March 25: Anointing over Talent

March 25: Anointing over Talent

Acts 6:3 Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business;

As the church grew there arose a problem within. The daily distribution of food to the widows was getting affected, possibly because everyone was more focused on spending more time meeting and praying together. And as would be expected, the people complained about this problem to the leadership (i.e. the apostles). The response to this challenge is worth studying and applying in modern day church ministry.

When posed with a food distribution challenge, the apostles did not ignore the challenge. Instead, they delegated the task to others so they could focus on their ministry. The apostles had a task to do and that was to pray and teach the word of God (Acts 6:4). At the same time, they were careful in how they delegated the food ministry. Instead of choosing people who were good at cooking, the Bible says that they chose people filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom. Interesting set of expectations for food ministry! Wisdom was important, granted. But why did they need to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to simply serve food?!

This brings to us to a very important principle when it comes to working in the kingdom of God:

No matter how small or big the task is, anointing is more important that talent.

David was a young shepherd boy, but it was the anointing upon him that helped him rule as king over God’s own people. Moses could barely speak in front of five people, but the anointing upon him helped him to deliver the nation of Israel out of the hand of Pharoah. There were many talented people in the Bible, but the ones who were filled with the Holy Spirit were the ones that were able to fulfil the God-given duties despite the challenges.

One of the greatest challenges of a church leader is to pick the right person over a ministry area – be it kids, outreach or media. On one hand a person might be extremely talented, but not have the anointing of God in them. On the other hand a person might not be extra special with their talents, but they are full of the Holy Spirit. The outcome is very clear in both cases. The former person will be able to perform well, and even receive applauses from the crowd. But it is the latter person who will be able to touch the hearts of people and transform them, because of the anointing within them. Sometimes the anointed person only need to say a few words, and already God’s Spirit is moving mightily amongst the people. And that is way more important than putting on a good show that will impress the crowd but not transform them.

Food distribution would have seen to be a seemingly small task in relation to what the apostles were doing (ministering the Word of God). The former task was behind the scenes, the latter a lot more public. The apostles could have just picked a few volunteers who were good at preparing meals, to be in charge of the food distribution. But that’s not what they did, they chose the ones that were full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. Why? Because whether it was serving food or preaching the Gospel, people’s lives were to be transformed. And for that mission to be accomplished, the anointing mattered more than anything else.  

Here's a scripture to meditate on as we too go about doing our daily tasks:

1 Cor 10:31 (NKJV) - Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Glory goes to God when people’s lives are transformed through people that are anointed.