What is the most popular highest scoring gift?--Spiritual Gifts FAQs

Question:

What is the most popular highest scoring gift?

 

Reply:

This depends on the context. In my work with hundreds of churches and ministry leaders, I have seen settings where:

 

…there is an unusual abundance of the gift of Faith—examples include a private Christian school in a predominantly anti-Christian community which seemed to require that their teachers and staff have an extra measure of faith to continue to do the work they were called to do. Did the Lord call that group together because they had so many Faith gifts or did He give many of them the gift of Faith for that season? A Session (group of Elders who are elected to lead and shepherd a church) with an unusually high predominance of the gift of Faith—in a season that quickly becomes inordinately challenging, including financial trials and losing multiple key pastoral leaders due to significant moral failings.

 

…a church has more of the gifts of Exhortation than most other churches across the spectrum—their context is an African American church in the southern United States. Is this gift perhaps more necessary due to the treatment of the Black population in that city/county/state? Is it more needed in the specific community gathered in that place?

 

…a Presbyterian church has more of the gift of Administration—Presbyterians are known for their organized denominational and church structures. Has this structural/cultural bent attracted more with this gift because they are more likely to be well-utilized or because they will be more comfortable in a setting where their gift is more common?

 

…a Vineyard church has more of the gifts of Healing, Tongues, and Intercession—they are consistently, in worship and outside of worship, practicing these gifts. Has the Lord called people with these gifts to this setting, or has He abundantly gifted them with these gifts in this context, or have they allowed for the knowledge, understanding, and practice of these gifts more than another church in their community and so these gifts are more evident?

 

…a denominational church recovering from the devastation of Katrina merging with a community church plant in an equally devastated neighborhood and becoming a place of recovery, healing, and outreach discovering that their new leadership team (pastors, staff, elders, deacons) has a higher-than-average mix of Mercy, Hospitality, Discernment, Exhortation, and Helps relative to the size of the group.

 

On the other side of this question is “what are the least popular lowest scoring gifts? It’s more a question of what might be missing or lacking in a particular ministry context. For example:

 

…a church-plant where, even with all their leadership in the room, is very low or entirely lacking the gifts of Evangelism, Intercession, Giving and Wisdom.

 

…an established church whose Session of 12 people (Elders and Pastors) have only one person with the gift of Leadership whose role is not a voting role but a “clerk” role in this season. They also only have one person with the gift of …

 

…a declining church whose leadership group (combined pastors, staff, elders, deacons—a group of 50 total) have NO gifts of Evangelism. Might that begin to explain their decline?

 

…it’s very common, in non-charismatic/Pentecostal settings to see less of the gifts of Healing, Miraculous Powers, Tongues, and Interpretation, but also see a rise in these gifts in congregation member results if a church offers ways to explore, practice, develop, and use these gifts.

 All that said, let’s also remember that no gift is more important than another, no gift should be considered “popular” as compared with others, and no gift should be viewed as “less than” any other.

Important resources:

 

 

Shirley Giles Davis, author of the God. Gifts. You. Your Unique Calling and Design workbook, Your Unique Design Class Guide, Your Unique Design Facilitator Guide, DIOS. DONES. TÚ.: Tu llamado y diseño único (Spanish Edition), and Gifts-Calling-Purpose blog, is a consultant, coach, facilitator who has worked with hundreds of faith-based organizations, nonprofit agencies, and executive leaders in a diversity of fields for four decades. She currently serves as Catalyst for Equipping at her church.

 

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