Light and Shadow in the Use of Gifts
Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness: I have cast you to the ground; I have laid you before kings, that they may see you. — Ezekiel 28:17
Test your own selves, whether you are in the faith. Test your own selves. Or don't you know as to your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you are disqualified. — 2 Corinthians 13:5
Author
Dr. Roberto Miranda
Summary: Our strengths can also become weaknesses: every gift has both a bright side and a shadow side. Evangelistic enthusiasm can lead to unfulfilled promises, superficiality, or shallow relationships; pastoral prudence can hinder vision and creativity; eloquence can replace dependence on the Spirit; and love for the anointing can displace spiritual fruit and mature knowledge of the Word. Likewise, continued success can foster self-reliance and pride. Therefore, as leaders and believers, we must remain constantly vigilant and be honest with ourselves and with God, so that our abilities and triumphs do not become subtle enemies of our service to the Lord or pave the way for our future failure.
An interesting aspect of human personality is that, very often, our strengths can also constitute our weaknesses. Every believer, whether a leader or not, must remain aware of this curious law of human nature. Every gift has a bright side, but it also has a dark side.
The person with an evangelistic gift, for example—overflowing with enthusiasm, charisma, adrenaline, and creative ideas—must beware of the dark side of that gifting. The same energy that enables him to organize evangelistic campaigns, speak engagingly and confidently to individuals or crowds, and undertake one exhausting journey after another can lead him to promise more than he can deliver, to develop a shallow and superficial spirituality, or to maintain interpersonal relationships that lack depth.
On the other hand, the pastor whose sobriety and stable, conservative character make him ideally suited to caring for souls over the long term and safeguarding the institutional health of his church can sometimes become so cautious and prudent about every decision that he fails to exercise the vision and creativity needed to take his congregation to a new level of growth.
The great preacher can come to depend so heavily on his oratory and eloquence that he forgets to continually cultivate the fullness and anointing of the Holy Spirit through sober spiritual disciplines.
The super-anointed individual can become so enamored with the anointing that he neglects to cultivate the Fruit of the Holy Spirit or a mature and complex knowledge of the Word of God.
The person whom God has blessed with great successes and spiritual victories over the years must beware of overconfidence in himself and the possible spiritual pride that such an unbroken string of blessings may produce.
In short, every gift casts its shadow. Every anointing has its danger. Every endowment from God, if we are not careful, can become an Achilles’ heel. Constant vigilance is required, along with a healthy dose of honesty with ourselves and with God, so that our gifts—and the triumphs they have brought us—do not become subtle enemies of our life of service to the Lord and set us up for failure in the long term.