Spiritual Gifts: A Methodist Assessment

For one of my seminary classes, Leading Innovation, we had to take several assessments.  One assessed our spiritual gifts and was created by the United Methodist Church; it's located here, should you want to take it.

I've taken these assessments before, many times during the past several decades, so I wasn't expecting to learn anything new.  So when the assessment returned my results, I wasn't surprised to see that it gave me high marks for teacher and shepherd qualities.  I have been teaching college level classes (mainly English) for decades, and part of the appeal of teaching for me is the ability to nurture students, many of whom are first generation college students, and to help them to success. Outside of the classroom, I am often teaching and shepherding: leading classes for my church, guiding younger faculty members who ask for advice, offering a supportive ear to my friends, and a variety of other activities.

The Spiritual Gifts Assessment placed Prophecy as my #2 gift, and that was a surprise to me. My brain immediately went to ancient prophets who spoke truth to power and were killed for their efforts or to the prophets who ran away from God’s tasks and ended up eaten by a big fish or shipwrecked.

But the Assessment included this language, which will stick with me for days, I am sure: “Prophets do not foretell the future, but they proclaim God’s future by revealing God’s perspective on our current reality.” I want to believe that I could reveal God’s perspective, but I also see the danger in believing that I do—throughout history we have seen the dangers unleashed when individuals or populations think that they know God’s perspective. I know the danger that comes with that kind of spiritual pride, so I will be cautious as I ponder this insight.

My spouse and I discussed the idea of what constitutes a prophet.  He was not surprised that I scored high in this aspect.  He mentioned my sermons and my tendency to remind people of how much God loves us.  I'm not sure I see that as prophecy, but it is God's perspective.  And there are many who might disagree that it's God's perspective.  Many might talk about how God judges us, and I tend to think that the judgmental part of God is not the truest aspect of God.

Maybe the prophecy part isn't as far off the mark as I thought.   

I was surprised by how many questions asked about foreign languages, which I had never thought about as a spiritual gift. Facility with foreign languages is not one of my spiritual gifts.

I was also surprised that there weren’t any questions that think about creative practices as spiritual gifts. I was born into a family of astonishing musical ability; sadly, I did not inherit those gifts. But I have developed other types of creative practices, like writing and fabric arts, and they have enriched my spiritual development in all sorts of ways. By sharing these gifts with others, I have enriched the spiritual lives of others too.

I continue to enjoy taking these kinds of assessments. No matter how often I take them, I always discover something new. And even if I didn’t discover something new, returning to these questions offers a good opportunity to make sure I’m staying on a good trajectory.