Are Your Spiritual Gifts Wasted

The church has become a business with some making millions of dollars. The dollar has replaced the usage of individual Spiritual Gifts to assist in church and community growth. When the growth of the church becomes secular (adding numbers and dollars) instead of spiritual (groups sharing and working together for the betterment of the community as a whole), there is a serious problem. Too many people in church means certain Spiritual Gifts will be wasted which leads to a breakdown of formation and fulfillment which are needed for healthy Spiritual Fitness.       
    A question came to me about Spiritual Nourishment and why many people are complaining about the lack of good Spiritual Fitness especially in churches with more than 500 members. Pastors wish to grow their flock to large numbers but there is a real issue when membership reaches a thousand and only ½ to 2/3s of the members show up weekly. Some just look for a church home and say that they are good and go about their lives showing up twice a year to a service. Some are brought in and get caught up in the excitement believing that once they have Jesus they are good and do not need to do anything else or are never afforded the opportunity to be missional in the church body because all the spots are taken. When Spiritual Gifts are left unused, the person can become spiritually malnourished and eventually give up.
     This is a problem with mega churches. People are not given opportunities to exercise their gifts or once involved in one part are stuck and cannot get other opportunities because of the obligation to a specific outreach or missional function which requires all of their church time. Thus the “I got Jesus I’m good” mentality occurs.
    In mega churches, pastors cannot have great relations with multiple individuals. It was easy when towns were smaller, people could help people and the whole area grew together in Christ. As communities grew, churches would be partitioned and two or more pastors would share the flocks causing less burn out and better relational exercise in Christ. In some mega churches the pastors are virtually untouchable which means the deacons, elders, and other teams are created to assist and those they help are at risk of receiving a pre-packaged Word without the personal touch. When this happens, Spiritual Gifts often are not seen and the potential for using them is slowed or stopped.
   Jesus developed a personal relationship with His Disciples who then reached out to develop more personal relationships with others what He showed was a small group concept where a smaller group of individuals who worked together had better Spiritual Fitness because all were involved and relationships were better. In large groups, some could be left out. Pastors are not meant to have so many people that he cannot get to know everyone.
    Man has caused division placing pastors and other high church leaders on unforgiving pedestals where they are expected to be perfect and virtually untouchable relationally. That does not sound like the plan to me. Pastors are human too and just given the calling gift to preach the Word while developing a family relationship within the members of the church. There is a separation, yes but when a pastor does not visit all the members personally, there is something even more seriously wrong.
    There is even a problem with internet churches (yes I know and this is a hit on PathWay) taking the place of a regular church. How genuine is the touch when looking at words or watching a feed? Pastors cannot truly get to know all the souls who see the page or watch the feed even when we reach out for prayer requests. The question, “can I really trust this person with my problems and prayer needs?” is raised. Because of the internet, the Spiritual Gifts of people are not recognized and used to further the sharing of the Kingdom.
Do you know your Spiritual Gift?? If so write it in the comments and we will pray that you are guided to use your gift to the fullest.
If you feel Spiritually Hungry and cannot find your fit in your current church, pray and God will guide you. Everything we do is on His time and He will make sure you are where you need to be. 
    I have a challenge for you as we continue through the week:  Work on your Relationship with Christ through His Word, listening for that still, small voice, and act upon it instead of being an idle or lukewarm Christian. I would rather believe and do something rather than believe and do nothing.  
​My prayer is that your Spiritual Gift is discovered an used so your Spiritual Fitness remains healthy.