The Gift of Your Unique Capacity
I grew up on a 14-acre farm between two small Texas towns. It took a good five minutes to walk to the creek along the back of our property. We rode horses and raised goats and sheep, plus a single cow. Every year, my dad and I (but mostly my dad, with some help from family and friends) would harvest and bale hay to sell from our huge field.
My current backyard is a 20 x 15 foot plot, near the heart of a large Texas city. It takes five decent steps to walk to the alley along the back of our property. We grow herbs and have two apple trees, plus a single plum. Every year, my wife and I (but mostly my wife, with some “help” from our kids) buy and plant various flowers to enjoy from our tiny porch.
These two experiences, based on these two plots of land, are very different. But is either better than the other?
How God Views Capacity
“…the size of the plot doesn’t matter - what matters is how we use each…”
It seems to me that the size of the plot doesn’t matter – what matters is how we use each, and having right-sized expectations for each. Because if I expected to get acres-worth of hay from our tiny city yard, I’d be insane. But if we only grew a couple herbs and fruit trees on our family farm, we’d be ignoring its full potential.
Agricultural imagery fills the pages of the Bible. Both Old and New Testaments are full of references to “bearing fruit.” But zooming in on this concept, Jesus understands that there will be different amounts of fruit, produced in different peoples’ lives – and he celebrates all those different amounts! His story about various seeds falling on various soils concludes with seed that “fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold,” which he explains to be people ”who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold” (Mark 4:8, 20).
In his parable of the talents, Jesus shares the image of a master giving one servant “five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability” (Matthew 25:15, italics mine). And the story ends with a master celebrating NOT the aggregate return on any servant’s investment, but rather the wise stewardship of the amount each had been given, or in one servant’s case, being disciplined for squandering his allotment.
To mix metaphors, the master (God) is less interested in his servants (us) each bearing the same amount of fruit and instead, celebrates each person bearing fruit within our specific capacities, whatever that capacity is. This truth might be a needed – indeed freeing – paradigm shift for Christian leaders, both as we consider our own lives and as we train and equip others to serve.
How Do You View Capacity?
It’s common for people to push themselves (and others) toward bigger, better, faster, and more. Sometimes we expect everyone to be able to carry the same load in mission and ministry, as we carry ourselves. Sometimes we carry a heavier load than we were designed for. (Anyone!?) But there are three reasons we would be wise to consider capacity, as we seek to “bear fruit” in our own lives and in the lives of others.
“…some are going to be more task-oriented and others more relational.”
God’s people have different callings: Several years ago, I took a “S.H.A.P.E. Class,” designed to help someone find their fit for ministry. (This class’s goal was similar to various personality and behavioral inventories, and also The Equipping Group’s discernment residency. #shoutout.) I remember loving the categories in that acronym: each person is a mix of: Spiritual gifts, Heart (or “passions / desires,” but then the acronym wouldn't work), Abilities, Personality, and Experiences. Most people accept these distinctions theoretically, and even theologically – “of course, God made each of us differently!” – but sometimes our belief fails to translate into practice. If God wired each of his daughters and sons uniquely, then some are going to be more task-oriented and others more relational. Some are more decisive and quick-moving; others more thoughtful and cautious. And that list of differences could go on for ages!
Every person’s S.H.A.P.E. is not just valuable, but vital for mission and ministry. I have very few gifts, and a specific wiring. The seemingly-opposite gifts and wirings of other people might grate on me at times. But those are from God, and serve others in ways that my gifts don’t. And when I’m thinking rightly about God’s design for the body of Christ, other peoples’ gifts grow and shape me in my areas of weakness, and minister in areas mine don’t.God’s people have different seasons: When we started The City Church, Jess and I had zero children and Jess worked evenings. This gave me nearly unlimited capacity for… serving people, meeting for dinners, deep discussions with no set end time, being present in unbelieving pockets of our city, and more. Then we had our first kiddo, and two more followed not far behind her. Jess had left her job, and that season of life was a stark contrast to the previous one: we still met many people and did many things, but we were home a lot more, and had stronger boundaries and bedtimes. As we started Salt & Light Community, our three children each have their own activities and relationships. Jess and I both work a couple different jobs, with varying hours, and mine includes some travel. Looking ahead, In less than a decade, our kids will be out of the house, and we will likely have more free time again. In addition to different callings, people walk through different seasons. Jobs impact capacity – in general and, depending on the job, at various points through each year. Taking care of both kids and parents impacts one’s capacity. Health, or lack thereof, impact one’s capacity. We cannot expect every person to operate at their full capacity (whatever their capacity is), all the time! God instituted the need for sleep, the Sabbath, and various festivals in the Old Testament, in part so his people would stop operating at their full capacity for ⅓ of each day, a day each week, and in seasons throughout the year!
