Hello, everyone, and welcome to this week's episode
of Trinity Talks. My name is Kyla. My name is
Amalvel. And my name is Ben. And we are here
to continue unpacking the Growing Season sermon
series that we've been doing this summer here
at Trinity, where we're going back to the farm
to learn what the farm has to teach us about
faith. And this week, we're talking all about
power. And particularly about, you know, how
tractors, the imagery that Rob uses, the tractor
provides the power, but then there's all of these
different implements or tools that sort of get
hooked up to a tractor, right? You get a plow
or you can get a cedar or you can get a hay baler.
I've now run out of tractor imagery, but there's
lots of different tools that you could hook up
to a tractor, but they're all powered by the
same source. Yeah. And sort of how that connects
to our spiritual life, that we are all people
who are powered by the. Holy Spirit, but for
different tasks, different gifts, different things
that we're able to do. Yeah, so as you folks
think about the sermon and sort of what Rob talked
about, were there any particular pieces that
really stood out to you? Well, I can sort of
see another analogy would be on film and television.
Yeah, you have the director, you have the cinematographer
as well, but you also have You have all the other
roles. There's plenty of roles. Sure. Even in
the cinematography department, you have lighting.
You have people using the flags and the bounce
sheet car things to deflect light. And you have
people using dollies to move in and whatnot.
And you have camera operators. And your goal
is all the same, to make the best film. So it's
just... But everybody has a role and you do your
best at your job. accomplish it. Yeah, yeah,
yeah. I think that's really helpful imagery for
people who are like, what's a tractor? Or like,
how does it work? That's the arch version of
what is a tractor. Yes. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah.
One of the things that always stands out to me
is the fact that everyone just has a unique role,
even if you aren't entirely sure what it is yet.
Sure. It's something that's great where everyone
will eventually get to see, oh, I actually have
really cool places to fit into stories where
I didn't think I did. Yeah. Or even And it's
just small spots, small jobs make a big, meaningful
difference. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. And I
think just like to add to that, that sense that
like every role or every spiritual gift like
matters. Right. That sometimes we think, oh,
I'm not, you know, the person up there singing
on the stage or I'm not, you know, the person
who's like reading the scripture or preaching
or like any of those like really visible roles.
But like. equally we need the camera people and
we need the like people who are welcoming and
we need the people who are making coffee right
like absolutely all of these are like we need
them all in order to make this whole thing sort
of work back into people yeah yeah i think sometimes
the most important some of the most important
roles are the ones that are accomplished so that
people don't have to think about it. Sure. You
know, like, like, for example, when we, at least
for a lot, a lot of us, when we get out of the
service, what do we do? We want to go get a coffee.
Yeah. Yes. We don't have to worry about, oh,
is the coffee made? Is there cream and sugar?
Right. Somebody has already done all of that.
Yeah. It's just there ready to go. Yeah. Yeah.
So I think to help us sort of. frame this conversation
it would be helpful first to think about what
actually are spiritual gifts um if you were to
like try and define them in some way what might
you say i think one of the things that comes
to my mind is like an unusual neck for something
unusual talent okay suddenly it's like most people
can do this but you seem to just excel here even
if you're not sure why yeah okay yeah yeah uh
well i think i i kind of looked it up what they
say that it was which is uh There's nine of them.
Okay. There's wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing,
powerful deeds. prophecy, discernment of spirits,
various kinds of tongue, and interpretation of
tongues. Okay. Don't ask me what that all means,
but that's a list. I'll take one of everything.
Yeah, and I think that's one of the lists in
Scripture. I think there's actually several places
in Scripture where there's different sort of
lists of spiritual gifts, but those are definitely
some of them for sure. Yeah, and I guess I think
of them, yeah, as... like you said like a a knack
for something or like an ability to do something
that is given to you by god to serve god's people
in some way and and that can be yeah like it
could be something like really powerful and dramatic
like healing or it could be just like acts of
service or it could be somebody who like speaks
really well or or singing right like it can be
all kinds of these different things and I think
that one of the important things to think about
spiritual gifts is that there are, some of them
are like super specific, but some of them are
like really broad, right? Like, I don't know
that I would say that somebody has the spiritual
gift of making coffee, but, but maybe they have
the spiritual gift of like service and like wanting
to be helpful. Right. Um, and, and that's something.
