Your Gifts Do Not Belong to the Church

Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings. - Proverbs 22:29

A decolonizing interpretation of this text might want to ask some questions about why it’s important to serve before a monarch, as if they hold more value than other humans - and rightly so. And there might be an anti-patriarchal lens to look through, wondering why it’s always a king and not a queen who is the boss, anyway. These are the sorts of questions that might (should?) rattle around in our heads as we read the Bible and try to hear God’s Spirit speaking to us.

But let’s look at another lens, that’s kind of hopeful in this passage. So, so many times the church has demanded that all the spiritual gifts be used in the service of the church. It can get downright self-serving, really - but this passage suggests that it’s not just in the church that we get to use our gifts.

And on Sunday, thankfully Brenna Rubio caught the wave of triggering spreading through the congregation when talking about spiritual gifts because originally, neither Bill nor Brenna had even considered the fact that so many people in the congregation would be worried that there would be a ‘pass the clipboard and sign up to use your gifts in Kids Ministry’ moment at the end of the service. So many people shared at the after the service how relieved they were that Brenna diffused the situation before any more anxiety could build, reminding us that we weren’t the kind of church that would leverage the ‘gifts’ sermon to tug on people’s emotions to make them serve.

And this short little passage in Proverbs reminds us that our gifts work just great out in the marketplace (and NOT in the church). There are plenty of spaces - personal and public, useful and recreational - to enjoy our gifts, and the church does not get first dibs!

So today, can you rejoice that God has given you gifts to use in all kinds of spheres of life - and the use of those gifts are not to be dictated by ‘authorities, but by a partnership between you and the Spirit, with wise and healthy input from your community?