The Invisible Umpire

"Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God’s grace." 2 Corinthians 1:12
  
The apostle Paul writes with great confidence that his conduct in the world and towards his fellow believers is right before God. The questions that his boast raises are the following: 

How can Paul be so sure that he is right and who or what determines what is right and wrong?

Although Paul did not depend on his conscience to determine whether he was right before God, he regarded his conscience as the umpire of his life.

"I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me." 1 Corinthians 4:3,4

The One who determines what is right or wrong is God Himself. We cannot depend on human wisdom or the world's wisdom or even on our own wisdom to determine what is right and what is wrong. However, we can choose who or what will govern our conscience.

The conscience is the invisible umpire who judges according to one's own standard, the world's standard or God's standard.

 
For example, if I choose my feelings and desires to govern my conscience, I will live according to what I desire and will be ok with that. Or, if I choose to let what is socially acceptable or that which the media communicates is acceptable to govern my conscience I will live according to the world's standard and be ok with that. Likewise I can choose to let my conscience be governed by what I, myself consider to be right and live according to my wisdom and be ok with that.

The problem, however, is that what is ok for me may not be ok for you. In that case, who is to say what is right and what is wrong?

A quick test will help you think about this question of what determines what is right or wrong:

• Is same sex marriage ok? Why or why not?
• Is murder ok? Why or why not?
• Is incest ok? Why or why not?
• Is adultery ok? Why or why not?
• Is fornication ok? Why or why not?
• Is stealing ok? Why or why not?

Perhaps your general answer would be something along the lines of: as long as I don't harm another person, I can do what I like and that's ok.

The problem, once again is, who determines what is harmful to another person?

As a believer in God as the Judge of all, I choose to align my conscience to the righteousness (that which is ok before God) that is at work in my life by the influence of the Holy Spirit and revealed by His Word. Every believer has received the gift of righteousness that is at work in his or her life (see Romans 5-7). Together with God's revealed will (the Bible), the Holy Spirit makes God's heart and willl known to the believer's conscience so that s/he can have the confidence that s/he is living according to God's standard with integrity and godly sincerity. God's gift of His presence and the revelation of His will is the grace by which the believer is called to live his or her life.

Can we say with Paul, "Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God’s grace."?

How do I discover my gifts?

There is no unemployment in the Kingdom of God. God has given each member of the Church "gifts according to the grace given us" (Romans 12:6). That means that God has graced each one of us to serve each another in different ways. The question is, "What gifts have I received and what am I supposed to do with them?"

The purpose of the gifts

"Freely you have received, freely give!" Matthew 10:8

Firstly we must understand that God's gifts are freely given to us. We cannot earn them. 

Secondly we must understand that the gifts God gives us are not meant to be self-serving but are given to serve others. In view of what God has done for us (His mercy), God calls us to no longer live for ourselves but for God and others. This change of attitude comes about as we change the way we think about our lives and consider what God desires. The pattern of the world is self-centredness and self-gratification but the way of the Kingdom is other-consciousness and living for the benefit of others. As the believer lives a life of dying to self and living for God, s/he lives as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God (Rom. 12:1-3). 

Thirdly we must understand that God gives us gifts to be used in our lives and not only in the context of the Church organisation or meeting! Too often Christians live as unemployed people because they apparently haven't found their ministry in the Church. That is a very limited view of why God gives His children gifts! Jesus empowered His disciples to demonstrate the Kingdom of God in the world by their freely giving what they had received (see Matthew 10:8; Acts 3:1-10; 6:1-8).

Paul writes,

"We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. Love must be sincere." Romans 12:6-9

We must learn to use our gifts as the Church and not just in the Church. As God's people, God has gifted us to demonstrate God's love by prophesying, serving, teaching, encouraging, being generous, leading, showing mercy and simply loving others. All these gifts should be used in the context of the Church meeting/organisation/organism as well as in the world.

How do I discover my gifts?

Look at what you already enjoy doing.

There are all sorts of complicated questionnaires one can answer to discover one's gifts. However, it really isn't that complicated. Here are a few easy questions to ask yourself to realise what you already have received.

How do you like to serve others most?

Do you like doing them a favour? (serve)

Do you like to encourage them verbally? (prophesy)

Do you like helping people to know something? (teach)

Do you like to give people gifts? (be generous)

Do you like to influence people positively? (lead)

Do you like giving to the needy? (show mercy)

Do you like to be a shoulder to cry on? (be compassionate)

Do you like being creative to bless others? (cook, create, paint, play music etc)

Do you like to keep things in order? (administrate)

Do you like to bring people and facts together? (manage)

And so on...

Look at what you do that produces positive results (good fruit).

Have a look at what you do that blesses others and even ask others what they think you are good at!

If something costs you a lot of effort and stress to produce, it probably isn't one of your gifts.

What book of the Bible do you find yourself in mostly?

I have found that we are drawn to the gifting we carry. Our worship leaders hang around the Psalms, our prophets hang around the prophets and I tend to hang around the apostle Paul. Whose life in the Bible do you admire most? Ok, apart from Jesus?

Eagerly desire the gifts

God wants us to desire more gifts so that we can demonstrate His love in more ways. The primary motivation to desire the gifts of God must be love and the desire to use the gifts for the benefit of others. 

Use what you have

As you use the little you think you have, God will give you more to steward. It's a Kingdom principle (Matthew 25:14-30; 2 Cor. 9:6).

I encourage you to realise the gifts you have received and to use them diligently to bless others within the Church and in the world. Realise God's greater purpose for giving you His gifts and freely give what you have freely received.