Jesus told a story of a wealthy man who divided some of his wealth among three servants before leaving for a trip. When he returned he asked for an accounting. One servant who had received 10 talents had doubled his investment and was able to return 20 talents to his master. Another had received 3 talents, but he also was able to double them for his master. Each of these individuals were rewarded for their faithfulness. However, the third servant only received one talent and promptly buried it so as not to lose it. When the master returned this servant returned the one talent back to his master who rebuked the lazy servant for not receiving even a minimal return on the talent. He was not rebuked because he didn't return as much as the other two; he was rebuked because he didn't do anything with the one talent he had.
Some people who are called to bivocational ministry are multi-talented people with numerous ministry strengths. Others of us have far fewer talents, and it is this crowd that I want to encourage today. First, remember that it is the Holy Spirit who passes out his gifts as he wills, not as we might desire. God knows the ministry he has called you to achieve, and he has gifted you to achieve that ministry. You don't have too few gifts, and you don't have the wrong gifts. God knows exactly what he is doing, and he has given you everything you need to succeed in your ministry.
Second, in their book, Now, Discover Your Strengths Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton writes, "You do not have to have strength in every aspect of your role in order to excel." Bivocational ministry is one of the few generalist positions remaining today. We are expected to be able to do almost everything in the church, and chances are at some point we will do just about everything that needs to be done. Some of those tasks will be easier because you are gifted in those areas. Other tasks won't be so easy because you are not gifted in them, but you'll be expected to do them anyway.
My primary gifts are leadership, preaching, and teaching. As long as I am working in those three areas I am content and feel reasonably comfortable that I will do a good job. However, as a bivocational minister there will be a lot of things expected of me that do not fit in one of those three areas. A good example is leading worship. I enjoy music and love singing. The problem is I am a horrible singer. I know nothing about pitch, keys, or anything else about music. However, more than one Sunday morning I would lead the music in our church when our music leader could not be there. I learned very quickly to step up to the microphone, announce the song we were going to sing, and then step back when we started singing so the microphone wouldn't pick up my voice. I did what Buckingham and Clifton call managing around your weaknesses.
It would be great if we only had to function in the areas of our giftedness, but that is not realistic for a bivocational minister. Work in the areas of your giftedness as much as possible, but don't worry when you have to do things for which you are not especially gifted. God will honor your efforts. However, while you're doing those things be looking for someone else who could do them better. Chances are God has equipped someone in your congregation to do those tasks for which he has not gifted you. Just remember...you do not have to have strength in every aspect of ministry in order to excel.
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