Marketplace Ministry-Utilizing Your Gifts
By: Sara Payne, Magnify Missions Coach
Email: sara@magnifymissions.com
Years ago when I was in college, I had my first real and vivid encounters with the Bible and ultimately with Jesus. I remember being taught and learning strategies for engaging in God’s word-one of which was to imagine the scenes we were reading about. I can recall that the Bible felt alive and active as I read the words off the page, but my imagination seemed to fail me on some level when it came to putting myself into the scene or visualizing what was going on. The image in my mind was somewhat like a fuzzy screen where you can see shapes and colors but in a muted way. I’ve had more practice and developed more history with Jesus since that time, which has helped, but I would say that the recent series, The Chosen, which follows the life of Jesus as he builds his ministry, has had a significant impact on my ability to visualize who Jesus is and how he was interacting with people in his daily life. If you haven’t seen the series yet, I highly recommend it. What I’ve loved is getting to see an extremely realistic portrayal of Jesus doing life and being able to imagine Him as a real person. It truly has had a powerful and meaningful impact on the time I spend reading His Word.
Where Jesus Spent His Time
As I read my Bible I have been encouraged and even excited to picture Jesus in those moments as he’s walking through villages and stopping to have conversations with the people he encounters. He is where the people are. I can see Him taking the time to talk with people and meeting people where they are at right in their workplaces. He is in the hustle and bustle of selling and buying. People around him are baking, metal working, sewing, selling produce-they are working. I recently wrapped up my reading of The Marketplace Christian by Darren Shearer, which spurred some of my thoughts about this. Shearer notes, “Of Jesus 132 public appearances in the New Testament, 122 were in the marketplace.” This really struck me as significant. It wasn’t homes, synagogues, or hillsides where Jesus showed up the most; it was in the thick of the marketplace. Of course it makes sense, He went where the people were and in reality most people were at work or going about their daily business. So if Jesus was in the marketplace, then it's safe to say that’s where we need to be, but what does that mean for us exactly?
The Marketplace is Calling
In his book, Shearer emphasizes the importance of being “you” and being a Christian in the place you’re working right now. He makes a solid argument for the value and necessity for believers to be in the marketplace using their unique gifts to do work that brings glory to God, bears witness to His kingdom and brings people into contact with the Gospel. We weren’t meant to stay in insulated Christian circles and only exist in Christian workplaces. We should not be jumping from one Christian-only sphere to the next. Based on Jesus' example we need to get out and we need to be active in our spheres of work and play because we were designed to exist and serve there. Shearer makes a compelling point to the need for Christians to use their unique giftings to display God’s power and the beauty of the Gospel within their spheres of influence, the main one being the place where you work. My marketplace is currently the internet because the majority of my job is about creating and sharing content to help missionaries and those in ministry. When I was a high school teacher, it was my classroom and the school where I worked. Currently, I have some other spheres where I’m working and playing, some of those being the YMCA where I work out, my neighborhood, and serving with a ministry that’s open to all of the moms in my entire community. What about you? Where has God uniquely positioned you at this point in your life? What is your current marketplace?
Getting Comfortable With Yourself
One aspect that I have begun to notice in Scripture is how perfectly comfortable Jesus is with himself in each setting he finds or puts himself in. He is always at ease, and He knows how and when to use the gifts the Father has given Him. He has a quiet and unassuming confidence as he speaks the truth (prophecy). He enters into conversations naturally and brings people together (connecting). He listens and asks insightful questions and knows how to respond (wisdom & knowledge). He is aware of his surroundings, situations he’s entering, and the needs of others (discernment & compassion). He teaches people from all nationalities and backgrounds as well as heals them of their afflictions (cross-cultural ministry, teaching, healing). Of course He’s Jesus so he models all things perfectly and he has ALL of the spiritual gifts. Lately though I’ve actually begun to take note of and reflect on how they play out in His workplace. As I sink into my own skin, my personality, my skills and gifts I am drawn to His example. I’ve been thinking more about what it means to use who God has made me to be in each area of my life. Am I comfortable being me and using my gifts in each setting I find myself? Where are the areas I thrive and feel most at ease? What are gifts that I know I have but that I struggle to use or avoid because I’m not quite comfortable with them? What opportunities am I missing to use my gifts? What gifts are being underutilized?
Unique Image Bearers-Using Your Gifts
Shearer provides a Spiritual Gifts Assessment in The Marketplace Christian and then gives a description of what each gift entails and how it can be used in the marketplace. I love learning more about who God designed me to be, so I found the test extremely helpful and insightful. It’s an excellent resource and I highly recommend going through it. At this point in life I’ve taken many assessments about my gifts so I wasn’t too surprised about my outcomes, but I found myself reconsidering how I’m currently using my gifts and in what ways I’m not using them at all. Part of my growth as a believer has been discovering what ignites me and excites me and also leaning into tasks and work that utilize my God given design. For me those are prophecy, hospitality, discernment, and cross-cultural ministry. I’ll share just a few examples of what this has and can look like. For example when it comes to prophecy for most of my life I can recall feeling very confident and even burdened to share and speak truth to people. I’ll get a heavy heart and a flutter in my stomach when I need to share something important. In fact until I’ve shared it I can’t concentrate on much of anything else and feel weighed down by it. There have been many occasions in my life where I can identify with the prophet Jeremiah’s words, “But if I say, ‘I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,’ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.” Currently, I use that gift serving on the leadership team at my church. I’ve had to share and speak many challenging truths that were not easy to say or receive, but needed to be said at that time. It has been extremely helpful in my relationships as I don’t hold back from speaking when it’s necessary. I also currently use that gift in my role with Magnify Missions. It has been helpful as we develop this ministry and as I serve as a coach. I regularly share with people the specific items God puts on my heart for them. Another gift that both my husband and I share and love putting into action is hospitality. We regularly invite people over for dinner and host events where we invite everyone we know (in all of our spheres of life) to attend. It’s so important to us to show hospitality, that we have this as a part of our monthly budget. In my classroom it looked like creating a space where kids felt welcomed and cared for-brightly colored posters, plants, comfortable places to sit and read. In my role with Magnify Missions I use this gift to find excellent places to eat, comfortable spaces to stay, and I work to ensure people feel cared for and lavished upon during the course of our workshops. One of my anchor verses for hospitality is, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1-2). I want people to feel loved and lavished upon and that desire comes from the Lord. So as I’m intentionally using that gift I’m bearing witness to Him.
Every one of us has the opportunity and the responsibility to use the gifts we’ve been given on behalf of the Kingdom, but not in isolation with other believers. Those gifts are given so we can bear witness to the One who gave them to us. Take some time to consider your gifts and how you are using them. You can use these Spiritual Gift Reflection Questions to think through how you are applying them to the different areas of your life. If you don’t know what your gifts are, then a first step would be to take a Spiritual Assessment like the one in The Marketplace Christian. Start putting them into good use and “be confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).
Sara Payne is first and foremost a beloved child of God. She likes to surround herself with people who love Jesus, be out in nature, work out, cook, and drink delicious cups of coffee. She is married to Ryan, an amazing man who loves Jesus, and also is (in her opinion) a rock star with a band called Attaboy. They have one beautiful little girl named Isabella, who is a joy and delight! Sara’s first job after college was as a missionary serving overseas in Budapest, Hungary. She then transitioned into being a full time English teacher in a PBL school on the south side of Indianapolis, IN. There her mission field was high school students. After getting married, she worked for Magnify Learning as a Branding Manager and PBL facilitator. Since becoming a mama, she now works for Magnify Missions where she is able to combine her love of missions and teaching to serve and coach missionaries around the world.
