The Sanctity Of Skill

The Bible teaches clearly that human skill is God-given and whould be used for God’s glory.

Christians differ widely on the subject of human skill and how much it should be emphasized and used in the Lord’s service. Some believe that natural human skills can be used for God’s work when they are used for His glory. Others, however, have negative opinions about the use of natural skills in the Lord’s service. Some Christians have even gone to the unbiblical extreme of purposely not recognizing or using the natural skills of gifted Christian musicians or public speakers, lest the work of the Lord be “of men” and not “of God.” Such an attitude is not only warped and possibly tainted with jealousy, but is far from the biblical view of the sanctity of skill.

The Bible teaches clearly that human skill is God-given and should be used for God’s glory. Unfortunately, human skill in any field can lead to pride and a desire for acclaim. It seems that this sad attitude is increasing among Christians with great natural talent. But to “throw the baby out with the bath water” by deliberately by-passing skilled individuals while using unskilled people who can just “do the job” is not biblical. Because of the danger of these two unbiblical extremes, it is important to understand the biblical view of the sanctity of skill.

Moses And The Tabernacle
In Exodus 36:1-2, Moses directed Bezalel and Oholiab and other skillful people to work on the Tabernacle because the Lord had “given them skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary.” All the Israelites were invited to contribute to the work of building the Tabernacle (Ex. 35:43), but only the skilled ones were invited to do the work on the sanctuary. Certainly there was a risk that Bezalel and Oholiab and the other skillful workers would be “lifted up with pride.” God could have avoided that risk by having Moses use unskilled workers, but God wanted skilled people to work on His sanctuary. Why? Because they could do a better job! God was interested in more than just the willing heart that could get the job done – He wanted the job done with skill! Should we settle for less in the Church today? No! We should follow the biblical pattern and use the God-given skills available in our churches and ministries. Just as we use skilled carpenters and plumbers for work on church and ministry buildings, so we should use skilled administrators, musicians and speakers who are willing to dedicate their skills to the Lord for church and ministry programs.

Exodus 31:1-11 and 35:30-35 tell us that Bezalel and Oholiab were appointed by God for the work not only because of their God-given skills, but because they were Spirit-filled men. This doesn’t mean that they displayed some dramatic or ecstatic gift. It simply means that God’s Spirit was empowering them and giving them the wisdom, skill and ability to construct the Tabernacle and everything it contains. We read that Bezalel was filled “with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability, and knowledge in all kinds of crafts – to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship” (Ex. 31:3-5). In other words, God not only gave Bezalel and Oholiab and others natural talents at birth, that were developed into skills, but He also empowered those skills by the Holy Spirit. Thus, the creative artistic designs and the know-how for making them a reality was all of God.

This is also true today. God gives different natural talents to different individuals, and when they dedicate their skills to the Lord, His Spirit can “empower” those natural skills so that their creative ideas, artistic designs, expert carpentry, accomplished instrumental music, songs of praise, artwork, needlework, books for teaching or messages for edification are all from God. How wonderful! How dare we glory in ourselves for these blessings on the one hand; and on the other hand, how dare we repress these labors of love and expressions of praise and worship which originate in the natural skills given and blessed by God?

David And The Temple
First Chronicles 15 gives the account of King David’s preparations for bringing the Ark to Jerusalem. David put Kenaniah in charge of singing, including instructions in singing, because he was “skillful at it” (v. 22). The mention of musical instruments along with the singing (v.16) indicates that Kenaniah was a skilled musician, in song and in the use of musical instruments. David wanted the best music for worship. Although there were probably many “gravel-voiced” singers and “wanna-be” musicians willing to serve to the best of their abilities, that was not what David wanted – and it was not what God wanted! David was not just acting on his own initiative, he was being directed by God Himself.

Also in 1 Chronicles 15-29, we see that after the Ark was brought to Jerusalem, David continued to make preparations for the construction of the Temple which would be built by his son Solomon. These preparations included not only Temple blueprints, but also organizing the Levites into divisions for service, appointing gatekeepers, assigning musicians, and many other arrangements. There were 228 musicians “trained and skilled in music for the Lord” (1 Chr. 25:7). Nothing but the best for the Lord! When David told Solomon, “All this is in writing ... because the hand of the Lord was upon me, and He gave me understanding in all the details of the plan” (1 Chr. 28:19), he was speaking not only of the Temple plans and patterns for the items to be used in its service, but also the “divisions of the priests and Levites and for all the work of serving in the house of the Lord” (v. 13). Skilled craftsmen were used to construct the Temple (2 Chr. 34). At the dedication, many skilled musicians played instruments and sang praises, and “the glory of the Lord filled the Temple” (2 Chr. 5:14).

