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Competent

 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (II Corinthians 3:6)

 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,  and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. (I Corinthians 12:4-11)

 

He made us competent? OK, He might have made you competent. That’s not what it says. It says, “He made us competent as ministers of a new covenant.” The prepositional phrase matters. Even with that, putting it on the table to examine presents problems. But the second passage above provides just one list of the manifestations of the Spirit. It’s clear from the passage that everyone doesn’t get every manifestation, so we cannot expect everyone to be competent in each. If we are “competent” in a way we don’t appreciate, or “incompetent” in a way we envy, that doesn’t mean we aren’t competent. It means we need to talk to God about our attitudes.

This is not to say that we should never try to gain competence in some area in which we lack, if we go about it prayerfully. The point is that within the Body, the various competencies are present, not within each of us as individuals. If your congregation has a pastor, you don’t need competence in pastoring. But it might need someone to help in the kitchen. Or someone to clean, to sing, or do any of several things. Too often, we make our giftedness about ourselves. I do this a lot. If I am not as good at _____ as that person, I’m a failure as a person. I’m not competent at anything.  It's so easy to believe lies.

It's time that we start reminding ourselves of the truth. He has made us competent. We didn’t. It doesn’t matter what we think of our competence, because He is in charge of it. We need to tell ourselves, “He has made me competent, so hands off!”

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