Everyone Has the Gift of Helps

I'm not a natural helper.

I have to force myself to help friends move, show up early to church to set up chairs and make meals for people who need them. But I do ... force myself. Because it seems clear from Scripture that we're all on the hook to be the hands and feet of Jesus to others through acts of service.

Though I try not to hide behind it, I've never considered myself to have the "gift of helps." But Friday's post on "Stuff Christians Like" challenges the notion of this "gift:"

A couple years ago I got in a heated argument with a fairly well-known Christian author when he was guest speaking in our Sunday school class. He was talking about how we each have spiritual gifts, which is totally valid, but by way of example he happened to mention that you would never find him sweeping up the church because he didn’t have the “Gift of Helps.”

I suggested that the idea of a gift of “Helps” was invented by people who were too lazy to pitch in and help out around the church. I asked him if he was seriously suggesting that he couldn’t put a chair away because he didn’t have that spiritual gift. “I see that those chairs need to be put away, and I’m just standing here. I wish I could help, I really do. If only God had blessed me with the Gift of Helps!”

I think this concept has been abused. After all, aren't all believers called to help one another? I wrote about this in "Useful Christian:"

Everyone has something to contribute to God's work (Romans 12). Part of the challenge is just showing up. While the Bible doesn't come out and say, "Make yourself useful!" the concept is implied. The imagery of a body, in which each limb, organ and muscle does its part, reinforces the idea that you should be doing simply what you are able.

In a day of sophisticated spiritual gifts tests and leadership training, some Christians may feel like they have little to offer. Others may feel that pulling weeds, making peanut butter sandwiches or holding babies doesn't properly utilize their "gifts."

When I'm tempted to think certain tasks are not worth my time, I remember my pastor. Most Sundays I see him pushing carts of chairs long after service has ended. It's a task any able bodied person could do, but Pastor is quick to pitch in wherever there is need.

Spiritual gifts should not be used as excuses to abandon the more practical, daily offerings of the Christian life. Sometimes washing a sink of dishes speaks louder than preaching a sermon.

Comments

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1. Tami said the following at 8:47 AM on Nov 2:

I actually grieve for that author, because (as the SCL guy points out) he is, unfortunately, missing the point. I hope and pray his attitude has changed; it really is a joy to help, and it's foolish to say "I can't vacuum because that's not my gift". Sure, if your gift is preaching, you may spend less time putting up chairs, because you need that time to prepare and preach. But as your pastor demonstrates, it doesn't mean you'll NEVER put away a chair (or whatever).

1 Corinthians 12:28 lists a "gift of helps" (NASB), but just as the fact of a gift of evangelism doesn't cancel out the fact that we are ALL to be witnesses, this gift of service doesn't exempt us from helping at church.

2. rebekah said the following at 9:11 AM on Nov 2:

I think this concept should be applied to all the spiritual gifts, not just helps. I think helps is a valid spiritual gift, because some people just really love doing behind-the-scenes work more than they would like teaching or administration. But it is true that everyone should be willing to help out, just like everyone should show mercy or speak the truth (prophesy) when the situation calls for it. I've known people to say some harsh things and justify it because they "don't have the gift of mercy". No matter what the gift is, no one is off the hook just because they aren't "gifted", whether it's giving or evangelism or helps or mercy or any of the others.

3. endlessnights said the following at 9:11 AM on Nov 2:

Hmmm...I think the gift of helps isn't about putting away chairs as more about helping people in times of need which is a completely different task to helping keeping the church tidy. I dont have the 'gift of helps', but I turn up early to church and do tasks Im not even scheduled to do, because other members of leadership..yes, other leaders, don't turn up in time to do their scheduled task! I don't see it as helping, I see it as doing what needs to be done.

4. BDB said the following at 10:04 AM on Nov 2:

Well, I'd agree that everyone can serve.

But I've seen people who definitely have spiritual gifts and how naturally certain things come to them. Someone with the gift of hospitality who is always the first one to organize meals when someone's in the hospital. Those with the gift of helps are usually busy doing something - they walk into a situation and see something that hasn't been done, and immeditely start cleaning up a spill or cleaning off a child or something that other people hadn't even noticed.

My Sr. Pastor's wife is like this. She's not an upfront on stage kind of person. In fact, when the church started, she was making extra money by cleaning houses. She would have a tendency to disappear in the early years of the church and go clean the bathrooms to make sure everything was ready. And she did it so quietly. Others would wonder where she was then discover her cleaning something.