Like, what do you think makes that a spiritual
gift as opposed to just like a thing that I'm
good at? I think it's, I think for me, it's,
is what you're doing, helping the kingdom of
God. Okay. Is what you're doing, supporting the
kingdom of God. Right. Okay. Like even, like
even what we're doing now, we're just, you know,
we're not just doing a random podcast. We're
doing a podcast to help fellow Christians and
people wanting to, you know, get better in their
faith, you know? So. you know i guess but like
i guess it's it's hard to define like what category
that would fit into sure but maybe it's not so
much about the categories it's just as long as
in your where in your life are you supporting
the kingdom of god sure and in what way yeah
yep yeah I think it's interesting for me when
I think about what's a spiritual gift, because
I think similar along your lines of like things
that are powered by God helping out, especially
community God is even better, but also the broader
community. Yeah. But I think the question for
me comes is if all of our actions are power comes
from God. Yeah. The question is where do the
spiritual gifts specifically come in? Sure. I
think those come to basically those special talents
that you do have, where you find you able to
have a better fit or able to make more of an
impact. Right. I think if all of our power and
knowledge does help come from God, then finding
those spots where you have a little bit more
expertise might be those ways of just seeing,
oh, this is where God may be touching my life,
may be pushing me in a direction. Yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah. And I think, yeah, sometimes it's
about expertise. I think sometimes it's also
just about like our own passion and our own sense
of like, oh, hey, when I'm doing this thing,
like I actually feel really alive. I feel really
connected to God and or connected to this community
that I'm. part of or whatever right like i think
that's a good sort of way to think about okay
is this actually what god is calling me to do
it's ways we can feel god working through you
in it yeah yeah yeah are there other ways that
you think like things that might help us to identify
our spiritual gifts i think if it's something
that you're naturally interested in or gravitating
towards even in like even in christianity like
even when i started you know A lot of like Christian
YouTube stuff I found was more interesting was
spiritual warfare. Sure. You know, so I think
that which kind of looking it up, it kind of
is like discernment of spirits, you know, you
know. But I mean, for other people, it could
be, you know, whatever, you know, it's not it's
not necessarily. It's something that you really
do have to discover. Sure. You know, it's not,
you know. It's not something that's, and I don't
think it's something inherently known. It's just
sort of, you just have to see, okay, well. What
are you gravitating towards? Sure. Absolutely.
I think on that point, how do we discover them
is by trying things out. Sure. A lot of times,
especially growing up through school, the classic
question is like, oh, what do you want to do
for a job afterwards? The classic answer is,
I have no idea. Yeah, yeah. But by slowly trying
things out, testing, like seeing if you can volunteer
somewhere, just put yourself out there a little
bit. And that doesn't have to be extrovert. I'm
going to say hi to everyone or do everything.
But back -end stuff, too, works. As long as you're
trying things out, you get to test the waters
and see this is something you feel. Oh, no, not
that one. Oh, maybe this one. Yeah. And I think
for folks who have some level of like like leadership
or influence other people over other people,
just like inviting them to try new things with
you, I think is really helpful. Like I can think
like. Before even starting this role, I was like,
podcast. Like, maybe I guess that's part of the
job, but like whatever. But like being able being
invited into it and being able to like have this
practice and realize like, oh, this is actually
just a space where I can like have conversations
with people. Like, I really like doing that.
I'm good at conversation. Right. Yeah. I think
being in a program where it forces you to try
different avenues. Sure. Definitely helps. Like
when I was going through film and television,
first year you have to do, you have to do writing,
directing, sound. Okay. Cinematography. Doesn't
matter if you don't like it or you never want
to touch it. Cover the base. You have to, you
have to at least get a 50. Okay. Bye. You know,
right? So it's either going to be like. I hate
this. I never want to touch this or, Oh, I didn't
know I was good at this or, Oh, maybe let's explore
this. And then second year, you start to streamline
with, you know, you'll be in the writing stream
and the directing stream, cinematography stream,
that kind of editing, all that kind of stuff.
