Natural Talents in Service to God

In the Old Testament period of redemptive history, God gave special gifts to a few chosen ones. For example, each of the prophets had a call and the gifts necessary to deliver Gods’ message. For the construction of the tabernacle and the temple, God gifted craftsmen to complete His plan. These may have been enhancements of natural talents or supernatural gifts; the record doesn’t say. We do know that the worship of God required a human intermediary: the priest to whom granted the right to offer the appropriate sacrifices (the descendants of Aaron). Unless they were specially gifted, the average Israelite had only their natural abilities to work with.

All that changed after the cross. Jesus told the Samaritan woman that a time was coming when God would be seeking those who would worship Him in spirit and in truth. They would no longer need to go to a prescribed location and use the services of a human intermediary. Christ became our high priest, and He intercedes for us continually in the spirit realm of the heavenly temple before God’s throne. We have the privilege to approach that throne in spirit while we remain in our earthly (fleshly, soulish) bodies.

We learn through Paul’s epistles to the church that God gives spiritual gifts to all believers. There is no gift of worship today because all those who have given themselves to Christ have immediate access to God. This is made possible by the Holy Spirit’s presence in us alongside our own spirit. The worship “in truth” Jesus told the Samaritan woman about proceeds from this union of Holy Spirt with our spirit. This is one of the most glorious aspects of our being “in Christ.” The greatest of the Old Testament saints didn’t have this. Jesus may have been thinking of this when He said the least in the Kingdom of God would be greater that the greatest in the Old Testament.

Admittedly worship is more than praising God and extolling Him for all His virtues; it also involves the work we do for Him. The children of Israel had only their natural capabilities to use in worship. This led to the condition described in Sirach 43: “We could say more but could never say enough; let the final word be: ‘He is the all.’ Where can we find the strength to praise him? For he is greater than all his works. Awesome is the Lord and very great, and marvelous is his power. Glorify the Lord and exalt him as much as you can, for he surpasses even that. When you exalt him, summon all your strength, and do not grow weary, for you cannot praise him enough. (Sirach 43:27–30, NRSV) This passage laments the limitations of soul-only worship; these people didn’t have the ability to worship in spirit and truth which Jesus foretold.

People today who use only their natural, soulish abilities to worship God or do His work are in the same boat. Even though they “summon all [their] strength,” they cannot do enough. As I wrote previously, natural talents can be sanctified when they are offered to God in the right spirit. These offerings are gifts of worship given to God (Rom.12:1), whereas spiritual gifts are given by God to His people.

This is not to diminish the value of natural talents. It is necessary for people to bring the kingdom of God to earth by proper use of their natural talents. To use a warfare analogy, they are fighting the battle against evil on one front. But, like many wars, our battle against evil is necessarily fought on a spiritual front as well. Paul told the Ephesians their battle was not primarily against earthly forces, but against spiritual wickedness in the heavenly realm. Trying to fight on that front with natural talents is like bringing a knife to a gunfight; though it may be well-intentioned, it is doomed to fail. Remember what happened to the seven sons of Sceva when they attempted to do battle in the spirit realm without the spiritual weaponry.

It is sad that so many well-meaning Christians shy away from the biblical admonition to wage war on the spiritual front. The excuse I have heard most often is that supernatural gifts, miraculous gifts, ceased to exist at some point in history. This view is taught in many seminaries and delivered from the pulpit by their graduates.  (I shared my disagreement with that position in “Spiritual Gifts.”) It is equally sad that many of the proponents of ongoing supernatural gifts abuse them in the same way that the Corinthians did. My response is that Paul did not say the Corinthians should stop using their gifts; he said they should continue to use them but in a loving and orderly way.

It is also helpful to differentiate between a natural talent and its spiritual counterpart. A Christian who is a talented speaker is not necessarily exercising the gift of prophecy when teaching or preaching. The gift of prophecy has two expressions: foretelling and forthtelling. In many instances, the Old Testament prophets foretold what would happen in the future. Perhaps most often, they simply spoke the message God asked them to deliver. This aspect of speaking God’s Word is the most common use of the gift of prophecy today. The gifted prophet is moved by the Holy Spirit to deliver a specific message. A naturally talented speaker may use the same words, but the words won’t carry the spiritual weight of the prophet.

 The parallel gift of wisdom is similar in nature; it allows the gifted one to apply God’s Word specifically to the circumstances at hand. Any person who knows the Word well by natural means can do this. A healthy intellect and a determination to study God’s Word can produce wisdom by natural means. Every believer should be doing this. By contrast, the gifted person could have the Holy Spirit bring God’s truth to mind directly. The word of wisdom spoken by the gifted individual carries beyond the sound waves or ink on paper into the realm of the spirit. There it will do what Isaiah promised, and it will not return without accomplishing God’s will.

(I must add at this point that God often gives His gifts for a specific occasion. For example, a sincere person preparing to deliver a Bible message may pray for God’s anointing. God may well grant the spirit of wisdom and prophecy for that individual at that time. The person would not necessarily be considered a full-time prophet, but the message would have the spiritual effect required to accomplish God’s will in the spirit realm.)

The common misunderstanding of the use of supernatural languages (tongues) has also led many to abandon them or even disparage them as evil. A careful reading of 1 Corinthians 14 reveals two different uses for tongues. On one hand, they could be used as a sign to unbelievers visiting the assembly of believers. The misuse of this aspect of the gift is what Paul chastised them for. They were not using their gift out of love for the unsaved, but rather for their own aggrandizement. Paul soundly criticized that behavior.

Earlier in the same chapter, Paul encouraged a different aspect of a supernatural language: he recommended tongues as a way to speak directly to God for the purpose of personal edification (vv.2-4). He explains this more fully a few verses later saying, “If I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unproductive. Therefore, what should I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind.”

Far from discouraging a special prayer language, Paul recommends it saying, “I want you all to speak in tongues.” He may have been thinking along the lines of what Jude said: “These [the false teachers] are the ones who cause divisions, worldly (Greek: soulish), not having the spirit. But you, dear friends, building yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God.” I do not think Jude meant to diminish the use of natural, soulish abilities to pray. Every believer can and must use intellect, emotion, and volition to pray as directed by the Holy Spirit. At times, the Spirit may even supply the words when we don’t know what to pray. Once again, the difference between the natural and the supernatural is evident.

For me, the end of the matter is this: natural talents are used in the earthly, soulish realm. Spiritual gifts operate in the spirit realm. The Lord’s Prayer encourages us to ask that God’s will be done, “on earth as it is in Heaven.” Using natural talents in service to God accomplishes His will on earth; using a spiritual gift works God’s will in the heavenlies. The advance of God’s Kingdom requires both. We must not let false teaching or human failures to use spiritual gifts appropriately cause us to avoid using them at all.

Related Posts: Spiritual Gifts; Living in Zerubbabel’s Day; It’s Not All About You; War is Hell; Why Witness?; Excusing the Pharisees