God made you sporky and that is awesome!
Summer 21 I went to a great christian camp/festival called David's Tent. To be honest any massive event after the COVID shenanigans would be pretty awesom!😆 It is a long weekend event focused on worship it starts on Friday and runs with (band) worship 24 hours a day until Monday afternoon. I was on team helping the artists get around the site in a golf buggy. I did that a few hours a day and then was free to enjoy the socialising and worship. It was fantastic! I carried a few items with me all weekend in my rucksack, Bible, notebook, chilli bottle, gum and... a spork!👌🏼
Confession, I love a good spork, no really I do. I think there are two reasons why; firstly it is the purity and minimalist side of it. I can do it all, spike, slice and scoop with a spork, and all of it one handed! Secondly, they are made for adventure, for going places, so I associate them with hiking camping and all that stuff I love. What is awesome is both of these reasons are relevant to the post!🤔
One of the things that happens at any festival is you see/hear people with truly amazing gifting and talents. Over the weekend I heard many people talking about different artists, speakers and how gifted they were. It was then God spoke to me about my spork... weird, yes but stick with me!
What I felt God share with me is that most people are sporks, and that He loves sporks for the same reasons I do.
You see a spork is a fork a spoon a knife sometimes even a bottle opener etc. They are hugely adaptable, multi faceted and useful in a variety of situations. Often we get super excited about someone who has a real anointing/gifting for something, like worship leading or preaching or maybe telling people about Jesus. They are like a super sharp knife or a big old ladle. These people shine and are super useful when they are used in the right places.
Someone who is a wonderful teacher/preacher could be like a sharp knife. When you want to slice up the meaty parts of the Word of God in to delicious bite seized pieces that are easier to understand and digest these are your people!!! Right?
A prophet could be seen like a ladle, able to scoop out of the mysteries of what God is saying and serve it up to us in a way that feeds, encourages and directs.
The knife will tackle bigger chunks with more success than a spork!
The ladle will scoop up larger volumes than a spork!
However, you try eat a bowl or soup with a knife or carve a joint of beef with a ladle...! haha thats an image right!? It isn't going to work out.
The Bible teaches us that there are certain people with certain gifting which are gifts to 'the body of Christ', the church. Their role is not to the world, get that, their primary role is TO THE CHURCH.
"So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up"
Eph 4:11-12
So certain people are specialists and they have a role to the church. Yet the majority of the worldwide church is not a specialist in the same way and that is why God loves a spork!!! Most christians are sporks!
God loves a spork because it is versatile in a multitude of situations. He loves a spork firstly because it's ready for adventure and designed for 'going'. When Jesus commissioned the first disciples He said 'GO'. We are a sent, 'going' bunch of people. That may mean literally moving as missionaries but more often means understanding that we are sent/commissioned in our everyday for the adventure of bringing the kingdom. A spork is the right tool for the job! Secondly, with the complexity of life; the workplace, friends, family, the gym, church, hobbies... there is constant need for us to be able to teach, evangelise, draw on prophetic wisdom, care for (pastor) our friends/family and so on. God uses our 'SPORKINESS' to navigate this crazy buzz of life scooping, spiking, cutting as needed to spread the kingdom everywhere and yes I did just make a word up.
A specialist is not there just do the job brilliantly but rather to help us do the same job. They are to 'equip' us, help us do the same, preach or prophecy etc. There role is to make that bit of the spork fork'ier, knif'ier or ladle'ier... a knife is to help us get sharper, a ladle to help us get deeper etc... You get the point!
I think as a spork sometimes we can look at a knife and think; 'wow if only I could cut like that.' However, our jobs is to learn from the knife, to get sharper and increase our cutting capacity. Really God can use our sporkiness in so many situation.
In any church setting and especially large church gatherings, like David's Tent, there are lots of specialists doing lots of special things. I love that!!! We as the body are sooooo blessed by their gifts and we will have become better as a result of their ministry.
Now don't push this little playful analogy too far, it breaks easily lol. We are not all carbon copies, like sporks there are loads of different types. Different shapes, some made of wood other metal or plastic, they come in different colours and some have a better blade others a better spoon. We all are unique and powerful people filled with the Holy Spirit. Part of the fun of following Jesus is learning where we maybe sharper 'knifey' or a deeper 'spoony' than others. We all have gifts talents and the Holy Spirit adds to us all in different ways.
It struck me based on a few comments how often we can overlook the awesomeness of our general sporkiness!!! We need to learn to love and admire ours and others spork factor!
We all have our fav preacher or worship leader etc but it would be super sad if we overlook how awesome it is to be a spork by focusing on the shiny ladle... remember God loves a spork!
SO GO FORTH AND SPORK!!!
Embrace your inner sporkiness!
Push yourself to explore all your edges, to teach, evangelise, prophecy and more. God has made you perfectly adapted to ‘going’ on adventure bringing the kingdom in every area of your world.
Big love
Joss ♥️
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