So, but it's like first year. No, you're doing
everything. Don't like it too bad. You may have.
Three miserable classes and two all good. We
got two good. We got two good. But it's designed
to be able to explore it. But also another good
thing about that, especially if you're planning
on being a director, is being able to see every
aspect of it. Sure. Because there's nothing worse
than a director with an ego that thinks they
know everything about everything. Sure. And then
they just ruin everything. Sure. They're acting
solo. They're not using the team. Exactly. People
have their gifts, but you can't have all of them.
Unless you're God. God has all of them. I think
it's important to seek out other people with
different gifts to help. with the same thing
sure yeah yeah yeah keep thinking one thing that
was popping in my head is both the ability of
like oh everyone has their gift and there's always
the cliche of like everyone's special which yes
but there's also have news of like don't disregard
anyone respect everyone but also look for ways
that other people could be a really good benefit
yeah lots of places where i'm like oh i i didn't
think that i could really help out here but maybe
i can or actually I know a friend. They would
be excellent here. Right. Yeah. And so it's great
to look out for others. Yeah. So on the flip
side of that, like, are there things that you
think get in the way of us being able to identify
our spiritual gifts? I think just busy schedules
is a big one and lots of, especially right now,
there's lots of big issues in the world where
maybe it's just the news generically reading
that or whether it's something like the economy
of going, I quick, I need to make more money.
I have to focus more on work, school, and we're
always running around. So I think a lot of times
busy schedules, it just keeps us. distracted
from looking at it or looking for others. Yeah.
Yeah. I think another factor that gets in the
way is the secular world. Sure. Everything that's
outside of our church and our Christian community,
you know, because the non -Christians are not
going to get it. Yeah. This is how it is. You
spend time with Christian community, you spend
time outside, you're like, okay, you know, there's
some things that are going to go way over their
head or they're going to discount or they're
just not going to like, get or they're gonna
try to discourage you know so i think that also
plays a factor in like like let's say you are
supposed to be someone that serves or whatever
it's like then but it's like oh but you gotta
you you know you gotta focus on making more money
or you gotta or you or you shouldn't be why are
you spending all your time with these church
people or whatever you know what i mean like
so it definitely can have a negative effect for
sure yeah i think like sort of as we've said
in a few different ways like being plugged into
christian community is like really essential
to that like discernment process right that like
as we work with other people we get to learn
okay i'm good at this and ben is really good
at that right and like let's let's each do our
things but like working together towards the
same goal right um yeah and just people who like
have the same values and like are like encouraging
you to figure out you know what what is yours
to do absolutely yeah i think it's interesting
as well you're saying the secular world often
like distracts us by focusing on the wrong thing
yeah especially depending on the people you're
talking to there are people who do accidentally
like focus on their things that aren't necessarily
essential to us but there is also some great
challenges as well from people outside the faith
too. So it's great to see both sides and have
conversations with everyone you can. Even people
you disagree with can still really have some
constructive conversations. It's great. Yeah.
And I think sometimes the things that we do outside
of church, like inform, like can equally, first
of all, be spiritual gifts. Oh yeah. But can
also like inform. how we serve in the church,
right? Like if someone is really like professionally,
like has a certain kind of skill or just like
they know, oh, hey, I really enjoy like being
outdoors and like leading people on hikes or
whatever it is, right? Then like knowing, hey,
I can like bring that into the church and like
use my passion for the natural world, use my
passion for like gathering community in a like
Christlike setting as well. Yeah. Absolutely.
It's very fun to see where all the things kind
of combine for both just experiences and the
community. Hey, there's lots of people who have
gifts. There's lots of people just with experiences
who can help other people maybe discover them,
too. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. So Rob talking
about spiritual gifts being powered by the Holy
Spirit. So like, what does that mean? Like, what
does that look like? Yeah. With it being powered
by the Holy Spirit. Yeah, as opposed to like
powered by me. I don't know. Powered by cereal.
Yeah, maybe. Powered by a balanced breakfast.
Exactly. I think powered by the Holy Spirit is
that it's, I think that comes down to the intention.
