I had an interesting encounter with two young ladies at a local dog park this week, which led to an invitation to speak at a Mormon church. Needless to say, I was not expecting that. And after the conversation was over, I found myself thinking about God’s gifts, and about his calling on my life.
On this particular morning, I had not been at the dog park for very long when I noticed two college-aged girls approaching me. I noticed that they did not seem to have a dog with them. That’s not too unusual, actually. Dogs often run around and play, and they don’t always stay very close to their people. When the girls were near enough I asked “where are your dogs?” and they told me that they didn’t have any. That was a bit unusual. At that point I could see their name tags and realized that they were Mormon missionaries. I had no particular need to be anywhere else, so I let them draw me into a conversation.
One of the pair asked me if there was anything I was especially grateful for. I smiled at that and began listing all the ways God has blessed me, starting with my wife, Catherine. That led to questions about my relationship with Jesus, which gave me the chance to talk about this web ministry, my prayer walks, and the ways God has blessed me to minister at my church. I think that made an impression, because that’s when one of them asked if I would be interesting in speaking at their church. Unfortunately I had to decline. The differences in theology between myself and the Mormon church are simply too great for that to be acceptable, and I knew very well that the leaders of their church would have canceled the invitation as soon as they found out what I believe. In a different situation, if the invitation had come from somebody with authority, who knew what I believe and was willing to have me there anyway, I might very well have accepted.
We parted soon after that, and as the girls went their way looking, no doubt, for other people to share their faith with, I found myself wondering what good had come out of the conversation. I did not get a chance to explain what the differences are between what I believe and what their church teaches. I also didn’t have an opportunity to present the gospel, or tell them why I don’t accept the Book of Mormon. The bottom line is that I have no idea what was actually accomplished by this conversation, and it’s likely that on this side of heaven, I never will.
But as I pondered this, I seemed to sense the Holy Spirit saying that it was okay. As I pointed out in an earlier article, God has not gifted or called me to be an evangelist. Some people certainly are called by God to that role (Ephesians 4:11). These are the ones who can proclaim the gospel in a way that brings others to the point of decision. I, however, am not one of these. Rather, like all followers of Christ, I am called to be a witness. A witness testifies about what they know from their own experience. And that was what I did at the dog park; I told those two Mormon missionaries about all the cool things Jesus has been doing in my life lately.
Before you ask, yes, it did trouble me a bit that the conversation never got to a place where I could tell them how the Jesus I follow is different from the Jesus their church teaches. But I reminded myself that I am not God’s only servant. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth:
I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service (1 Corinthians 3:6-9).
And as I look back at that conversation, I can’t see anything that I wish I had done or said differently. In fact, it was specifically because I was not trying to insert the gospel, but just letting the discussion develop naturally, that I had an opportunity to speak about what Christ has been doing in my life. I’ve noticed that happening a lot recently.
Now I want to be clear about something. When I say that I’m not an evangelist, it’s not from lack of training, or because I’m afraid to get out there and try. Over the years, I’ve had lots of training in evangelism, both through the Navigators and Campus Crusade for Christ. I know the techniques; I could even teach them if somebody wanted me to. I also have enough experience to know what does and does not work for me. To know what I can get better at through practice, and what requires talents that God has not given me. It was only after many years of fumbling and failing that I finally gave up trying to do a job God had not called me to do, and started doing instead the job he has called me to do. Ironically, that decision has resulted in my bearing witness to Christ’s work in my life far more often than I ever did before.
For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully (Romans 12:4-8).
In December of 2021, when I began having quiet times again after a hiatus of many years, the Holy Spirit very clearly said to me, “remember who you are.” And since then, that phrase has come up again and again in my meditation on Scripture, and in my prayers. Who am I? I am a son of God. And I am not exactly like anybody else who has ever lived, or ever will.
God loves variety, which is shown in the fact that we are all unique. None of us is exactly like anybody else. And none of us was created for exactly the same purpose as anyone else. That means we need each other. We are a social species, after all, and that’s by design. The very first time in Scripture that we see God expressing dissatisfaction with anything is when he said, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). God did not intend for us to be self-sufficient. Not in daily survival, and not in ministry either. It’s not prideful to recognize that I have abilities and gifts the church needs; it’s just a matter of believing what God himself has said (1 Corinthians 12:15-25). You have gifts and abilities the church needs too. God’s word tell us:
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).
There are tasks God prepared specifically for me to do. There are others that he prepared for you. That’s pretty awesome when I think about it. And when I don’t try to force myself to do a job that isn’t mine to do, I’m able to devote more of my time and energy to the things that I am supposed to do. To find, and then pursue, those good works that I was actually created by God to do. One of those things for me is writing. It’s something I enjoy, and ever since jr. high I’ve been told, by teachers and others, that I’m good at it. But it was only a little less than fourteen months ago that I starting actually using my writing in God’s service, when I created this web site. In the short time since then, I’ve written more than 130 articles and devotions. I honestly had no idea I could do that. (And, truth be told, if it were just by my own efforts, I couldn’t.)
But maybe you don’t know what God created you to do. I’ve noticed that far too many people who want to follow Jesus don’t really know what they should be doing. Here’s a trick I’ve discovered that can help you figure that out; start doing something. It doesn’t really matter what it is at first, as long as you’re doing it for Christ. If you can’t immediately think of anything, go to your church and ask where they need volunteers. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t sound like your kind of “thing.” Just start doing it. And while you’re doing whatever it is, pay attention to what parts of that ministry you are good at, and what you struggle to do even after you’ve gained some experience and practice at it. At the same time, look around and see what other opportunities there are. It’s okay to leave one kind of service, even one that needs people, and move into something that’s a better fit. Don’t expect God to send a prophetic word directing you to exactly where you should be. He can, of course, do that if he chooses, but most of the time he doesn’t. Figuring out who you are and what you were created to do usually takes time and hard work. It certainly did for me. Above all, pray. And decide right up front that you will obey whatever God says, even if what he tells you to do is not what you thought it would be, or wanted it to be.
It may seem by this point that I’ve come rather a long way from two Mormon missionaries at a dog park, but I really haven’t. It all comes down to remembering who I am, and the fact that when I do that, I’m also at the same time remembering who I’m not. I’m not an evangelist, but I am a witness. And when I finally realized that and stopped trying to force my conversations to turn into presentations of the gospel, I found that my normal, unforced conversations were just naturally providing me with opportunities to testify about God’s goodness, not in my theology, or even (usually) in the Scriptures, but in my life. This encounter at the dog park is just one example.
As I said, I’m a writer. For a number of years now, God has also been training me to be an artist. I have no idea what he wants to do with that, but I’m looking forward to finding out. And I’m also a retired archaeologist so I could, if I had wanted to, have quite thoroughly debunked the Book of Mormon1. But that wasn’t my role during that conversation. My role was simply to testify about what Jesus is doing in my life. Maybe you were created for a different role. Or, more than likely, multiple roles. Whatever you were created to do, go do it. Don’t wait to get started.
1. Which I would not do. Deconstructing false religions tends to create atheists, not followers of Jesus. That would not be doing those girls any favor at all.