We do have paid janitorial staff now. But they definitely have to be on their game because they'd otherwise be embarassed to find the pastor's wife cleaning up something they hadn't gotten around to yet...

5. DEH said the following at 10:44 AM on Nov 2:

While I agree that refusing to do what many consider "less important" things, like moving chairs, is perhaps simply laziness, I feel like the person you quoted just adds to the problem here.

The problem I see is how people in the church view service jobs. We think that because just about anyone can do them, they're not important.

We make the mistake here of attaching a hierarchy of value to positions and work in the church based on what is the most impressive looking. That's wrong. All you have to do is read 1 Corinthians 12 or Ephesians to see Paul cautioning against this very line of thinking.

And by doing this heirarchy thing, we take something away from people who, I would argue, DO have the gift of helps. Anyone who is close to a person with this gift would have a difficult time arguing that the gift itself does not exist.

My husband has this gift. There is a drive in him that amazes me in it's intensity when it comes to doing acts of service. If chairs need to be put away, it is nearly impossible for me to pull him away before he has helped. If he doesn't help, he feels like he's missed a huge opportunity to serve. He derives a great deal of satisfaction from putting away tables and chairs because he feels called to serve the body in that way. Simply put, he can't NOT help and feel that he's done what he is called to do.

I don't have that drive within me. Does that keep me from helping if there's a need? No, but I don't go out of my way to seek out situations to help, either. Neither do I avoid them.

Yet positing that the gift of helps is an invention of the lazy surely takes something away from people who do have this gift and see their place in the body as behind-the-scenes people, without whom few events would ever come together. Their part in the body is important, and while we should all strive to help those around us who need it, we shouldn't deride the gift of the helpers among us. They play an important part in the Body of Christ that should not be undervalued.

Think of this as an analogy: All people are called to evangelize. Not all people have the gift of evangelism. But we don't argue that the gift doesn't exist.

6. Alison said the following at 10:47 AM on Nov 2:

So often people are distract by the "upfront of church" ministries that they forget about the "help" ministries. Yet, I think the "help" ministries are some of the most important ministries in the church. These are the people who humbly serve without the need of recognition. They are the people that make sure that their is toilet paper in the bathrooms, a chair to sit in to hear the message, watch your children in the nursery, makes sure your pastor has a glass of water during his message, welcomes a visitor, provides a meal for the new Mom, shovels the snow off the sidewalks, folds a bulletin and weeds the flowerbeds outside the church. How thankful am I for all those who help. They demonstrate for me Christ's servant heart. Acts of serving was how God showed his love.

7. Becky said the following at 11:06 AM on Nov 2:

I totally agree. my pastor, has also joked that "no one has the gift of children's ministry" to try and get people to sign up to do sunday school. i know this isn't true, but at our little church one women ends up doing the whole thing, getting sucked into it for years, and burns out. She may never have felt called to it in the first place, but the rest of the congragation is unwilling to help out and take a sunday or two because they aren't "called" to it. I think if there is a need in the church, we are called to be servants and die to ourselves...if we can help out, we should seriously consider doing it, even if we don't have that burning passion for it. (Because it's true, no one has a passion for stacking chairs!)But the least will be the greatest

8. Suzanne Hadley Gosselin said the following at 11:06 AM on Nov 2:

DEH #5 and Alison #6,

You make a good point about the TRUE gift of helps. A passion to serve behind the scenes and do extra labor is indeed a special gift. At the same time, not all the work should be left to those who possess this gift. I did not intend to minimize the service of someone who is specially called to serve through helping. In fact, if you read my article, you will read several stories about people like this. I just want to encourage those who hold back from serving because they claim to not have the proper arsenal of "gifts." Thanks for your comments!

9. BDB said the following at 12:07 PM on Nov 2:

When it comes to who should be willing to serve, we need to look no further than John 13:1-17 where Jesus washed his disciples feet and specifically commanded them to be servants to one another. So, I suppose if someone is in a teaching position I hope they're joking about not doing servant-related tasks. You can always joke back, "Oh, you're a teacher - like Jesus? Great. Can you grab a bucket and start washing people's feet?"

