We moved to Havelock North Carolina last summer and recently took an orientation type class at our new church. As part of the class, the Pastor presents all new members and/or member prospects the book Living Your Strengths by Winseman, Clifton, and Liesveld from Gallup Press. Included on the inside of each book jacket is an ID code that allows you to go online and take a test. Its purpose is to tell you your top five strengths. This test is an excellent resource and one I found quite honest in the results, even though the taking of the test itself was a bit overwhelming as you had to answer each question within a very short time limit. The book itself is really just a guide to use AFTER you have taken the test because it gives details and suggestions for ministry work using your God-given talents per each strength. By the way, this is not a test on finding your spiritual gifts. Those are not necessarily the same as your personal strengths. It is also not a new fad or program to try out. It is simply a tool to help you understand what your talents are and where you can use them to be most beneficial to your church.
Belief is in my top five, but context is my top strength. At first I was a bit perturbed that belief didn’t show up as my top strength (I wondered if that meant I might deny Christ or something) but after reading the explanations of the strengths, it actually made total sense to me. I always have to know the who, what, when, where, why, and how of everything. Thankfully I am not a cat, as they only have nine lives, because I’m sure with my curiousity bug that I would have been dead long ago! Intellection, input, and responsibility are the other three of my top five strengths. My husband laughed as he read my report that was included at the conclusion of the test. I heard “Yep, that’s you!” more times than I care to talk about. Our pastor has only known me a short while and I think he may have even repeated that phrase. I guess I’m a pretty open book with my life and experiences.
The types of books that I’ve typically been interested in for the better part of my adult life when looking at the library (or more recently online) were books that dealt with subjects such as the many translations of the Bible, what the Apocrapha’s are and why they are or aren’t included in different versions of the Bible, Christianity throughout the middle ages, differences between denominations, the Crusades, and so forth. I have other interests too but they all stem from history of some sort whether it be genealogy, presidential papers, old books, antiques, our nations founding fathers… the list can go on. Knowing my strengths, and seeing it in print I guess, has given me a new freedom in being me. I no longer really care if the librarian or anyone else in sight thinks I’m crazy and looks at me sideways for checking out 8 or 10 books of religious study matter at the same time as I check out one book on housekeeping and three books on gardening. I have two weeks to read them all, right?! The secret I must confess is that I usually make it through nearly every religious study book and one of the gardening books but only half way through the housekeeping book. I AM a keeper at home, and I keep my home pretty well, but I also get sidetracked easily and may have to turn the dryer on three times to re-fluff the clothes before I fold them because I don’t have to iron them. What can I say? It’s just the way I’m wired!
However, there is another new found freedom in learning my strengths, too, and that is knowing when I can and should say yes, or maybe even no, to requests in filling open positions at church. Our former church in Yuma Arizona has a motto they use when looking for people to fill open slots in the ministry of the church: The Miracle is in the House! We firmly believed we didn’t need to “hire” outside help because God had already provided. It was up to the person He had called to be open to listening and then to stepping up to fill their God appointed spot. Any church can say they always need more helpers, or assistants in Sunday School classes or nursery, and I’m sure we did at Morningside as well, but there wasn’t ever a major position left empty. Our new church here in North Carolina, by giving copies of Living Your Strengths, is following the same type of idea even though the route might be a bit different.
Now, mind you, God does not always go by the “book” and may call you to come out of your comfort zone when He wants you to fill a place of ministry He has set before you. You have to be open to listening to that Call. However, if you just aren’t sure where you really fit best, and you don’t feel a certain calling to any particular area, then maybe taking a strengths finder test like the one offered with this book will be good for you. Who knows?! Maybe you are just the perfect person with the right amount of WOO to meet and direct newcomers on Sunday morning. Are you a bit FUTURISTIC in your thinking? Perhaps you are just what the building and growth committee needs for a bit of added insight. Are you gifted with the RESPONSIBILITY strength? Do you know someone who has issues with following through and desires help in that area? Then maybe you are just the accountability partner that person needs. Whatever your God-given talents are, use them ALL for the glory of God! Your church will be better off, and you will be better off!
Dear Sallie,
You have written a very good post. This is paramount to a child of God, to know what gifts and talents the Lord has given him, and to be flexible and adaptable in the Lord’s Work.
Thanks again, for obeying God and writing it.
In His service,
Bro. Paul Foltz
Sallie,
Thank you for sharing this tool. I have found these type of assessments can be liberating. I believe they help us to clarify our God given talents, so we are able to fulfil our roles in His Kingdom. Thank you again.
For His Glory,
Jody
p.s. I am going to be picking up a copy of the book!
It seems that Moses had a pretty good idea of his strengths and weaknesses before God called him. Paul did too. So did Peter.
The problem is that God didn’t call them according to their strengths–He called them according to their weakness. After all, if I only do things that I am best capable of doing, how does that magnify God?
2 Corinthians 4:7
BTW-don’t confuse aptitude with spiritual giftedness. At best, an assessment tool is only capable of recognizing aptitude. Any assessment inventory that markets itself as a spiritual gift indicator is misleading.
Pastor Jims last blog post..What Is Ex Libris?
Aptitudes are most definitely not spiritual gifts. Also, as I stated in the last paragraph, you have to be listening to God’s call and do what He wishes you to do.
