Q9. Talents

[Pastor Ralph]

Q9. (1 Kings 2:12; Matthew 25:14-30) What “natural” talent(s) do you have? What are you good at in the natural world? How are you using these talents for God and his Kingdom? Have you identified any “spiritual” gifts? How are you using those? Have you found that your “natural” talents are related to your “spiritual” gifts? If so, describe how they relate to each other.

[Nicolaas A.P. Mostert]

Q9. (1 Kings 2:12; Matthew 25:14-30)

What "natural" talent(s) do you have?

Work with my hands (practical).

What are you good at in the natural world?

Do gardening and wood work.

How are you using these talents for God and his Kingdom?

GOD's took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.

          We have only one precious earth so we have to look after it.

Doing wood work, to create out of common something beautiful. 

          Show people that GOD can use "common" to change someone in "something beautiful".

Have you identified any "spiritual" gifts? How are you using those?

Healing and teaching. 

Have you found that your "natural" talents are related to your "spiritual" gifts?

Yes.

If so, describe how they relate to each other.

In the natural my talent brings out the best out off the once in a terrible condition, now a fairy tale garden.

Same with the broken furniture restore it to original use.

In the spiritual to bring the best out of people and restore them to their full potential.  

[Clelie]

.I used to be a school teacher . Today I teach or disciple new Christians  who need to  know the word of God. This is my ministry now, discipline young believers, praise God. 

 

[hanks]

Q9. (1 KINGS 2:12; MATTHEW 25:14-30) 
What "natural" talent(s) do you have? What are you good at in the natural world? How are you using these talents for God and His Kingdom? Have you identified any "spiritual" gifts? How are you using those? Have you found that your "natural" talents are related to your "spiritual" gifts? If so, describe how they relate to each other.
I would like to think I’m good at organising, at listening and giving advice, at numbers and mathematics, and at persevering. I hope to think that I have served our Lord well over all the years, having been on church councils, treasurer, and various other church duties. I only now realised that our talents have to be discovered, and developed so that they can be used to the glory of our Lord. But by now I have reached my sell-by date. However, if asked I’m more than willing to help. I spend most of my time now reading His Word and the many Christian books available. To me all good things come from heaven, and our natural and spiritual gifts come from our Heavenly Father. There is no distinction. 
 

[Krissi]

This question hits a sore spot in my soul -- I have been confused about natural/spiritual gifting for many years. The basic idea of spiritual gifts seems to be that we’re given something “special” by God which is distinctly spiritual. It’s a gift. Something we didn’t have before. These gifts go beyond natural or ordinary talents and seem to enable us to do things we could not have done (or be someone we could not have been) without a special infusion and rewiring by the Holy Spirit. Without this infusion of the Spirit, we would not be able to perform or act out these gifts. Thus, they are distinctly spiritual gifts, not natural ones.

I’m confused because overlap exists between natural and spiritual gifts, so that the boundaries of gifts from God are unclear. I’m not sure what is a beyond-reason-and ability gift from God, and what is a gift that God gave everyone at creation, including unbelievers.

Let say you were a CEO of a Fortune 500 company, talented in administration and a natural leader. Lets also say that you were an atheist. Can an atheist have the gift of administration? What is the difference, then, between a Christian with the gift of administration who runs, say, General Electric and an atheist who runs it? Shouldn’t a spiritual gift in administration express itself differently? I would hope so.

Furthermore, how could that CEO of General Electric be certain that his/her gift is of the Spirit? And should that CEO assume that his spiritual gift would be the same as his natural gift? Maybe he’s just so good at administration that he’s acting wholly out of the “natural.” There are, after all, many CEOs who are incredibly gifted as administrators who have no faith at all. Most, in fact.

If natural gifting is a sign of spiritual gifting, then whatever we’re good at in the flesh points to how God uses us in the kingdom. But how would we know if this ability was either developed through hard work and genetic advantages or from the Spirit working in us? How would we know if we were just pushing our own talents and abilities to their limit, or if the Spirit was supernaturally gifting us?

Lets say you were amazingly good at making money. Lets also say that though everything you touched seemed to turn into gold, in the depth of your heart you felt God leading you to the mission field. Do you obey what you think is the call of God, to be a mediocre evangelist? Or, do you stick with what you do well and make money to give to missionaries rather than become one? (I knew someone in this position).

Furthermore, to reverse the logic, if you had NO ability whatsoever in building homes, for example, but there was a real need for housing in your neighborhood, should you start from scratch and learn building techniques and tricks? Does need determine calling? Does God supernaturally equip you with gifts you don’t naturally have to meet a need?

When your gifting is clearly supernatural, it’s easier to identify it as a gifting. If you have no medical training yet God gives you the gift of healing, then clearly this is a spiritual gift. No other explanations suffice. But if your spiritual gift aligns with your natural gift, you can never be sure if you acting out of your spiritual gift, or not. 

That’s the rub.

There must be a difference between natural and spiritual gifting or the abilities/works of secular people would be no different than that of ourselves.

 I think this is why Christians tend to dramatize their gifts – they’re unsure if it is spiritual or natural, and intuitively desire some sort of confirmation. The preacher who seems to lose himself in his message, who acts in ways beyond normal everyday behavior by swining his hands around, speaking loudly, handling snakes … whatever, could be trying to confirm his gift, if only to himself. He acts super-naturally because such supernatural behaviors suggest supernatural gifting.

