Faith at Work: How Spiritual Gifts Show Up in Secular Jobs

If you’re like many people, the mere mention of spiritual gifts might bring up one of several reactions:

• Ruh roh, here comes a fight among Christians about whether I’m a cessationist or continuationist
• Hmmm, I’m already very uncomfortable because this topic just belongs in charismatic circles
• ???  I don’t even know what they all are…some say there are 4 and others say there are 22?
• My brain freezes and physical hives break out
• None of the above

The answer for our blog today is…NONE OF THE ABOVE! 🙂

There are lots of blogs, articles, and books about spiritual gifts written by pastors, professors, and theologians much smarter than me, so I’m going to leave those potential reactions to be settled with their literature. Instead, I’d like for us to explore, “How could a person’s spiritual gifts be brought to bear with where a person is supposed to work?” And specifically in what many people would label a “secular” job.

On 1/27/26, we outlined 17 topics for you to know about yourself (click here to read), so you can more effectively evaluate YOUR fit with an organization with whom you’re considering working. This week we’re diving deeper into another one of those 17 topics: spiritual gifts. We’ve discussed what to look for on the organizational side in an earlier 8-part series (click here to read the first post in the series).

What Scripture Says About Spiritual Gifts

Let’s begin with what the Scriptures have to say about spiritual gifts. Rather than quoting the passages, I’ll share with you an extract of what each passage identifies in their list of spiritual gifts:

• Romans 12 includes prophesying, serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leadership, and mercy 
• 1 Corinthians 12:4–11 includes the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, speaking in tongues and interpretation of tongues 
• 1 Corinthians 12:28 includes healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues
• Ephesians 4:11 includes apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers

So, depending on how you count them (some overlap as the lists were given to different people) and define them (you could argue that Ephesians 4:11 is about roles in the church, not spiritual gifts)…voila!  The genesis of many different points of view and visceral reactions is launched. 

Rather than getting into the weeds here on the definitions of the gifts listed above, I’ll share with you a simple, quick, and practical tool to help you discern the spiritual gifts God has given you.  Here’s an assessment I found to be very useful:

And here’s an article I found that goes into more depth:

Defining Spiritual Gifts and Attributes

With that said, let’s move on with our topic to get a working definition of spiritual gifts and also contrast them to some of the other 17 attributes we outlined in our previous blog post.

Spiritual Gifts

Divine empowerments, given by the Holy Spirit to believers to serve God and build up the Christian community.

Talents

Capacity for achievement or success. What you are naturally gifted to do in a pattern that leads toward that achievement. 

Instincts

A natural or innate impulse, inclination, or tendency.  Usually leveraging our experiences to help us discern action.

Strengths

A positive or valuable attribute or quality.

The 4 Differences Between ‘Natural Talents’ and ‘Spiritual Gifts’

In addition to the definitional differences above, I found an article entitled, “The Difference Between ’Natural Talents’ and ’Spiritual Gifts” by J. Warner Wallace (7/5/19), the author highlighted four differences between the two that I thought were accurate and practical.  They are:

1. Talents are inherited / gifts are received
2. Talents are possessed by the saved and unsaved / gifts are possessed by the saved
3. Talents are developed and expected / gifts are matured and surprising
4. Talents can be used selfishly / gifts are used to serve God’s purposes

The author recognizes, as I pointed out last week, that EVERYTHING we have comes from God, but I like the delineation he uses as to how and when talents / gifts are given.   You can see the entire article here:

The Difference Between “Natural Talents” and “Spiritual Gifts”

6 Ways Spiritual Gifts Can Fit With Your Job

Rather than belaboring further differences, let’s now quickly cover a few thoughts on how I see spiritual gifts potentially fitting with what many would call a secular job. In fact, let’s hit that point about “secular job” first.  🙂

1. All Work is Sacred

In Scripture, we see no division between secular and sacred vocations with regard to some type of preference that God has for us. Colossians 3:23-24 tells us, “Whatever you do, work at it as working with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” All five Bible translations I checked used the word, “whatever” (ok, the KJV used “whatsoever.”) :), and the Greek root word means “whatever!” Everything we do is to be done for the glory of God and the good of others, so if we ground ourselves in this fundamental truth, it can shift our paradigm about our work and how spiritual gifts can play into our work.