Okay. Like, like you can have a gift. Like, let's
say you could have, let's say you have a gift
for writing. Sure. But. Are you writing horror
stories and like things that are like very non
-Christian, very demonic? Sure. Or are you writing
for a series like The Chosen? Okay. Right. You
know, like where, where are you? Like you can
use the same gift to, to help, uh, to help be
a light or be a darkness. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
So it goes to like how we then use that gift,
the direction that it's pointed towards. OK.
Yeah. What would you sort of add to that? I think
one of the nice things is having just a spiritual
gift means God's in the background. So it almost
gives it an extra bit of like support behind.
Sure. Where if I was just trying something all
solely on my own, I'm great and all, but not
that great. But having someone behind you, it
means that you have more support going forward.
There's more of like. fail safes or more people
to surround yourself with especially for community
especially in the church is really helpful for
that yeah yeah is being able to just go through
instead of just on your own strength you can
have a lot bigger and better people behind you
sure yeah you can lean more on god on the harder
times yeah absolutely and it means that like
when i get tired of using my gift because like
just because it's a spiritual gift from god doesn't
mean that i won't experience all of the like
human feelings about it absolutely i can be like
i really do love serving and serving people really
helps me feel connected to god and i'm feeling
tired and burnt out yes these can both be true
um and so like when that happens being able to
like go back and be like I'm not doing this on
my own, right? I'm doing this through the power
of God in connection with Christian community.
Like I think that first of all, helps us to prevent
some kind of burnout because I'm not, I'm not
doing it because I feel like I need to do it.
I'm doing it because this is what God has asked
me to do. And therefore. When I need to take
a break from it, God is still able to do it.
Even without me. And when I take a break, he's
still there to support me during the hard times
when I'm actually working and when I'm resting.
He can give me more of that rest that actually
lets me recover faster. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So just like I think all of those pieces, just
that reminder that it does not depend on me is
super helpful. And I think a good reminder of
that is Moses. Because he had to... lead all
of his he had to lead his people yep and then
of course even then they didn't do such a great
job because it took uh 40 years to get to uh
uh israel you know yeah yeah when it's not supposed
to take that long yes right you know yes but
it's you know you know he was moses was called
by god even if at times he was kicking and screaming
about yes yeah but it's like But that in that
story, it's about you still follow through. You
still have to go. You know, it's not, you know,
just because God will bless you with the gift
or so or will give you success doesn't mean it's
going to come easy. You know, it's like, OK,
you know, God will be like, yeah, you'll be successful.
I didn't say how long it's going to take. I didn't
say how many bumps it's going to take. I didn't
say, you know, you know how much you're going
to have to go through. If you stick with me,
you'll be successful. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. And I think that's also helpful as we think
about spiritual gifts are like things that we
can grow in. Right. It's not like, oh, I tried,
you know, public speaking this one time and I
really bombed. And so therefore that cannot be
my spiritual gift. Maybe it's not. But but maybe
I need to like practice a bit. Absolutely. Like
growing up through school, I was terrible at
public speaking. I wanted to avoid it at pretty
much every cost. Sure. But as I grew up going
down some of my jobs, the best part of my job
is speaking in front of large groups of people.
Right. It becomes something that's a lot of fun
for me. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. So like learning to
grow in that is super important. Yeah. Um, so
then the other piece of this sort of conversation
that's really important is that, you know, we
each have our spiritual gifts, but they all work
together. Um, right. So I'm just going to read
a little bit of the passage that we read in the
service, uh, from first Corinthians chapter 12,
um, starting at verse 15, where it says, if the
foot should say, because I am not a hand, I do
not belong to the body. It would not for that
reason cease to be part of the body. And if the
ear should say, because I'm not an eye, I don't
belong to the body, it would not for that reason
cease to be part of the body. If the whole body
were an eye, where would the sense of hearing
be? If the whole body were an ear, where would
the sense of smell be? But in fact, God arranged
the parts in the body, every one of them, just
as he wanted them to be. And if they were all
one part, where would the body be? As it is,
there are many parts, but one body. So Paul has
been using this. body imagery to describe the
church and sort of says, OK, there's all of these
different parts. So as you sort of reflect on
that scripture passage, like what what stands
out to you? What does it tell us about how we
function and serve together? I think the thing
that comes back to me is always the helping out
with people as a team. You don't have to do anything
alone, but it's always the looking out for others,
whether they think, hey, they have some really
good strengths here or just saying, hey, I don't
know if this is my role. It allows us to both
lean on each other more and lean on God at the
same time. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. For me,
what stands out is everybody has value and respect
everybody because they all have a part to play.
