Blessed to be a blessing

In Genesis 12 God spoke to Abraham and promised him that he would be blessed to be a blessing. This "blessed to bless" is a recurrent theme in the Pentateuch as well as the prophets and when we got to the New Testament, I think we gave it a new name. We talk about spiritual gifts. Maybe "gifted to give"?

I think there are a few common misperceptions regarding spiritual gifts. Somewhere along the line, we added up the gifts Paul and Peter listed and defined the ultimate list of gifts. It became a check sheet to see just how holy we are. All of a sudden, there were people who were more spiritual than others.

Then we expanded the list... we included a few 'practical things' like leading worship. We have great worship leaders in our community and I love them. However, I do not love them more than the person compiling the data for our calendar or the person offering a meal to someone.

I believe we complicate a simple matter. We are still blessed to be a blessing and gifted so we can give. So what is a gift then? A gift is whatever God gave me - every talent and skill, every asset, all of it. What am I to do with these gifts? Pass it on. Serve God and serve the body.

We received freely and therefore need to give freely. We need to edify (build) the body. We need to apply our minds, bodies and hearts (with all our passion) to serve God and the body of Christ.

Maybe we don't need lists and categories of gifts. Maybe we don't even need to colour code or file it. Maybe we must just do it. Just be. Come as you are. Use what you have in your hand (Moses).

Maybe the most important part is to pitch up, ready to put my entire being and all 'my possessions' on the altar.

After all we are blessed to be a blessing and gifted to give...