2. Work as Worship

The Hebrew root word encompassing both worship and work is “avad,” with the noun being “avodah” meaning work, service, or worship. See point #1 above. 🙂 Why we do things matters, and what Scriptures tell us in multiple passages is that the motivation for our work (audience of One concept) matters far more than “what we do.” If we can use this filter, like point #1 above, our view of our work intertwined with spiritual gifts can shift our normal thinking.

3. Gifts are Spirit-Activated

In Wallace’s article, he points out, “When we have been gifted by God to accomplish something, we should expect the unexpected. As we mature in our relationship with God, He will surprise us by gifting us beyond our natural talent.” With gifts that overlap with natural talent – leadership for example – we may, in certain situations, experience more depth or abundance in our talent beyond what we have personally developed. In contrast, with other giftings, such as healing, the results may appear only when God chooses to activate them in His perfect timing.

For example, I know people I trust who have laid hands on others, and God chose to heal the individual through prayer. Those same people would also acknowledge that healing is not a gift they can rely on to produce a predictable outcome; it is distinctly Spirit-activated. The question, then, is whether we are consistently maturing in our faith and attentively seeking the Spirit’s leading and promptings so that His work in us can flow to others.

4. Giftings are Unique

As the Scriptures tell us (check out passages pointed out earlier), each of us are equipped differently by the Holy Spirit to be fitted and formed together as His church, so we can effectively serve others. We saw in points #1 and #2 above that all work is sacred and can be expressed as worship, so we have the opportunity to use all of our giftings in our vocations to give God glory.

 Now, I haven’t heard instances of people interpreting tongues in the workplace, but I have friends who have felt led to quietly pray in tongues to themselves for peace and wisdom at their workplace. Some giftings listed seem to fit what I would call our normal work circumstances better (leadership, administration, encouraging) than more evangelistic targeted outreaches (tongues, healing, evangelists). Ultimately, the gifts are to be used to advance His kingdom, not our own will.

5. Promptings Could Have Patterns

When I start to “connect the dots” on circumstances and experiences in my life, that’s one avenue where I can more ably see God at work. Some days I don’t have many dots to connect, but other days are overwhelming. I don’t believe in coincidences or fate…I believe God sovereignly orchestrates our lives in that divine mystery of our free will and His providence. So…what dots or patterns might stand out to you?How might God be utilizing spiritual gifts He’s given you to advance His kingdom at work? For example, I can tend to be judgmental, and God has used that bad tendency to sharpen my curiosity and encouragement to others. I’m far from being where I think God wants me, but His work in my life continues to bring me closer to Him and prompts me to utilize the gifting of encouragement.

6. Gifts May Flow to Talents

Reflect back to the Old Testament characters of Joseph and Daniel. Both were given the gift of interpreting specific dreams for their rulers. Both were given tremendous leadership opportunities because of what God allowed them to do through dream interpretation. Both were given skills, talents, and abilities to carry out those leadership roles. But they both also didn’t hang out a shingle advertising their dream interpretation as an on-going offering to the public. The point is, the gifting may be present within you without you putting it on your resume. 🙂

I certainly am not an expert in spiritual gifts, and some of you may disagree with my views of what the Scriptures teach us about the gifts mentioned. That’s ok, but I’m hopeful that the blog today spurs you on to “love and good deeds” by not overlooking how important spiritual gifts are and how God may use them in our vocations for His glory and others’ good.

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Dave Sparkman currently serves as the volunteer Crossroads Career board chair and local ministry leader. He is also the founder and managing director of Spark Your Culture, a corporate culture consulting firm. Prior to that he worked at UnitedHealth Group, a Fortune #5 public company, serving in the role of Chief Culture Officer. His unemployment experience came from the implosion of Arthur Andersen, where he served as the West Region Managing Partner, People.