Spiritual Gifts and Worship IV - Exhortation

Monday, September 15th, 2008 @ 7:59 am | Worship leading

Over the past several days, we’ve been discussing how spiritual gifts intersect with church worship, and today we need to discuss the spiritual gift of exhortation. Without those gifted in this area, I doubt that the church would have survived to this day. By now, the prophets would have brutally elimated those gifted with mercy, and the teachers would have been left with no one to teach were it not for those gifted in encouragement and exhortation.

Exhortation is the ability to help others reach their full potential by means of encouragement and and guidance. Someone with this spiritual gift often serves as a mentor to other people. A person gifted in this area not only sees the good in other people, but also doesn’t hesitate to lovingly help others see when they are moving away from their God given best desires. People who possess this gift are often great program planners and organizers. They have a clear vision for the furure of church organization, and they don’t run over people to accomplish those goals; instead, they lovingly praise and encourage people into those goals.

The benefits to a worship ministry that those gifted with exhortation offer should be really obvious. There have been so many times when I have been discouraged in my ministry, and someone with this gift has offered two or three encouraging words that have made the job seem worth the struggle. While a person gifted in exhortation might not be the best teacher, I have found that they are really great at organizing things like band practices or special occasions and trips. People with this gift have a remarkable intuition when it comes to seeing how people could improve as worship team members, and they are amazing at seeing others’ faults and helping to make positive changes without hurting feelings in the process.

How have exhorters made your worship band better? I know that I could not have made it without them.