed today. I told my partner this morning that it feels like God wants me to learn the lesson that I have "value" even when I don't have a job. It's a hard lesson...and one I'm not enjoying at all. Then I read this post and I hear God speaking to me through you. Peace my dear friend! Robin
: )
Sage and others that think Jim is serious: he is not. That is sarcastic irony. He is kidding. (No pun intended)
God bless you all.
Monte
"You have gifts. You have talents. You have abilities. You have value." As Mr. Rogers said, to each and every kid, and parent, who watched, "You are special." Amen.
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Thanks, Greg, for you comments. I am glad that you continue to comment.
Hey, Miko, thanks much.
Chuck, many thanks. I appreciate that you are both a good friend and a regular reader of my posts.
Welcome to OS, Sarah! Glad that this post was a good ending to your first day here. I wish you many more wonderful days on this wonderful site.
OSW: I always appreciate your faithful reading of these posts.
VG: What a wonderful, true and thoughtful comment. I hope that many readers will take the time to read your comment as it is very wise and honest. We must realize "that there are multi-faceted humans behind their blogs, and that just as we exhibit brokenness, so do they."
Thank you, Julie, for your kind and complementary words. They are much appreciated. Far too many clergy forget that they are not in the pulpit all the time. If they would pay more attention to what they preach and then spend time living what they know to be the way that Christ wanted them to walk far fewer lay people would feel they were always "preaching."
Thanks, Steve. I am glad that you picked up on the point that there is a huge difference in attitudes when we choose to understand that talents are gifts, not ambition. It does indeed then move us from selfishness toward gratitude.
TS: many thanks. Glad that the message resonated with you.
Hi, coffeegyrl: it would certainly be a bleak thing for writers if no one read their work. Many writers here claim that they write only for themselves. Perhaps they do. But most writers want and need the feedback, and yes, the aprobation of their readers. Readers are a huge part of what OS is about, and are certainly NOT second class citizens. So thank you very much for reading this post.
Hey, Bella, good to find you here. I appreciate your keen comments. It is sad when our educational system is geared to producing students who strive only to meet a sort of minimum standard of excellence. We need more teachers who are willing to let students soar to heights that even the students did not know existed. And we need school administrators and school boards who are willing to encourage such teachers. Only then will the American system begin to show the kind of achievements that are not easily measured by standard testing.
Hello, Jay. Nobody these days thinks being average, and, God forbid, mediocre, is a good thing. Interestingly, there have been studies of people and the vast majority think of themselves as above average at a minimum. The society so demands that and so our ideas conform to the social demands. That would be a strange curve to plot, wouldn't it?
Well, that is about all I can reply to for a few hours. Thanks again, and I will be back with the replies later today.
Peace,
Monte
I did manage to get on the bike for a bit, rode over to Coshocton to get a pair of boots I had resoled and new heels. They feel pretty good but the right boot feels like I am walking on the inside of the side of the boot at the heel area. I noticed it before and thought it was because the sole was coming unglued. But now I think that I have been pronating my ankle too much on the right foot because of pain in the small outside toes and need to stop doing that! I may have to buy some anti-pronation insoles -- but it will be better if I just break the habit since my toes don't hurt like they did before when I was favoring them. Bad habits are easy to pick up, and hard to break. Right? What a life! Hope none of you have to go through chronic illness. It can be a bear to adjust to. But the ride; what a wonderful thing just to be riding again! So I will focus on that.
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Thanks, Walter for commenting. UCC communities can be special places, but they have their flaws too. I was known for conflict resolution (used to teach it) so I ended up getting sent to dysfunctional churches to try to pull them back together. I got to practice what I preach and it worked mostly, but never entirely. People do not easily change. I think it is particularly hard to be unemployed at an age where companies don't say it but think that you are "too old" and maybe even "overpaid." They are wrong but it sucks just the same. I seriously doubt that it is your gifts or your skill set that is screwed up. It is the economy. But you may well have to lower your expectations to get something and then keep searching for something better as the economy picks up. For me work was essential and I took jobs far below what I was able to do just to be able to work. So I started at the bottom a few times and eventually worked my way up. I will pray for you and I hope you find something soon. Never give up. At least that is my motto.
Hi, Buffy. yes, love is the best four letter word. There are other good ones like care, hope and give, but love covers them all.
Thanks, Leeandra. I appreciate your kind comments. I never intended to leave OS, I just needed a break from writing. Three weeks of not writing did wonders. I am about written out for a while having researched and written the three part series on Jonah, the post on agape love and now this one. I don't intend to write anything again until next week at the earliest.
Thanks for your comments, Delia. Yes, even today in every church there are some who just know that their talents or gifts are far superior to others, and let others know that is the case. It doesn't occur to them that they are all wet. Its sad, but it is pretty universal in any group. Someone always declared him/her self the leader, the star, the one that would cause a collapse of the universe were they to leave.
Suzie: I think that there are far more good, uplifting people here than ones that try to destroy. That is why I love OS so much. But even among those we call friends here it is easy to get lazy about what we say to others. We need to guard against that, give people the benefit of the doubt, not take ourselves so seriously, etc. And if you read the titles to posts, not of your friends but of a general sweep of OS members, you will see that there is a lot more antagonism than we may realize. If we cluster in our own groups, and we all do that, we may not see it so much. But it is there, and there is more of it as we grow and people have to learn that OS is not a free for all like a lot of other sites. They can and do learn, but it takes time.
