Friday, September 27, 2024

Giftedness and godliness

From a good essay about "Preventing a Failing Faith":
...[D]on’t confuse giftedness with godliness. We live in a culture that prizes giftedness, while godliness is often overlooked and ignored. In our results-driven culture, this inverted value system makes sense. Giftedness produces immediate results. People are drawn to those who are gifted. Giftedness is outwardly noticeable and impressive. Godliness is less noticeable. People who are godly but not extraordinarily gifted are often ignored. The church has a tendency to follow our culture in prizing giftedness over godliness. That is one reason why people have been stunned to see Lawson’s sin. He was without question highly gifted, but that giftedness has no connection to whether he was godly.

We see Jesus highlight the irrelevance of giftedness to godliness in Matthew 7:22-23. He warned His hearers that on the day of judgment many would say to Him, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?” The abilities of prophecy, exorcism, and miracle-working are extraordinary gifts, and people who can do such remarkable feats are extraordinarily gifted. Jesus, however, tells these gifted individuals, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” Their giftedness was not combined with godliness; therefore, it brought them no spiritual or eternal benefit. Jesus was not concerned with how gifted they were but how godly they were.

We can judge ourselves or others by the wrong standard, evaluating giftedness rather than godliness. We thank God for the people He has given the church who have immense gifts, but we must be careful not to assume that because we or someone else is highly gifted that we are necessarily godly. In our personal lives, if we would be faithful, we must be more concerned about our godliness than our giftedness. .... (more)

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