The Stewardship of Talent

In this blog I describe the sphere of our work to include God's gifts of Time, Talent, and Treasure. This is the reason I prefer the term "stewardship". Stewardship allows us to speak in terms of all three types of gifts.

Identifying talent for the Kingdom is an important role for the Development and Stewardship officer. Actually, it is important for every member of the leadership of the school. When done well, resources are identified and applied to the school in a way that blesses the donor as they become good stewards of their talent gifts.

Most people do not walk around proclaiming their own greatness or their skill in a particular area; that would be the sin of pride. However, it is helpful for each of us to see and assess the gifts that God gave us to use to glorify Him.

Since we know that God Himself is generous, we can proceed on the assumption that He has lavished many gifts on His people. So, we start with the "presupposition" that everyone has some talent and we can help uncover these. Sometimes the gift is not reflected in the specific vocation or experience background; we may have to dig deeper and listen longer.

Here is an example. One of our new donor friends wanted to come and learn more about where she could be of assistance. When we looked at her background of science, there wasn't a great fit, at least not at the present time. We probed further and we learned that she really wants to come in and assist a teacher in a lower grade. So, now she is happily ensconced as a Kindergarten aide one day each week. Praise God for good fits!

One word of caution is in order. As we interact with our donor friends, we must be careful to be encouraging (which is biblical) and not flattering (this is sinful). This goes to our motives. Are we doing what we do to manipulate to achieve a certain goal, or are we raising up people to honor the Lord by applying gifts for His glory and for their edification?

Raising talent can be more difficult than raising money, but it is part of the ministry to which we are called. Let us do so with vigor and confidence; this comes from God, too.