Solving the Puzzle of Us

A Reflection on the Second Reading for Sunday, May 12, 2024:
The Ascension of the Lord

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Ephesians
4.1-7, 11-13

​Brothers and sisters: I, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

The gifts he gave were that some would be Apostles, some Prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

We remain to ourselves unsolved puzzles.*

We live with ourselves every day, and yet we know that we don’t know everything about ourselves. We turn to doctors to learn more about our bodies. We turn to counsellors to learn more about our minds and emotions. We turn to God to learn more about who we are from the One who knows us better than we know ourselves. And we do all of these things because we yearn to know ourselves better.

In the Second Reading (from Ephesians, Chapter 4) Saint Paul says that some of us are “apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers” and that Jesus gave us these gifts to equip us for “the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” 

As a person employed in the work of ministry — and, let me be clear, each one of us has a role (paid or unpaid) in the work of ministry, we simply have to choose to take it up — I have been invited on more than one occasion to consider which of these gifts are most pronounced in me. Am I an apostle, a prophet, an evangelist, a pastor, or a teacher, and what does knowing this tell me about the way God made me and how I can I leverage that to build up the body of Christ?

Now, I don’t think I will ever completely solve the puzzle of my self, but I’m a naturally curious person, so I decided to find out more using an online tool based on Ephesians 4 that will tell me which of these five gifts is “my” gift.**

Here’s what’s immediately funny to me about this test: I’ve just written “I’m a naturally curious person,” and the assessment says exactly that. It identifies my top gifting as Teacher or “Light Giver,” which means that I am “curious for deeper understanding, learning and revelation.” Okay, so maybe I have learned a thing or two about myself over the years. But what this assessment tells me that I did not know is how my role as Teacher fits into the work of growing, building and maturing the body of Christ.

So, I ask, what are your gifts and what is your role? I may do paid work in ministry, but my role as a Teacher isn’t confined to “churchy things,” and neither is yours!

Your role (as apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, or teacher) is alive and influential in your family, your workplace, your friends’ circle and your volunteer work — wherever you are, you touch lives with your gifts, perhaps as a Light Giver (like me), or a Dreamer Awakener, or a Heart Revealer, or a Story Teller or a Soul Healer.

So, why not take the test? Aren’t you curious to know yourself a little better?

Notes​:
* Gaudium et Spes, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World <https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html>
** Learn more about APEST™ https://www.alanhirsch.org/tests and the Fivefold Ministry assessment https://fivefoldministry.com/pages/learn-about-the-fivefold-ministry.



Donna Davis

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