But some people do have the gift of helps and start helping wherever they are. After a memorial service reception I was helping put away chairs. A little girl, about 7, walked up to me and handed me a folded chair. I thanked her. A moment later, she was back with another chair, as was her little sister. But hey, I have the gift of administration, so I got them organized. No reason children can't work. But as far as I could tell, they were not told by anyone to help, they just noticed what was going on and started helping, too.

While there may not be a spiritual gift of flannel graphs, I know that my pastor has mentioned that people who show up with the gift of teaching ought to do a term of service in Children's Ministry. We have an actual curriculum we follow beginning with 1st grade, so there is an opportunity for teaching.

10. DEH said the following at 12:31 PM on Nov 2:

Suzanne~
Thanks for your response. I definitely agree that we all need to help and not overburden others, even if helps is their gifting and not ours. :)

To Becky (7)~
As hard as it might be to believe, my husband seems to have a passion for stacking chairs. Or rather, not for the act itself, but for the service it provides in enabling the Church Body to function during meeting times. Even when we are visiting another church, I often find him stacking chairs and moving tables if the need arises. He is eager to serve in that way.

But I definitely hear what you're saying: if he was the only one moving chairs every week for weeks on end, he would eventually get burnt out, even though it's something he loves to do. Even helpers need help sometimes. :)

11. Abby said the following at 1:48 PM on Nov 2:

I grew up in a family where helping out is basically expected. Whenever we've had special dinners or services in fellowship hall or the community center, my family usually stays to help stack all the chairs, and put away tables. I honestly can't remember not liking this task. yes, the tables can be a bit heavy, but there's always someone else to help you move it. I don't think I've ever thought of it as a spiritual gift or an act of service, simply because it's how I was raised. But I like helping out with that kind of thing, so maybe I am gifted in it after all. Thanks Suzanne!

12. Hunter W said the following at 2:04 PM on Nov 2:

Suzanne - I think you make a wonderful point in your article and I agree with Rebekah (#2) that it points to other issues with the Church.

I can't tell you how many people I know who don't participate in missions, even short-term mission trips of 2 weeks because they don't "feel called" to it. Like you said, we're all called to be the hands and feet of Jesus. ALL of us are commanded to take the Gospel to the nations, not just those who feel called. Sometimes those giftings and callings are beneth the surface just waiting to get out and show themselves. A trip to Russia changed my perspective on God and the scriptures.

So often we look for "Comfortable Faith" - we want to make our life easy. But so often being a Christian is about doing things that make us uncomfortable, that make us stretch ourselves, that puts us in unfamiliar situations.

You wisely point out in your article that sometimes we have to do things because it is the right thing to do. How much more influence would Christians in America have if we lived our entire lives this way and not just in selected situations?

13. Sylvia said the following at 2:16 PM on Nov 2:

I love what DEH #5 said.
There is something else I'd like to add the conversation. A lot of us talk about the gift of Helps (which is not "invented by people" ok?) being more "behind the scenes" than the other gifts.
I really think that there is a lot of "behind the scenes" to every ministry, and really, most "helpers" are at least somewhat visible.
I know people who prophesy, heal, teach, exhort and intercede in such quiet humble ways, that very few people notice what powerful ministries they have, and how much they are really contributing to the body. This is the way it SHOULD be, with ALL the gifts. Some gifts are inherently more public, but they should still be performed modestly without everyone knowing every aspect of the work involved.
I have also seen plenty of people move chairs and collect communion cups in the most ostentatious, look-at-me, I'm-such-a-servant way you can imagine.
The parking lot attendants are not invisible. Everyone sees them. Now, if someone looks down upon them because of their service, that is his problem. That doesn't have to do with gifting, only plain, ugly old worldly thinking.
If any of us think that any of our gifts are given to us to bring attention to ourselves, then we need to repent. I am, frankly, very grateful that there are gifted men in my congregation who, when I, out of guilt, try to jump in and clumsily try to move furniture, will tell me to go sit down. If I see my pastor's wife putting away chairs all alone, I had jolly well better offer to help. On the other hand, God pours out gifts to churches, and He KNOWS how many helpers a given church needs. I am grateful that He gives me the freedom to do what he has gifted me to do rather than always feeling bad about my clumsiness and feeble frame when he has poured out gifts on men and women who joyfully and skillfully do what I do with such difficulty.

14. PJ said the following at 3:39 PM on Nov 2:

My church was studying spiritual gifts awhile back and we came to the following conclusion:

For every spiritual gift, there is a corresponding role which we all are called to exhibit.

