SESSION 03: NEEDS
PASSAGES TO EXPLORE
1 Corinthians 14:12, 26
Romans 12
1 John 3:16–18
IDENTIFYING NEEDS
In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul emphasizes that our gifts are to be used to build up the church: “So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church” (v. 12). “What then, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up” (v. 26).
While it’s vital that we discover how God has gifted us, that’s not the whole picture. Let’s go back to the Howard Thurman quote from the previous session: “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” As we said in the previous session, it starts with what makes us come alive. How is the Spirit uniquely bringing life to us and through us? But the second part of the quote is equally important: The world needs people who have come alive. They don’t need us to serve ourselves with our gifts, but to identify the empowerment of the Spirit and pour that into the people and institutions around us.
Thurman wants us to avoid becoming what others need us to be to the extent that we lose who God is making us to be. That’s vitally important. But if I focus on who I want myself to be without any consideration for the overlap between who God is making me to be and the needs of the people around me, then I can’t possibly be following Paul’s commands in 1 Corinthians 14:12 and 26.
So in this session we’ll explore the needs of the world around us. Kenneth Berding approaches the topic from the other side when he says we should not ask “How can I discover the special abilities that the Spirit has given me?” but instead, “Lord, where do you want me to serve?”* Thurman and Berding give us two sides of the same coin. Spiritual gifts function in the overlap of our unique makeup, the supernatural guidance and empowerment of the Spirit, and the needs of the world.
Sam Storms offers practical advice to those who feel stuck in figuring out what their gifts are:
“People often share their frustration with not yet having identified their spiritual gift. Some are so obsessed with making this discovery that they are virtually paralyzed from participating in ministry and serving others until such time as they can confidently put their finger on precisely what the Holy Spirit has imparted to them. My recommendation is that Christians should stop this persistent, introspective navel gazing and simply step out and begin to love and serve others in concrete acts of ministry. In doing so, I'm confident your gift will find you.”**
Could it be that simple? Could you discover your gifting by doing whatever you can to meet the needs of the people around you? Sam Storms isn’t suggesting that your gifting will miraculously match up with every need you encounter. But he is saying you may not identify your gifting without trying a few things out.
From a different angle, Søren Kierkegaard encourages us to serve the people around us under the banner of Jesus’ command to “love your neighbor” (Matthew 19:19). If you are serious about obeying the command to love your neighbor and in the process step out to serve people in need, it could be that you’ll discover a supernatural element to your service. You might find that you come alive in serving in a specific setting. You might decide that it was God who was calling you to that form of service. Paul’s command to pursue spiritual gifts and Jesus’ command to love our neighbors go hand in hand.
Happily, finding opportunities to serve is as simple as paying attention to the people around us. Kierkegaard recommends that we start by praying, then set out into the world. If we are only concerned with finding and helping our friends, the people we’re naturally drawn to, we might be disappointed. But if we are interested in loving and serving our neighbor, our task is easy:
“Shut your door and pray to God... If someone goes out into the world to try to find the beloved or the friend, he can go a long way—and go in vain, can wander the world around—and in vain. But Christianity is never responsible for having a person go even a single step in vain, because when you open the door that you shut in order to pray to God and go out, the very first person you meet is the neighbor, whom you shall love. Wonderful! ...There is not a single person in the whole world who is as surely and as easily recognized as the neighbor. You can never confuse him with anyone else, since the neighbor, to be sure, is all people. If you confuse another person with the neighbor, then the mistake is not due to the latter, since the other person is also the neighbor; the mistake is due to you, that you will not understand who the neighbor is. If you save a person’s life in the dark, thinking that it is your friend—but it was the neighbor—this is no mistake. However, it is indeed a mistake if you want to save only your friend.”***
So how might you discover your gifts? Try looking for a neighbor. Pray that God would provide opportunities to serve people, then head out the door. And when you encounter someone, make sure you note that the person in front of you is your neighbor, whom you are commanded by Jesus to love. So watch for ways to bless that person. If you can discover a need that’s not being met, you might also discern the Lord’s call to serve that person in a specific way. That could well be the path to discovering your gifting.
Sam Storms says it well:
“If the focus of your spiritual energy is consistently introspective, you will rarely see the abundance of hurting people that surround you. Open your eyes and look for those who are weeping. Ask the Spirit to guide your steps to those who are weak, afflicted, and destitute. And as you go, listen for the voice of God to grant you a prophetic word that will encourage and console the suffering. Take your hands out of your pockets and lay them on the sick, beseeching the Lord of mercy for healing. Instead of first asking, ‘What is my gift?’ ask, ‘Who is in need?’ I am increasingly persuaded that if God's people will look outward before they look inward, they will encounter the charismatic and empowering presence of the Spirit to equip them for every good deed. As I've said many times before, if you're still bewildered by what may or may not be your spiritual gift, act first and ask later.”****
Notice how different this approach is than relying on a pastor to create a list of ministry opportunities that you then sign up for. It’s valuable when pastors identify needs and ask for volunteers. But pastors only see what they can see from their specific vantage point and only value what they know to value from their limited perspective. When we all seek to build up the body, we’re allowing the Spirit to work through each of us. If we rely on a pastor, we can view the needs of our church and community through one person’s compassionate lens. But when we all listen for the leading of the Spirit, we can look at our church and community with all of the compassion and insight that the Spirit puts within all of us. It’s like seeing through hundreds of sets of eyes rather than just one set of eyes. If we only count what the eyes of the pastor see, then everyone will be frustrated because everyone will be seeing things the pastor doesn’t see. But if we all see what God allows us to see and all offer our gifting to the Lord to meet those needs, then the church will be effectively meeting needs that the pastor didn’t even know existed! And we’ll be doing all of that in the power of the Spirit and in step with his leading! What could be better?
God’s plan is far wiser than anything we could come up with on our own. His design is that each of us comes fully alive through the guidance and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. So as we process our uniqueness and ask about our giftedness, let’s look with compassion and intentionality at the needs we see around us. When we see a need, we may well find the Lord calling us to act.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION
Are you currently aware of any needs in your church family or in the surrounding community? What are they?
What do you believe is missing in your family, neighborhood, workplace, school, or church?
For the needs identified above, do you see others working to meet those needs? If there’s a gap in the meeting of those needs, why do you think others aren’t inclined to address them?
Is there anything you would need in order to effectively meet the needs you’ve identified? Do you need resources, funds, or other people? Do you need a mentor to help you learn to address a specific need? Do you need more information from the person you’re seeking to build up?
Have you ever identified a need and then stopped short of helping out? What has derailed you in the past? Are there any patterns you can identify that could be addressed?
As you think about the needs you’ve encountered, do you notice any that seem to fit the overlap of your uniqueness, the Spirit’s empowerment, and the needs of the people around you?
Commit to praying regularly that God would show you needs and speak to you about who he has made you to be.
Spend some time praying that God will open your eyes to the needs he’s placed around you. Ask him to bring things to mind as you’re praying and to give your spirit a nudge when needs come up throughout the day. Talk to him about what he’s asking you to do.
ENDNOTES
* Kenneth Berding, What Are Spiritual Gifts? Rethinking the Conventional View, Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2006 25–33.
* * Sam Storms, Understanding Spiritual Gifts: A Comprehensive Guide, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2020. 62.
* * * Søren Kierkegaard, Works of Love, Trans. by Howard Hong & Edna Hong, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995, 51.
* * * * Storms, 65.