Customer Reviews

What You Do Best in the Body of Christ: Discover Your Spiritual Gifts, Personal Style, and God-Given Passion

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I found this book to be very helpful to me in determinig where I fit best in the body of Christ. The work pages were very helpful in my identifying and confirming my spiritual gifts. After reading the book and doing the work pages I was motivated to take action. I have purchased, and will purchase more copies to give as gifts to new converts and those who are trying to find their place in ministry.
Patricia.

All of your favorite business books deliver the dismal statistics on employee engagement. StrengthsFinder 2.0 author Tom Rath writes, "Over the past decade, Gallup has surveyed more than 10 million people worldwide on the topic of employee engagement (or how positive and productive people are at work), and only one-third `strongly agree' with the statement, `At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.'"

Also the co-author of Strengths-Based Leadership, Rath adds, "In stark contrast, our studies indicate that people who do have the opportunity to focus on their strengths every day are six times as likely to be engaged in their jobs and more than three times as likely to report having an excellent quality of life in general."

The authors of The Carrot Principle: How the Best Managers Use Recognition to Engage Their People, Retain Talent, and Accelerate Performance [Updated & Revised] note that "according to a 10-year study of more than 200,000 employees, a whopping 79 percent of people who quit their jobs `cite a lack of appreciation as a key reason for leaving.' Another 65 percent of North Americans `report that they weren't recognized the least bit in the previous year.'" How tragic.

So...who's gonna fix this problem--and how?

Next week, a dozen team members from a national association have invited me to invest a day with them and focus on what I call "The 3 Powerful S's." Three cheers for a ministry CEO who understands the foundations of work and relationships!

The 3 Powerful S's are: Strengths, Social Styles and Spiritual Gifts. You know the strengths resources (StrengthsFinder 2.0 and other books). You've probably taken one or more assessments like Myers-Briggs, DISC, Birkman, or even the four animals system. (What were they again? Muskrat, Chihuahua, Elephant and Platypus? I may have that wrong.) I prefer Social Styles (Analyticals, Drivers, Amiables and Expressives)--because those four words aptly describe the four styles.)

But the third "S" is the glaring gap in many churches and ministry organizations. We hammer folks who tilt towards bad theology, but don't take seriously the delightful spiritual gifts distributed to every Christ-follower by our loving, all-wise Heavenly Father. We don't pick our gifts--God does.

Pop Quiz! Tell me the about the 3 Powerful S's of your boss (or board chair): Top-5 Strengths, Social Style (or Myers-Brigg description) and Spiritual Gifts. If you passed this test, then list the 3 S's for your direct reports or at least three other work or volunteer colleagues. Did you pass or fail?

For years, I've offered a Starbucks card in workshops to anyone who can nail the pop quiz. I still have the coffee card--and that's a crime. Maybe even a sin.

What would happen in the Results Bucket, the People Bucket and the Team Bucket if everyone on your team knew and leveraged their own 3 Powerful S's--and the Strengths, Social Styles and Spiritual Gifts of everyone else? It would be dramatic and God would be honored.

Bruce Bugbee writes, "God has created and designed us with a purpose in mind. We are `wired' to care about some things more than others. We have been given spiritual gifts to competently accomplish ministry tasks. We have also been designed with a personal style of relating to others and the world around us. We have been given a passion." So...knowing all of that, what has God designed you for?

If you have the spiritual gift of administration, it's possible that you're serving today as an administrator--but in an administrative area for which you have no passion. What do you have passion for? Are you leveraging the 3 Powerful S's in your current career and/or volunteer role?

If you're up-to-speed on Strengths and Social Styles, but have never invited your team members to take a spiritual gifts assessment, I recommend Bugbee's book.

It includes an assessment of about 130 questions covering all of the spiritual gifts, as described in the New Testament (Ephesians 4, Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, etc.)

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is questioning what their spiritual gifts are and how they can be used in ministry. I would also suggest reading The cure for the common Life by Max Lucado. These two books compliment each other very well. Don't pass them up!

Doctrinally sound but rather elementary. This book would be great for a relatively new believer as everything from the writing style to the self assessment charts is extremely easy to follow. If you already are aware of spiritual gifts, have taken an assessment or listened to a sermon on the topic there is no need to read this book.