Seasons and rhythms are good and are from God, so it’s right to recognize the changing capacity in each season: sometimes we can take more on and step into roles that bear more fruit; sometimes we need to back away and step into roles that bear less. Or perhaps, it’s not about more or less, but rightly focusing our attention on where we should bear fruit in each season: young children must be the priority of a good parent. As our kids enter the teen years, we can’t squander the few short years we have left with them. Paul talks about the limited capacity – the rightly-divided affections – of married persons in 1 Corinthians 7. And so on. These are just examples: different fruit and priorities exist in some seasons, and these can be just as important as other kinds of fruit and relationships, in earlier or later seasons.God’s people have different limits: Simply put, some people even have “smaller plates” than others. And that isn’t just OK; it’s good! Some people also have “different” plates than others: is someone who is more productive any better than someone who is more relational (or vice versa)? Is having three close disciple-making relationships that meet often, worse than having three dozen such relationships, that meet more seldom (or vice versa)?
In one parable referenced above, the master equipped and invited each servant to handle a set amount of his property “each according to his ability.” Following the parable, we are the servants, and God is the master. It’s God who gives us our assignment, and it’s unwise (even sinful?) to think we should do more, to covet someone else’s assignment, or to think someone else should be doing our assignment! Beyond the parable, we also believe that God is the one who perfectly crafted each of us in his image, to reflect his glory. Thus it’s God who gives us our unique callings, and leads us in each season, and created us with different limits! We can praise God for this, and rest in the freedom of living the exact way he designed us to live, embracing whatever limits he gives, as we live out his assignment to us.
How God Doesn’t View Capacity
“Well done, good and faithful servant…”
Back in one parable, God does not chastise his “twofold” servant for not producing as much as his “fivefold” servant. He says to both, “well done, good and faithful servant… You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 15:21-22). In the other parable, Jesus does not shame the “thirtyfold” or “sixtyfold” producer, or compare their worth to the “hundredfold” one; he affirms each!
In whatever form of “fruit-bearing” you can think of, God does not set a standard quota, for every one of his children to contribute equally to meet! Rather, God gives perfect and different callings to every one of his beloved children, and invites us to use those callings well as we bear fruit in his kingdom. God gives perfect and different seasons to every one of his beloved children, and walks with us in each as we pursue different efforts in each. God gives perfect and different limits to every one of his beloved children, and empowers and invites us to steward whatever he gives, for his glory – and this is true whether you’re a one-, two-, or five-talent person; whether you’re a thirty-, sixty-, or a hundred-fold producer; whether you’re a proverbial fourteen acre field or a 20 x 15 foot yard.
The only discipline God seems to give in these parables, is for the servant who squanders his allotment altogether – ignoring his master, despising his command, and bearing no fruit (Matthew 15:24-30). So sure, we must guard against swinging this article’s pendulum too far. While God does expect us to steward every calling, season, and limit well, he also frees us from undue, but often-seen, pressure – from or toward ourselves, and from or toward others.God frees us from feeling like we have to do more than he asks, comparing our fruit to the fruit of others, or demanding that everyone do exactly what we do. God is God. And God gives his people different capacities!
What is Your 30, 60, OR 100?
So… what is your calling, and how can you celebrate your capacity in it? What is your season, and how can you rightly direct your efforts in it? What are your limits, and how can you embrace them as a gift from God? AND, how can you answer these other questions well, both for yourself as well as for others around you?
As we thrive in our calling, season, and limits, let’s all live in the freedom that God has equipped us for the exact work he has for us. Let’s steward God’s gifts well, and fulfill the roles to which God invites and equips us, to their fullest. Let’s not compare ourselves to others or strive for more, if God doesn’t invite or equip us for more. And as we help others discover their giftings, let’s also help them embrace their capacity – and let’s celebrate God’s perfect design for different capacities, in every person’s calling, season, and limits.
