I was reading through my facebook feed last night. Hillsong Live posted a quote from Ben Fielding on their status update.
“Worship leading requires loving God more than the gifts He gives us to use or the opportunity to use them.”
That got me to thinking, what would I do if God suddenly took away my opportunities to use my talents? Would I continue to love Him? Would He remain the focus of my life? Or would I shrink away into a depression because I suddenly found myself unable to do what I thought I was put on earth to do? That’s the thing, though.
I don’t need any special talent or ability to do what I was created to do first.
Now, I’m too unwilling to categorize myself these days, so don’t take my reference to the Westminster Shorter Catechism as meaning that I adhere to any particular system of theology. I do believe, however, that their first statement is spot on:
“Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.”
So, what does it mean to “glorify God”? One definition of “glorify” is to “reveal or make clearer the glory of (God) by one’s actions.” Maybe how I live my life is far more important and foundational than my gifts. Jesus did say that if we get loving God and loving people right, everything else will take care of itself (see Matthew 22.34-40).
Did you know that Jesus gave loving people and loving God equal importance? Seems to me that Jesus is saying that how I treat the people around me is going to be a pretty good indicator of my love for God. If I don’t have that right – and I think this is the larger point Ben Fielding is making – then it doesn’t really matter what kind of platform I have on which to exercise my gifts.
If I love my skill more than the God who gave it to me, I’m probably not giving much credence to either.
reylo: 
I can’t get past this question: “What would I do if God suddenly took away my opportunities to use my talents?”
Why would God ever do such a thing? The only example I can think of is when the master in the parable takes the investment away from the servant who buried it. So unless you are wasting what God has given you, I don’t think God would take away what God has given you to steward. And if you are wasting your talents already, you wouldn’t even miss them when God takes them away.
I guess I mean that my role is to create and serve and work with a good attitude. I try not to think much about platform.
The larger point of all of this was to emphasize that a love for God must come before a love for our platform to use our talents. I can think of situations where someone – for one reason or another – has lost their ability to express their gifts. What carries someone through those seasons of life? My answer would be an overwhelming love for God.
For example, my primary gifts are leadership, shepherding and teaching. But, I had to spend a nearly three-year period in a cubicle in the corporate world. Not easy, but it nurtured my love for God in ways that actually using my gifts might not have accomplished.