I’m very much an Egalitarian, but for me the issue is really more about giftedness. We can tend to get caught up in who should be behind the pulpit or at the lectern and miss all the other giftedness around us.
When I worked at a bank’s call center, helping bankers with computer problems, I really wanted to be somewhere where I was helping people in need. Now, I’m at a Legal Aid office where I do intake and reception work. I’m happier about my work because I’m really helping people. But, there was a fundamental flaw in my earlier reasoning – bankers are people too.
However, I’m more interested in working with the poor because God has given me more empathy for them. So, the work is more related to my giftedenss.
Churches and other Christian organizations and efforts need to be more aware of the variety of gifts God has given the women and men with whom they work and who work for them. If we were, we would be doing the work God has given us better. When we see people as individuals and realize that they all have gifts, we can help them find those gifts and we can help them find their place of service. If we as individuals look honestly at ourselves, knowing we have gifts and ask for God’s help to find them, we will be happier, more productive, and more godly.
I’m happier talking with the people who are poor and are having problems than with people who are bankers and are having problems. Someone is happier talking to bankers. Someone is better at making those phones work. Someone else is better at organizing and maintaining the structures in which we can use our gifts. It’s all about who should be doing what and why.
The Holy Spirit will lead us if we will follow. What’s your gift? Who can you help to use their gifts?
