Transforming Our Gifts
By Dee Seaquist
For most of the past 18 years working in congregations, Dee’s ministry focus has been the development and implementation of gifts based volunteer ministry. Her passion is nurturing coaching relationships with congregations, helping empower and equip members through gifts discovery, and a team based volunteer ministry system. Dee currently works at The Youth & Family Institute as the Director of Conferences & Training Events. Dee is a member of Transfiguration Lutheran Church in Bloomington, Minnesota, USA.

In 1966, when I was 18 years old I was hired for my first “real” job. This job was at a large insurance company. My task was to type form letters to people who had filed claims with the insurance company. I was to then present these typed letters for my boss’s signature. Being something of a creative sort, I started to make these form letters more personal and friendly, showing empathy with the circumstances of the insured. Unfortunately, my boss wasn’t impressed. He called me into his office and let me know that under no circumstances was I to change one word of these letters. I wasn’t hired to think or be friendly, just to type what was printed in the form letters. Well, it didn’t take long for my job to become boring. Any joy I might have felt in doing a good job never really happened. In fact, this job compelled me to constantly watch the clock looking for the time for a break, or better yet, for the end of the day! I didn’t last very long in this job, only about six months. Have you ever been in a situation that caused you to become a “clockwatcher” ? Have you ever had a job or a task to perform that just took the life, joy and energy right out of you?

As Christians, we have come to understand that God has a different plan for us than to be “clockwatchers.” The Bible has much to say about God’s plan for us. In the book of Genesis we read that God created humans in God’s image. God’s image to us is one of love, and our response to God’s love is to reflect that love to the world. Psalm 139 tells us that God put each of us together inside our mother’s body, and we are to praise God because of the wonderful way we are created. In the letter to the Ephesians it is written that we are God’s masterpiece created anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things God planned for us long ago. In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans chapter 12 we are told that with God’s help, we are to take our lives, our ordinary, everyday sleeping, eating, going-to-work and walking around lives and place them before God as an offering, a living sacrifice and worship of God. In the process of this living sacrifice we will be transformed. Part of this transforming process is to become very aware of how we live, to discover how we have been gifted and called to the good work God has in mind for each of us. And an important part of how we are to live is to discover God’s intention for each of us. We are each created differently, but we come together as the body of Christ to do God’s good work and to be who we are created to be. We are to use our God given gifts as best we can.

So, we ask, how are we to discover God’s intention for us? How might God’s plans transform us? The answer begins with God’s grace, received by faith, to believe what the Bible tells us, which is that God created each one of us on purpose. That God has in mind specific good work for each person to accomplish. And that each person has a specific part to do to help accomplish God’s purposes. Without each one, God’s kingdom on Earth will not be all that God intended. Every person with his or her given gifts is needed. Just imagine what your congregation would be like if every person, every man, woman and child understood their God given gifts and talents and used these gifts and talents to accomplish the vision and mission God gave your congregation to do. What spiritual growth might happen? What good works might you accomplish? This indeed would be a transforming experience. We would, each of us, be transformed from “clockwatchers” into joyful, energetic living masterpieces of God working together into God’s kingdom come.

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