And then there are those who are definitely not acting out of natural gifts. Elijah was a weird man. He looked and acted strangely. He confronted kings rudely. Didn’t bathe. Ate stuff birds brought to him. He was nowhere near the norm! So, it makes sense that Elijah and not the-joe-next-door would put his head between his knees and beg God to send rain. Maybe that in itself is not a gifting, but Elijah was described as a prophet. The fact that he knew God would send fire or rain … isn’t that prophetic gifting?

Miracles confirm spiritual gifting. When Moses threw down his staff and it turned into snakes, this was clearly a miracle. Something beyond the natural. But have you noticed that when someone is miraculously healed Christians immediately try to validate that healing by having that person medically examined? When a physician says he has no explanation for someone’s healing, we breathe a sigh of relief as we declare it to be a miracle. It’s almost like the absence of a natural explanation confirms the supernatural source of gifting. More to the point, a miracle also confirms the spiritual gift of the person God has called to heal.

I’m sorry for rambling like this. It’s just that I want clarity. I want to know that whatever I am doing is of me or of Him, a clear demarcating line: this is of me; this is of God. I want spiritual gifts to be truly spiritual, not an exaggeration of natural gifts, or worse yet, self-delusion. Since some spiritual gifts seem to be clearly of God, other spiritual gifts have a dubious origin and can be either of God or of the flesh … frankly, this scares me.

 - 

If I have a certain, distinctive spiritual gift, it would probably be the gift of discernment, though I am often wrong and am probably wrong even about this! I’m good at discerning large social movements and changes, geopolitical currents … that sorta thing. When something I write in my daily journal in 2022 is spot on in 2024, it’s a bit eerie. My track record is far better than most pundits and commentators. But is this a spiritual gift?  Is it merely something I know because I’m fascinated by world happenings and grew up in a political family, etc. Is it spiritual or natural?

I don’t know. No miracle has confirmed this gift, if it is a gift. Nothing sparkles. I hear no voices. See no angels.

 

 

[Katy]

Q9. I find this question difficult to answer because I am not really sure of my talents or gifts! I love the elderly and visit a few on a regular basis. These are ladies who are either ill or unable to get out. Others I take out for coffee. I help where I can in church, flowers, coffee, cleaning, children’s clubs. I try to get alongside people with problems and listen and encourage. So all that I do are basic tasks that I am able to do as I don’t have any outstanding skills or talents.

[Janzie]

On 3/18/2024 at 7:18 PM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q9. (1 Kings 2:12; Matthew 25:14-30) What “natural” talent(s) do you have? What are you good at in the natural world? How are you using these talents for God and his Kingdom? Have you identified any “spiritual” gifts? How are you using those? Have you found that your “natural” talents are related to your “spiritual” gifts? If so, describe how they relate to each other.

My natural talents are cooking and baking, I love to garden, watch flowers grow, care for them, get weeds out of their way, and these are what  I am good at in the natural world.  I did help and plant flowers in my Pastor and other peoples garden, I bring meals and bake goods to people.  I think I am finding that my natural talents are related to my spiritual gifts and how I think they are related to each other is as follows:  My cooking and baking is that I like to feed people and make them content and I can do this by feeding them the Word of God and that will certainly bring them contentment and satisfy them with the right kind of food.  And in the gardening aspect  - planting the flower seeds, watching them grow, caring for them, seeing they get enough water, planting in a sunshiny area, taking care of the weeds.  Where God originally gave us the seed, the dirt with the right nutrients in, brings the rain and the sunshine, even gives us different varieties and colors of flowers.  In the spiritual - God gives us the seed of His Word, which makes us grow, builds our faith, gives us strategies against the devil and not give him the opportunity to plant weeds in our heart, He makes us strong in Him, able to withstand storms and still come out beautiful.

[Irmela]

Q9. (1 Kings 2:12; Matthew 25:14-30) What "natural" talent(s) do you have? What are you good at in the natural world? How are you using these talents for God and his Kingdom? Have you identified any "spiritual" gifts? How are you using those? Have you found that your "natural" talents are related to your "spiritual" gifts? If so, describe how they relate to each other.

I was not part of a group of the "haves" in society, but rather of the "have some things" and "have nots".  I do not have much confidence in my ability and am very hesitant to take a lead in anything.  Throughout my life it was the outcasts that were drawn to me.  As a young girl I was teased by the others as "Goosey with her goslings".  I fought for those under my 'protection' and tried very hard that they were not hurt more.  Now that I am older and no longer in the 'working class', but a pensioner, I find the scenario is actually still very much the same and looking back over my life, it was very much like that at all times.  I will help where I can to the best of my ability and will visit and protect ones assigned to me as best as I know how.  

I guess in a way the natural talent or gifting is very much incorporated into the spiritual gift needed by each individual.  

I love sharing what I glean in the Word of God and will try to bring peace and understanding between individuals who are at enmity with one another.

Mostly I am a loner and am terrified of crowds,  they make my mind buzz like crazy and make me want to run and hide. (Go into the kitchen and wash the dishes or find an old lonely person to chat to,  that's more my style)