For instance, we may not all have the gift of evangelism, but we are all called to testify to the reason for the hope that we have.

We may not all be called to hospitality, but we are all called to treat those in need with kindness and help them where we can.

We may not all be called to be teachers, but we are all called to help those with less understanding than us (make disciples).

We may not all be called to be leaders, but we are all called to lead those placed in our direction - especially those with children.

We may not all be called to celibacy, but we are all called to sexual purity.

We may not all have the gift of intercession, but we are called to bear one anothers' burdens before the Lord.

We may not all have the gift of wisdom, but we are all called to fear the Lord (which is the beginning of wisdom) and to seek His wisdom daily.

We may not all have the gift of giving, but we are all called to be generous.

I could go on but hopefully the idea has been explained sufficiently. I can't point to a specific verse explaining this, but I can list specific verses explaining the role which each of us must exhibit in exercising the role.

The idea, as I understand it, is to spend most of your time performing your gift where appropriate, but not to the exclusion of everything else.

15. Vanessa said the following at 4:31 PM on Nov 2:

#12 - I have never been on a "missions" trip...and I am one of those people who do not feel "called" to do so. To me, a missions trip would be a vacation paid for by someone else, seriously.

However, when it comes to community outreaches and times of helping in the local community...whether swinging a hammer with Habitat for Humanity, reading to a homeless child in a literacy project, or organizing various outreaches to the "Jerusalem" of my world...I'm there. 100%.

So many people view missions as only "foreign missions" and they forget that in their backyard is a mission field. If we don't reach out to the people in our own backyard, what good are we as a body of believers? Foreign missions is an excellent endeavor...but not at the expense of home missions.

I feel called to reach out to those who have been hurt or mistreated by (and who have a mistrust of) local bodies of believers in the past. God seems to send me on missions to people who have rejected Him because of something a Christian did or said to them in the past (or a pattern of abuse). I do my best to show them that not every Christian and not every body of believers is hurtful...and a lot of them turn their lives back over to God. THAT is my mission field.

16. Kathryn said the following at 5:33 PM on Nov 2:

I feel so very passionately about this issue and it is summarised quite succintly by my pastor: Needs over Niches.

Spiritual gifts are given for the edification of the church. We are called to serve each other. I may have a niche, but I am going to put it aside to fill a need that I see. If everyone did this, all needs would be filled and none burnt out by trying to fill all the needs on their own.

Needs over Niches

17. Leah said the following at 8:10 PM on Nov 2:

How utterly ridiculous.

"Gifts" comes in to play regarding people's abilities. eg. the gift of teaching - some people just do not have the ability to teach effectively. Or the gift of prophecy, God simply has not enabled most people to prophesy. But helping? Everybody is capable of sweeping or stacking chairs.

18. Becky said the following at 10:50 PM on Nov 2:

DEH: your posts totally caused me to rethink what i said. i love that your husband has the gift of 'helps' :)

19. Elizabeth H. (Russia) said the following at 8:08 AM on Nov 3:

Funny. I LOVE being behind the scenes, so you definitely don't have to twist my arm to wash the dishes. :) For me it is much more of a sacrifice to get up front to make an announcement!

I agree that everyone should be willing to help out here and there. However, DELEGATION is an important part of church organization. As my pastor pointed out recently, he is quite willing to help out at Sunday school if there's a need. But there are LOTS of capable women in the church who are right for the job. Why should he abandon his primary responsibilities just because someone else failed to do their part? (I'm paraphrasing
)

Hunter (12), I live in Russia full-time! I agree that people don't necessarily need a special "calling" to do Missions. It takes all kinds. However, I would NOT recommend it to everyone. It would be a huge waste of time and money to go just because one wanted to gain experience and check it off a "to-do" list.

20. Becky Miller said the following at 9:37 PM on Nov 5:

Oh, man. I love Stuff Christians Like like nobody's business. That was a great post. I totally try to use those lines on myself to get out of doing stuff I don't want to do for God.

21. a. k. said the following at 5:05 AM on Nov 9:

Overall I agree with this post. But I wonder how a passage like Acts 6:1-5 should be construed in relation to menial tasks. The way the disciples regard taking care of widows here ("wait[ing] on tables") seems somewhat sarcastic... I wonder how this passage relates to modern life.

"Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. 2 And the twelve called together the whole community of the disciples and said, "It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, 4 while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word." 5 What they said pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch."