Do you know what your spiritual gift is? Scripture teaches that every Christian is endowed with an ability to serve. In recent decades emphasis has been placed on finding & using your gift (or gifts). But can I let you in on something? There’s not a lot we know about spiritual gifts from the Bible.
The New Testament does stress that all Christians are to serve both in individual everyday ways to meet needs, & in collective ways in the context of the Church. But over time, a clergy class arose which took on more of the duties of performing “ministry” in the Church (which is just another word for “service”). So everyone else became “laity.” The clergy came to be seen as the ones employed to serve the laity or at least on behalf of them. Christians began to see themselves as inferior because, after all, “We’re just laymen.” So spiritual gifts were largely ignored throughout the Medieval Period.
An attempt to correct that false distinction between clergy & laity was made during the Protestant Reformation by restoring the “priesthood” of all believers (1 Pet. 2:9). Though given lip service over succeeding centuries, it still wasn’t widely practiced. Churches would still “hire” ministers to do all the “ministry.” But in the latter half of the last century, a renewed emphasis on spiritual gifts rekindled efforts to make every Christian a “minister.” Church leaders began to be viewed not as surrogates for ministry, but as those who “equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-12).
This necessitated teaching what these gifts are & helping believers to identify what one(s) they have based on the lists in the New Testament (1 Pet. 4:10-11, Rom. 12:4-8, 1 Cor. 12:4-11, 28-30). Yet, no two lists are the same. Obviously, Paul & Peter weren’t being exhaustive but were showing variety. To function as the body of Christ, everyone is needed & brings something to the table that complements the others. A spiritual division of labor makes us more effective together.
Books & conferences began to proliferate offering spiritual gifts tests or assessments or inventories. A person could answer numerous questions about their abilities & interests, resulting in a score that matched with a gift. Just tell what you like to do & what you think you’re good at, &, voila, you know your gift(s)! But how did Christians figure out their gifts for over 1,900 years before such tools were developed?
If such a test has benefited you, great; but if God wanted us to take a test, wouldn’t He have given one in the Bible? People can actually get confused or discouraged when test results come back differently than what they hoped for. A person can subjectively “rig” the results, intentionally or unintentionally, to get the results they want. Even answering objectively doesn’t mean it’s accurate.
Different tests offer different explanations of what the gifts are & whether they’re still available today like they were in the Early Church. “Continuatists” say all the gifts are still in operation (including miraculous ones of direct revelation) while “cessationists” say some have ceased. The descriptions of these gifts are often filled with speculations–such as what a “word of knowledge” or “word of wisdom” is, or is the gift of “speaking in tongues” an actual unlearned human language or a “heavenly” non-human language?
Further questions remain. Are the gifts given at baptism in conjunction with the gift of the Holy Spirit or at some later point (Acts 2:38)? Are they bestowed as brand new abilities or might they be existing latent talents? Does God simply “sanctify” abilities already in use in other pursuits? What’s the difference between gifts & talents? Whatever these gifts are, there’s zero teaching in Scripture about Christians “finding” them.
So don’t get hung up on what your spiritual gift may be. Just get busy serving–pitch in at the point of need. “But I’m not gifted in evangelism.” Share your faith anyway. “But I’m not good at showing mercy.” Show mercy anyway. “But I don’t have the gift of faith.” Exercise faith anyway. “I’m not sure if I have the gift of ‘helps’.” Help anyway. “Sorry, I don’t have the gift of giving.” Be generous anyway. We’re commanded to do these things–it’s just that some people are more capable & fruitful than others because they’re “gifted.”
We’re all called to serve like Jesus (Phil. 2:5-7). When Jesus talked about serving, he didn’t stress serving in just the way you’re gifted. The example He set was washing feet (John 13:3-16). “Hmm, I don’t know if I have the gift of foot washing.” Huh?! You don’t have to be gifted to open doors, set up tables, make refreshments or serve food. Most gifts don’t seem to be “stage” gifts anyway–they’re one-on-one gifts. Sometimes there’s work that just has to be done. If it’s done for Jesus, it’s meaningful.
Find your gift by experimenting. Serve in different ways & seek opportunities to try. What do you aspire to do? Figure out what’s satisfying, enjoyable, & fulfilling. Do others affirm that you’re good at it? Your brothers & sisters & Elders can better tell you what you seem to be gifted at than a test can.