Published on: 23/09/2025
Last week, Mike wrote about his experience of leading worship alongside a talented young musician. I also have a friend who is a brilliant worship leader. From a young age, people around her spotted that gift in her and nurtured it, giving her opportunities to practise and be supported by mentors. When she leads worship, it’s like getting a glimpse of Heaven.
I’m a good musician, but I can’t lead worship like she does. I believe I have a gift for playing certain instruments, but the gift for leading others into worship isn’t there in the same way. At times in my life I have looked at the gifts of others with jealousy – I have wished that I could do the same things they do or be the same way they are, all the while ignoring the gifts that God has given me. I have been like the foot or the ear in 1 Corinthians 12:15-16, thinking that I am no use to the body as a whole because I am not a hand or an eye.
It has taken years of discernment and maturing in my faith to understand that the best way for me to serve God is to use my own particular gifts and skills in his service, rather than trying to serve in the same way others do. Society says ‘be yourself’ – but for what purpose? Perhaps, for the follower of Jesus, the key is to ‘be yourself’, but in the sense of using your own unique gifts in the service of God and others (1 Peter 4:10).
In our Diocese we talk about living as Lights for Christ in the world today – following Jesus and sharing his light with others as we go about our daily lives. We all have this same basic calling because of our baptism into the body of Christ, but the way this is lived out will look different for each of us. When light is refracted through a prism, it shines in a spectrum of colour; in the same way, when we share Christ’s light, it is refracted through the prism of our own particular personality and gifts.
Sometimes when I visit a church to give a talk, somebody approaches me afterwards looking crestfallen and tells me that they don’t really feel like a light for Christ. They don’t have confidence in their own ability to represent Jesus to the people around them. The good news is that we are not relying on our own strength or ability to do this – God tells us that his power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9), and furthermore, our faith can have an impact on others without us realising. So if you are in a season where you feel more like a ‘jar of clay’ (2 Corinthians 4:7) or like you are ‘being poured out like a drink offering’ (2 Timothy 4:6) be encouraged – God can use us even when we don’t feel useful!
If you’re a church leader, how can you help those in your community to discern their particular gifts and calling? Do we encourage everyone to understand that they have a vocation, and not just those who are called to ordained or licensed ministries? Are we careful not to put certain gifts on a pedestal and ignore the value of others? How can we help those in our churches to feel confident that their contributions are worth making?