They're not there just for the heck of it. They're
there because to serve a purpose. That's one
thing that I saw that was a struggle with a lot
of people in film and television. It was a lot
of ego. OK, but then again, when you're 20, of
course, you're going to have a lot of, you know,
but it's like nobody wanted to take the lesser
role, the smaller role. Sure. Nobody wanted to
learn about that. It was all about I got to be
the big bad director. I got to be the boss. I
got to control everybody, you know, and that's
not how it's supposed to be. And you need to
be able to see, OK, if something's breaking down,
where is it and why is it? Yeah. And, you know,
how can we help? How can we, you know, you know.
Like, how can we solve that issue? You know,
you have to know all the smaller parts before
you can really understand the bigger picture.
Absolutely. If you're a big director who just
ignores a lot of the smaller aspects, smaller
parts, there's a lot of things that can go missing
and go wrong. Sure. Yes. Yeah. You need the extras.
Absolutely. The extras are very valuable. Yeah.
Yeah. I think that. Yeah, that like team bit
is another piece that's like really important,
I think, to think about. And yeah, it connects
with what you were also saying, Amovil, about
that every person has a role to play. Right.
And I think sometimes we can like. start to try
and like rank spiritual gifts and we're like
ah this is the most essential but actually like
so if you were to like look at like the church
staff team for example you might say well rob
is obviously the most important because he's
like senior pastor he does all the preaching
and like you know libby she's pretty important
because she like leads us in worship and singing
every day but actually I think and everybody
has really important roles to play. But I think
the person who holds this church together is
Mary, who's our office administrator. Right.
And she just like does all of these things that
nobody ever sees. And like when I'm like, Mary,
I don't understand what's happening. Like, where
do I find this thing? She knows. Right. So it's
like it's those each of those pieces that I think
feel so important. And I think another thing
and I and I can relate this back to. a terrible
film project that I had to be involved. Sure.
Is, uh, is you need to trust the expertise of
other people. You need to trust that they know
what they're talking about. Yeah. You know, if
they signed up for a role, they have a strong
opinion on it. Trust that they're, they're saying
it for a reason. It's not be, you know, just
because you're the director and you want this,
that, and the other thing, you know, you're not
it may not be practical yeah you have to listen
to people that say okay here's here's how you
want to here's what you'd have to do to achieve
this right here's some alternatives you know
and you just have to you know so you have to
listen to everybody in the church as well yeah
yeah you know why are things not attendance is
not as strong you know you gotta listen to people
at different aspects sure you know yeah yeah
yeah and i think it's that is trusting that God
is at work, even in the things that I don't understand.
Yes. Right. Like there are some jobs or some
things that might be happening that I'm like,
that's not my passion. That's like, if, if my
church didn't do this particular ministry, that's
no skin off my back. I don't do whatever. Right.
But trusting that God is still at work in that
thing because God has gifted certain people to
serve in that way. And that is ministering and
doing important work for somebody. Right. And,
and I don't need to understand it for that to
be valid. Yeah. Yeah. Like I wouldn't want to
be an usher, but it's, it's an important thing.
Right. You know, versus I'm sure people wouldn't
want to be a side door greeter or whatever, but
that's also important. Yeah. Making the coffee.
That's important. Yeah. Being, you know, be preparing
the communion wine and doing with all of that.
That's important. Yeah. It doesn't have to be,
you don't have to do all of it, but you have
to. You have to have people that are willing
to step up and do that. Absolutely. This thing
is funny. Going back to your saying where you're
trying to like ranking people where they stand
or just doing tier lists is the classic thing
where people tier lists say, oh, this is the
best or this is the one we need. But whenever
you do a tier list, it oftentimes feels like
we forget that, oh, wait, all of the parts are
needed. All of them are important. Yeah. Even
the ones at the bottom, you don't have them.