For instance, I’m not really a foot gal. I don’t think there is much good that can come from touching other peoples feet, cause only God can truly know where they’ve been and I can only imagine yucky places. But, last Saturday as I sat in the room of a nursing home, the Lord prompted me “Go rub Mr. Jimmy’s feet.” I got up, walked across the room, and started rubbing them on the outside of the sheet. Over the course of the week, I have taken the time to remove the sheet from his feet and rub lotion into Mr. Jimmy’s feet countless hours, and his breathing is always calmer when I do. I walk in the room and say hello, and his feet twitch. Feet may not be one of my strengths, but God called me to that purpose for however much longer Mr. Jimmy is with us. I’m glad God saw fit to give me such a small job as this!!
In Christ,
Sallie
Sallies last blog post..Coupon Alert!!!
Knowing your strengths and weaknesses is good, but as a few commenters have already pointed out, God often doesn’t call us according to our gifts prior to our calling, but always gives us what we need in order to accomplish his purposes when we need them.
For example, my strengths indicate that i would make a good missionary musical ethnologist. I’m strong in music, teaching, cross-cultural ministries and missions. I’ve tried teaching in my own church and for some reason I can’t seem to draw students. However, I go on the mission field and I have been able to disciple small groups of people in another culture. Go figure.
One of my biggest weaknesses is sales. I couldn’t sell cheap heat to an Eskimo. One mission endeavor I have gotten into in recent times has been Bible distribution to a difficult people group in a major city in yet a third country. We stand on the street, walk up to people, tell them in the language of our target group that we have a free Bible for them. It’s like street-level sales. All I can do is watch myself do things I wouldn’t dream of doing, but there I am approaching people in a way that I couldn’t do under my own power.
We also expect to get into theological arguments on the street with this people group and frequently do. So we study various apologetical arguments to prepare. The funny thing is that often we forget much of what we studied in the moment, but arguments come to mind that we hadn’t considered before. I can only attribute this to the Holy Spirit using us to say precisely what each individual needs to hear. So the Holy Spirit even makes us weak so that he can use us more effectively – and the results have been amazing.
Well, I know this is all perfectly anecdotal, but it falls into the theological tension between God using us according to our gifts, but also using us in our weakness.
Jim Pembertons last blog post..So Quote This
There is a difference between a talent and a gift. One may be born with a talent, but a gift is a sovereignly bestowed ability. To be effective they require a brokeness of spirit, and a complete dependence on the
Spirit.
I agree that these spiritual assessment tools are questionable at best. I also agree that God plays to our weaknesses, that is, He gets glory out of making use of us in our weakest areas of life. At the same time, one is not permitted to use weakness as an excuse not to study, prepare and excel. Failure to discharge responsibility is an open invitation to disaster. On the other hand, trusting in one’s armor and preparation is also foolish as God is the one who gives the victory. The key issues can be identified in four adjectives: balanced, flexible, creatie, and magnetic. The secret behind those four is a grasp of the two-sided and apparently contradictory (I say apparently – for so to the human mind they do seem) truths of Holy Scripture. The nature and effect of biblical concepts are poorly understood at best. What they are intended to do evidently is to set up a tension in the human mind, a tension that gives te sense of flexibility and balance. This means one will be able to adjust to any given situation. One can be objective, scientific, analytic, gathering and assessing facts as the situation demands (as in a counseling situation) and/or subjective, warm, loving, and supportive, if the counseling situation (as an example) calls for it. The balance and flexibility are the keys to not compromising one’s integrity, principles, beliefs, etc and of not becoming too rigid. There is more, but I defer in view of the limitations of time and space. I add this caveat: Dr. Foltz is right about the need for brokenness of spirit and complete dependence on the Spirit, and his observation applies to natually given talents as well as Divinely bestowed gifts for service. The price I have paid in defeats and tears to learn these things is an agony and an anguish not to believed.
Dr. James Willinghams last blog post..The Climax of the Reformation
I Too learn this through agony and tears. If the young preachers would only listen to us, Dr. Willingham, they would save themselves much grief, and time.
Dear Dr. Foltz: They will find out as we did that God usually has to teach us by agony and tears. Now and then we get our heads up enough to see what He is seeking to say to us, and we avoid some griefs. However, we suffer from obtuseness of spirit, and, worse than consumption, etc., is arrogant presumption. When I think back on how many times I laid a real dud, because I knew so much, I cringe. Of course, God does not give up on His children (the idea is unthinkable). I am amazed to find that I am still plugging along in view of the egregious blunders I have committed. I think most of the folks (if not all) writing on this blog issue will make it regardless of their firmly fixed views or lack of them. What they really need to do is stop bonking one another on the head for being wrong one way or the other. John Wesley, I think it was, said, “If God would save a certain person, he would never again despair of any one.” John Newton, I think it was, replied, “Every since God saved me, I despair of no one.” Let us give our selves to prayer for the great awakening to come. God knows, we surely need it now. But He knows the best time for it.
Dr. James Willinghams last blog post..The Climax of the Reformation
A GREAT AWAKENING AND REVIVAL OF CHRISTIANS ARE THE ONLY
HOPE WE HAVE FOR OUR LAND.
iM GLAD, OR AS THERY SAY HERE, i’M PROUD THAT gOD REWARDS OUR FAITHFULNESS AND FORGETS OUR FAILURES.
Find a cool interview with the authors of this book at http://www.youtube.com/user/StrengthsSummit
Both authors, Al Winseman and Curt liesveld are interviewed.
You can also find out where to see these guys in person at http://www.StrengthSummit.com. You can also get huge discounts on the books for your small group or church.