based on Creating a Missional Culture: Equipping the Church for the Sake of the World
by JR Woodward
(Completely Unauthorized
and Hopelessly Slanted by Yours Truly So Just Figure Anything You Don’t Like is My Bad )
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Never Rarely Sometimes Usually Always
Using the scale above, write your answers to these questions on the lines provided at the end.
1. I am a big-picture person
2. I am sensitive to the Holy Spirit
3. My heart breaks for those who don’t know Jesus
4. I think we need to focus more on the spiritual healing and formation of the congregation
5. When I read the Bible I expect to gain fresh insight
6. I can get wrapped up in projects and achievement at the expense of my relationships with God and others
7. My heart breaks for the poor and oppressed
8. I think the church should be more outwardly focused
9. I am a peacemaker
10. I prioritize my own learning
11. The church is the best place for people to actively discern and from which to pursue their purposes in life
12. I may come across as inconsiderate or inflexible
13. I consider my job a vocation and an opportunity to be a good witness
14. I look for ways to move our church toward being a family
15. The more knowledgeable we are of Scripture and how to apply it, the more faithful we will be
16. When I invite people to try something new they at least consider it
17. I tend to include the outsiders
18. I err on the side of going along with my cultural context rather than critiquing it
19. My heart breaks for those who have deep emotional wounds and I want to help them move forward
20. I am good at explaining things clearly
21. I bring people together to turn ideas into reality
22. I believe in the power of the Spirit and spiritual practices and I want others to as well
23. I’m a good storyteller
24. When someone I care about is hurting I cannot view the situation objectively
25. I get frustrated when people don’t use the sense God gave them
26. I have a profound sense of being part of God’s mission in the world
27. People are better off facing reality head-on, without illusions
28. I try to preach the gospel at all times and, if necessary, use words
29. I create opportunities for people to play together
30. I can content myself with having the right answer on an issue or question without acting on it
31. I am realistic in starting new ventures, but I don’t particularly fear failure
32. I get involved in justice issues and invite others to do so as well
33. I see opportunities for the church to live into and express the kingdom in ways specific to our context
34. I instinctively grieve with those who grieve and rejoice with those who rejoice
35. The church’s highest priorities should be the study of the Word and fruitful theological discussion
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Never Rarely Sometimes Usually Always
1. ______ 2. ______ 3. ______ 4. ______ 5. ______
6. ______ 7. ______ 8. ______ 9. ______ 10. _____
11. _____ 12. _____ 13. _____ 14. _____ 15. _____
16. _____ 17. _____ 18. _____ 19. _____ 20. _____
21. _____ 22. _____ 23. _____ 24. _____ 25. _____
26. _____ 27. _____ 28. _____ 29. _____ 30. _____
31. _____ 32. _____ 33. _____ 34. _____ 35. _____
Add up the columns here (higher numbers indicate greater relative strength):
__________ __________ __________ __________ __________
Apostle Prophet Evangelist Pastor Teacher
Hooray, I’m gifted, now what?
Employ your unique combination of gifts to increase the unity, maturity and ministry of the church (Ephesians 4). This sounds simple until you try it. God is asking us to use the ways in which we fundamentally diverge in our mental, emotional, and stylistic approaches to ministry to minister together. Each gift comes with its own biblical slants on humanity, the church, the faith and the world. The key here is to recognize and value the gifts and accompanying assumptions of others even though you will find them occasionally incomprehensible. The degree to which they mystify you is the degree to which you need someone else there representing them. They help make whole the mission of God. Maturity comes when these closely held and thoroughly biblical definitions and assumptions rub off on each other to expand our understanding of God and Christ-likeness. Unity comes of remembering throughout the process that we all claim Christ as Lord and are accepted by Him.
It also helps not to let these roles we’re called on to play define your identity overmuch – you are first and foremost a child of God. They are words to help us articulate our God-given strengths in blessing others. It does not constitute an excuse for self-importance or an exemption to caring for others in ways that don’t come as naturally to us. You’ll notice this list of gifts indicates less what exactly you should do in the church than how you’ll likely go about it. Nothing here dictates that you be or not be a preacher, an elder, a deacon, a Sunday school superintendent, a member of the outreach team or a worship leader. An apostolically gifted arts pastor will have a different m.o. than one gifted in teaching, and so on.
Um, am I supposed to know what an apostle does?
Read back through the relevant questions to get a rough, composite sketch of each kind of “equipper,” as Woodward calls them. Even better, read his book. Or leave a comment and we can talk. I’d welcome any feedback or results. Was anyone else surprised by being more “evangelistic” (or “prophetic” or “apostolic,” etc.) than you thought of yourself as? If so, does that seem to be a symptom of my utter lack of training in assessment preparation, an indicator of some different assumptions about how these gifts operate in a missional church, or a sign that another leader is rubbing off on you?