It all tends to just fall apart. Right. So even
if some parts might end up having a more important
role for some bigger roles, maybe. Right. We
still need everyone. Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Yes. I still need both of my ears, ideally. Ideally.
People function without them. You can. Yes. Good
for them. I would like to keep both of my ears.
We can function without ears. We're just usually
better off if I can hear. Yes. Hearing tends
to help. Yes, yes, yes, for sure, for sure. So
then what are some of the ways or some of the
things that you think sometimes get in the way
of Christians sort of seeing themselves as this
one body with many gifts? Do you think that's
something that comes naturally to us or are there
challenges there? I think sometimes isolation
in some sense is a big thing for that. Whether
that's big or small, sometimes it's just doing
stuff too often by yourself or in a small, really
close -knit team where you're too focused on
just what you're doing. You don't see the broader
picture. Or if you are genuinely isolated and
you don't get to see a lot of people, then you
don't get to see all the influence that they
have. So it feels like you're just focusing on
only you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure.
I think it also depends on did you grow up in
a Christian community or did you come to Christ
later on? Okay, okay. Because self -worth can
be a factor as well. Sure. Like if you don't
value yourself, I don't want to volunteer. I'm
not going to be good. I'm just going to sit at
the back of the church and hum along a little
bit, you know? Sure. You know, right? Yeah, yeah,
yeah. You've got to sort of like build that up.
uh church community if you haven't seen you know
christ's love in in the congregation you're not
you know you're not going to be as willing to
be like okay you know let me try even if it doesn't
work i'm not going to be crucified for it you
know yeah Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I think that's
a really fair point that like, yeah, seeing other
people serve in lots of different ways in enables
us to like see ourselves in different roles.
Right. Like not everybody's going to be like,
Oh yeah, I really want to do, I really could
do like the stuff that is really super visible
though. Like Rob stuff or the Libby stuff or
whatever. Right. But like, Oh, I could stand
at a door and say good morning to people as they
walk in. Right. Yeah. Yeah, I think it's just
interesting as well, whenever I think that the
gifts and how we're going to use them to help
out the others. Yeah. Whenever we start to think,
oh, I can do it a little bit better than others,
we get to focus a little too much on, oh, why
can't I do it better? I think this. And then
the moment you see someone else try and not do
it the same way you do. Yeah. A lot of times
I feel like we get really focused on, oh, OK,
I think I'm just better at this part. Yeah. Where
oftentimes instead of saying, oh, I'm better,
sometimes. really good to take a step back and
think oh how can i actually help this person
learn oh we can do this together right or it's
those times go okay i didn't do that well i can
take a step back and try and just review i think
a little bit of reflection can go a long way
and try to help see the bigger picture and see
Where are parts where I can improve and where
are parts where I need help? Sure. And like sometimes
just recognizing that like the way that someone
did something might just be different. Yes. It's
maybe not better or worse. It's just different.
And, you know, this is not always true. Sometimes
there is a better and a worse way to do something.
But yeah, I think the other thing that came to
mind for me as you were saying that was like
as soon as I start comparing myself to other
people and saying, oh, well, I did that so much
better. Like, oh, well, Ben did that so much
better. And therefore, I'm like. terrible we're
forgetting that it's the spirit that empowers
those gifts right i didn't do better or worse
because i it as if it all depended on my ability
right like maybe i did better or worse because
i was like relying or not relying on the spirit
of god in something right like and this brings
me to a whole other thing where like okay if
Sometimes I wonder if like the like visible markers
of success are actually not the most important.
Right. Right. That like I could do my job really
well and, you know, people could feel really
welcome at church or whatever the job is. But
if I was doing that for myself to make myself
feel really good, is that success versus if I
was doing that because I. believe that God loves
and values each of these people and wants them
to feel welcome in this space. Absolutely. That's
one of the things I think is a lot of the visible
things aren't necessarily as important. Not that
they're not important as always, but sometimes
it's, I think to finance for some of this, if
you have a business that's booming where everyone's
always flying to your doors, of course you're
doing really well. Yeah. There's also a lot of
places that are just really good at managing
their money and make sure, okay, I'm being smart
with how I like steward the resources that I
do have. Sure. And that's of the resources that
make it way more productive than sometimes the
big flashy stuff. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. For
sure. Well, and then going back to your example,
Kyla, I think it's like, if you're doing it for
yourself, eventually that's going to fall apart.