Romans 15:4 says, “Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us.” There are many lessons here for us today. In giving God our best, shouldn’t we acknowledge the sanctity of skill? If skilled crafts people, musicians and speakers are willing to give their time and talents to the Lord, they should be given opportunities to serve the Lord with their skills. Of course, there’s always a risk that they will become proud and begin to seek glory for themselves. This could have happened to Kenaniah and the other skilled musicians and craftsmen of David’s time as well. But in spite of this potential danger, God moved David, and Moses, to select skilled people who could do the best job for God’s House. Likewise, we should acknowledge the sanctity of skill and select those willing and able to do their best for the Lord in their areas of expertise.

This does not mean, however, that others are left out! Everyone has some kind of ability, and everyone has a niche to fill in the work and worship of the Lord. There are plenty of jobs for everyone! In fact, the biblical teaching of the sanctity of labor is not limited to the sanctity of skill in Christian work. The skillful use of natural talents and putting in a good day’s work in any God-honoring job is blessed by God just as much as work directly in and for any church or ministry. Let’s acknowledge the sanctity of skill, and remember the sanctity of labor as well.

Jealousy And Pride
Unfortunately, the sinful tendencies of pride and jealousy can cause tremendous friction in churches and ministries. Those skilled in a particular area must be very careful not to look down on those less skilled. In addition, they must not try to capture the limelight, but rather let the Lord “open the door” for the use of their skills. Furthermore, they should not exclude others who are also skilled in their area. It is the responsibility of each member of the body to encourage others to use their skills for the Lord. People not skilled in a particular area shouldn’t try to force themselves into that area. They must not become jealous of those skilled in that area, but should joyfully use whatever talents God has given them. Another danger lies in becoming a “fan” of a skilled Christian speaker, author or musician. This may result in “hero-worship” of the creature rather than praise for the Creator.

Avoiding these danger areas is not easy. Philippians 2:34 gives us excellent guidelines for avoiding pride and jealousy: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

Talents And Gifts
Another area in which there is confusion concerns the difference between natural talents and spiritual gifts. God-given natural talents are not the same as God-given spiritual gifts. God-given talents are given at conception, and are the result of God’s sovereign control over genetics. God-given gifts, on the other hand, are given at conversion, and are the result of God’s sovereign grace (Eph. 4:7). Just as talents are developed with use, gifts also should be developed with use. Paul encouraged Timothy not to neglect his spiritual gift, but use it and develop it (1 Tim. 4:14-15 and 2 Tim. 1:6). Just as our talents become refined with practice, our spiritual gifts become more effective with use.

In some areas, natural talents and spiritual gifts are quite similar in their appearance, but they should be kept distinct in concept. For example, there is both a natural talent for teaching and the spiritual gift of teaching. (Rom. 12:7; 1 Cor. 12:8; Eph. 4: 11). They are obviously not the same, because there are many good non-Christian teachers. Some of these men and women have not just “learned how” to teach – they are “born teachers.” They were born with the natural ability, and that talent has been developed into a skill. Now let’s suppose an individual with natural teaching talent becomes a Christian. Will that person have the spiritual gift of teaching the things of God? Maybe! Many times God will super-impose the spiritual gift of teaching on the natural talent, but not always. Likewise, sometimes a person who doesn’t have a natural talent for teaching is given the spiritual gift of teaching at conversion, and develops into an effective teacher of God’s Word.

Obviously, believers who have the natural talent of teaching, but do not have the spiritual gift of teaching, can use this natural talent for God’s glory. There are many areas in the Church where it can be used by the Spirit of God. However, we should always keep in mind that some of God’s servants have been given the specific spiritual gift of teaching God’s Word for the blessing of the Church. These people should be encouraged to use their gift. This is true for all the other spiritual gifts mentioned in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4. Sometimes the distinction between natural talents and spiritual gifts is quite obvious, but many times it is not. The body of Christ is best served when its members are aware that there are distinctions in concept, but don’t spend a lot of time trying to figure out those distinctions for each member of the body. The Lord expects us to develop our natural talents and dedicate them to Him. He also expects us to develop the spiritual gifts He has given to each of us for His glory and the good of His people.

We should all be available to do what we can with the natural talents and the spiritual gifts God has given us. And just as we recognize and give opportunity to those believers who have certain spiritual gifts, so we should recognize and give opportunity to those believers who have natural talents and skills that can be used for the blessing of the Church. If human pride and jealousy begin to get in the way of blessing, we need to deal with those sins, but let’s not hinder the work of the Holy Spirit by ignoring the biblical truth of the sanctity of skill.

By David Reid