Hey, Jim, let me say how much I loved your latest. I left a longish comment but bottom line it was super. The scriptures contain both ideas: that God is within believers, in the form of the Holy Spirit, and that God is also among us, especially when we gather, even as two or three, as Jesus noted. Some put more emphasis on one over the other. I tend towards the idea that God is among us, because it is too easy sometimes for some people to think that WE are part of God. Some religions believe that, which is fine, but when Christians believe it it can lead to some pretty remarkable ego trips. I love the gospel stories that inevitably talk about how we treat one another. The theology is that God gives us these gifts and that, in gratitude, we are to treat others as we would like to be treated.
UK, it is so good to have you back. I look forward to your next post. Be sure and notify me, please. And thanks for your comments, I am glad you enjoyed the post.
Thanks, Cathy, I am happy that this one particularly resonated with you. You know that I care deeply for you and our heartstrings seem to be tuned to the same pitch when it comes to reaching out to others. Your kind comments will be hard to live up to but they are appreciated very much. And yes, No one is an island. Ever. (I took care of the double click)
Kathy K, you are welcome. Good to see you coming back to my posts.
Hi, COS, always good to know you are reading here. I try very hard not to make any distinction at all as to how I treat people in the real world or on the internet. There are people involved in both places, and they can be hurt or lifted up just as easily. That was an excellent observation of yours.
patricia k: I find too that the more that I give the more that I receive. It is kind of sad that so many people never figure that out.
Hey, Jim, what an old scold you are! And you aren't even old. Keep in mind that the separation of the sheep and the goats comes at the end time, the end of days. Not now. Not yet. Good to find you in rare form! I left a long comment on your latest conversation with a departed one, and am looking forward to a reply to it. There. Not here. That was one of your very best.
Hi, Sage. Hope you saw my little note that Jim was being satirical. He is neither proud no haughty, just another like the rest of us trying to find his way. Thank you for your kind comments about this post. I appreciate that you always read my posts.
Thank you, mamoore. Very much appreciated. The camping experience is so important in the development of our young people. I am glad that you are there to help guide them. Sounds like you were working with them to understand something very much like what I wrote here. It is never too early to begin to learn that.
I appreciate your comments, AKA. I am afraid that you are right about the idea of "Do unto to others before they do unto you". That is a sad commentary of so much of what we see today in too many walks of life. Glad you could resonate with what I am saying here.
Wow, JR, that is hardly a coincidence, more like a point that you were having a hard time believing was further reinforced by reading this post. What a blessing that is. Of course you have value. And that value is intrinsic, and does not depend on whether or not you are out of work. I pray that you will find work soon and that some of those hard lessons will be a thing of the past. The sooner the better. And peace right back at you!
Hello, Faith, it is always great to have you show up reading and commenting on these posts. You are a wonderful person and you have so much value and so much to give. We all have doubts, but those can go away when we realize that we can and do, and yes, that we have, reached out to others in love. Our value in the eyes of God is not affected one iota by whether we question it now and then. God loves and values us, each individually, as a singular precious child.
Thanks so much, Karin. So many people beat us down all the time, so it is good to get a positive lift now and then. Glad you got one here.
Hi, Pilgrim ( love that handle). Mr. Rogers was, as I recall, a Presbyterian pastor, and he imparted to a generation of children what it could be like to have some adult constantly reassuring them that each one is special. I also respected the fact that he never once made any attempt to work in any religious proselytizing, even indirectly.
Thanks, Mary, very glad you enjoyed this one.
Thanks to all of you..
Monte
Anyway, to the point: I must confess that when I first saw Mr. Rogers, I was turned off. But seeing him often, as our kids watched, I was completley won over by his sweet, gentle loving kindness. "It's you I like," he said. And who could not believe him? That's definitely a good thing.
You kinda remind me of him.
(I was afeared it mighta come outwrong.)
Hope you get to feeling better and get to enjoy the bike. As I write it is 63 here. A little chilly in my book for riding. Thanks for the post and keeping the kindness level up.
Tijo: nothing wrong with keeping the universe in trim, but this is a new revelation about you. I will now know where to turn when we wake up some morning and are no longer the third rock from the sun. Or is that who to blame?
Good to have you back reading here and that is always appreciated.
Actually, since my problems often are triggered by heat I wish it were 63 or less most of the time. Sue and I have warm gear and she rides down to about 50 and I will ride pretty much any time the weather is above 40 and the roads are clear. Temps in the low 60s are ideal from me. Maybe I should move to England where it is in the 60s a lot, especially in the north.
Sue gets Friday off and we are considering going over into one of the prettier areas in western PA for the three days. But will play that by ear depending on the weather. Tomorrow's high here is to be about 65 to 68 so I expect to ride then. We are beginning a nice cool spell which I appreciate. Only for a few days but better than nothing.
Take care,
Monte
Monte
dcv: I have a publisher that would like to see a manuscript from me "after I retired," which is now, but I have made no commitments. If I start on a book, per se, it will consume me because I am very obsessive about getting things done, to the exclusion of essentially everything else. So, rather than "writing a book" I am beginning to pull my theology together in this series of posts. If, after a while, it looks like there is a book forming I will think about collating all of these, editing them, and see what a manuscript might look like. My only concession to that so far is the list of religious posts, the links, on the left side of this page. The list flows with the Church Calendar, starting at the Advent Season and going through the last Sunday of the year, Christ the King. There are still a lot of gaps in it, but I will take my time filling them. Thanks for thinking that this is a possibility. Time will tell.
Monte
I appreciate you reading and commenting. Very much.
Monte
Monte