Sure. Because you're going to have bad days or
whatever. Yep. You're going to be like, I don't
feel like doing this today. Yeah. But it's like
when you realize what the importance of your
gift or your position is, that will carry you
through. Like for me, you know, being a side
door greeter, especially at the end of service,
you know, I'm not as fond of it because sometimes
you're waiting 20, 30 minutes because somebody
needs the elevator, but they're chatting away
or whatever. But you're there to provide a service,
you know. And you just got to also remember that
there's times where there could be a lot of nonsense
or negative things happening in your life. Sure.
But you get to that door, you stand there at
the door that you have to let that go. You have
to get that has to be wiped away, you know, because,
you know, I mean, for one thing, for being a
greeter, you know, everybody has their first
day at Trinity Church. Yeah. You know. If your
first day there, someone's miserable. Yeah. Yeah.
Welcome. Whatever, you know, or just like they're
texting on the phone, you know, that's not welcoming,
you know, right. You know, but it, you know,
you want to be, and again, it doesn't matter
what you're going through. Somebody could be
having a really horrible day. People, I mean,
people come to the church at their lowest moments.
So if their first interaction with you is. Oh,
this gentleman or woman was nice. You know, that's
helpful. That that's something important. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. And therefore that
reminder that everything that we're doing is
both powered by God's spirit and for the benefit
of Christ and the church. Right. That, yeah,
I think both of those are really important sort
of pieces to keep in mind. Yeah. So as you think
about this idea of the whole church being one
body with all of these different gifts, are there
any is there anything else that sort of stands
out to you? Are there ways that you think we
as a church can do better at reminding each other
of that, of holding each other up? I think like
especially when people trying to find people
with gifts. Yeah. I think it's important to to
to ask multiple people like, OK, if you're not.
going to be if you don't volunteer who do you
know that could right who do you think that could
be good at this job you know you know it's like
even when like the first time i did the podcast
series it was like i didn't volunteer it was
yeah it was uh like i didn't say yeah like uh
you know it was sally that suggested and i said
well it's like i don't know what i'm i don't
know if i'll necessarily do a good job but i'll
give it a shot i'll do it you know same with
being a side dirt greeter yeah that was or being
a you know that wasn't like oh boy i want to
do that it was like it's being a part of my role
now yeah you know you just sometimes it's because
it's it's harder to look outside yourself and
evaluate yourself For sure. It's easy to be like,
okay, Ben is really good at this. He should be
doing that. Sure. Yeah. Ben's like, are you crazy?
Like, you know, but you gotta be like, it's sort
of like, you gotta like, uh, you know, encourage
people and then they have to be like, I'll give
it a shot. Yeah. Yeah. It could come back and
be like, wow, that was horrible. Never again.
Or it could be like, you know what? This was
really good. I didn't realize I was really good
at that. Yeah, for sure. For sure. Yeah. It's
like this whole. invitational sort of culture,
right? Where we say, okay, somebody needs to
do this role. Oh, actually, I know somebody who
might be really good at that. Even if they don't
think they're good at it yet, right? Yeah. Absolutely.
That's where I get to say, like, thank you, Sally
and the team. I think Trinity does a really good
job of getting people involved, especially, I
think, back to some of the, I think it was a
volunteer fair where we had a whole bunch of
different stations say, hey, could you come here,
check it out, see if this might be a good fit?
I think those are ways we just engage the community,
say, hey. Test it out. Try it out for a little
bit. But it gives you those options where you
can see all the places where you could volunteer.
For sure. For sure. Yeah. Yeah. Well, thank you
so much, guys. Yeah, I think this has been really
helpful to unpack what spiritual gifts are, how
it sort of works in the world. But then, yeah,
also just really emphasizing this team value
and team sort of culture, right? That every part
of the body matters and that we all get to do
that and be part of it. And thank you for tuning
in to this week's episode of Trinity Talks. I
hope that. Yeah, you are able to find your fit.
You're able to find that place that brings you
life where you can serve from the spirit of Christ
in you to serve the body of Christ around you.
And we will see you again next week.