The investment of our talents on a ministry team requires exercise...

This week we have been looking at the second of the three ways a person who is involved in a growing and maturing relationship with Jesus will invest their lives in. This We have been  discovering why consistently investing our talents serving God by serving others as a part of a ministry team will result in a growing and maturing relationship with Jesus.

In Romans 12:1-8, we see the Apostle Paul reveal for us a timeless reason why investing our talents as part of a ministry team will result in a growing and maturing relationship with Jesus in that the investment of our talents on a ministry team exposes us to the spiritual gifts that we have been given by Jesus in a way that moves us toward a growing relationship with Jesus. Transformational spiritual growth occurs when we are leveraging the spiritual gifts, talents, and abilities that God has given us in a selfless way that serves others. We encounter God as we use the spiritual gifts we have been given to help others encounter God. We experience God’s transformational activity in our lives as we help others experience God’s transformational activity in their lives.

However, to invest our talents on a ministry team in a way that exposes us to the spiritual gifts that we have been given by Jesus in a way that moves us toward a growing relationship with Jesus requires three things. So far we have seen Paul reveal for us the reality that the investment of our talents on a ministry team requires the right attitude. Individuals who experience a growing relationship with Jesus will leverage their spiritual gifts, talents, and abilities on a ministry team with a humble recognition that it is the Lord who has brought them into relationship with Him and given them the gifts, talents, and abilities to serve others. And because of that reality individuals who are growing in their relationship with Jesus will not be full of themselves but will place others before themselves.

In addition, we have seen Paul reveal for us the reality that the investment of our talents on a ministry team requires partnership. Just as there are many different parts of our human bodies that have different functions and roles but partner together to help it function as it was designed, there are many individual followers of Jesus who partner together to form the body of Christ and help it to function correctly. And just as a growing and maturing body has every part partnering together in growth and maturity, for the local church, for the body of Christ to grow and mature so as to be the vehicle that God uses to reveal His Son Jesus to the world around us, every part must be partnering together as we invest our talents serving God by serving others as a part of a ministry team.

And as we partner together as part of a ministry team, God is at work in and through that partnership to move us towards a growing and maturing relationship with Jesus. Now you may be here this morning and right about now you are thinking to yourself  “Well Dave that sounds great in theory, but how do we partner together so as to move from independence or dependence to the interdependence that results in a growing and maturing relationship with Jesus? What does that look like?” If you that question is running through your mind, I want to let you know that you are asking a great question. We see Paul answer this question and, in so doing, reveals the third requirement that is necessary in order to invest our talents on a ministry team in a way that exposes us to the spiritual gifts that we have been given by Jesus in a way that moves us toward a growing relationship with Jesus in Romans 12:6-8:

Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

Here we see the Apostle Paul call followers of Jesus throughout history to exercise the spiritual gifts that we have been given. Paul here is pointing followers of Jesus to the reality that God’s grace in our lives is not only evidenced in our rescue and salvation; God’s grace in our lives is evidenced in the spiritual gifts we have been given. All of us, when we become followers of Jesus, are given at least one spiritual gift. Now you may be wondering “what is a spiritual gift?”

A great definition of a spiritual gift is that a spiritual gift is a God given inner motivation that enables us to meet the needs of others in a way that builds up others spiritually. When we read the letters that make up the Bible, we discover that these spiritual gifts can be divided into two main groups. The first group are called speaking gifts. These gifts are the gifts of evangelism, exhortation, pastor- shepherding, and teaching. The second group are called serving gifts. These gifts are the gifts of administration or leading, faith, giving, mercy, and helps or serving.

And it is here that we see Paul reveal for us the reality that the investment of our talents on a ministry team requires exercise. Paul’s point here is that God expects us to respond to the gifts that we have been given by Jesus by exercising those gifts, so that we can grow and mature in our relationship with Jesus and accomplish the kingdom mission that we have been given by Jesus as we to partner together as a church.

However, the harsh reality is that for some of us, we have not been exercising when it comes to investing our spiritual gifts, talents, and abilities gifts that God has given us. And because some of us have not been exercising, some of us find ourselves weak and immature spiritually. Paul here is revealing for us the reality that the church, as the body of Christ, grows stronger in partnership the same way our physical bodies grow stronger. Just as our physical bodies need to exercise to grow and mature, we need to exercise in partnership with one another, with the right attitude, in order to experience a growing relationship with Jesus.

So here is a question to consider: When will you take the step to your talents on a ministry team so as to expose the spiritual gifts that we have been given by Jesus in a way that moves you toward a growing relationship with Jesus? Because, as the Apostle Paul points out, investment of our talents on a ministry team exposes us to the spiritual gifts that we have been given by Jesus in a way that moves us toward a growing relationship with Jesus. And the investment of our talents on a ministry team requires the right attitude, requires partnership, and requires exercise...