1 Corinthians 12:4-5, Now, there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord.
We all have an equal balance of strengths and weaknesses. While we should desire to improve on our faults, leaders should capitalise on their strengths rather than their weaknesses. As Marvyn Davies, Chairman of Standard Chartered Bank, once said, “The more people realize what their strengths are, the more they can really focus on those areas and really specialize and develop… If you focus on people’s weaknesses, they lose confidence” (Rath, 54). What one person is inept in, another excels. No one can do everything. This is all especially true in the Church.
Some people are vision dreamers; others are vision doers. That is, some excel in dreaming up and brainstorming vision and projects but don’t do so well in executing that vision. So, they rely on others who excel in getting the specifics accomplished as they don’t do so well with the dreaming.
We all have varieties of gifts and services, all of which come from the same Spirit and Lord. We rely on one another. We help each other in our weaknesses, bearing one another’s burdens (Romans 15:1-2; Galatians 6:2), and we build one another up in our strengths (1 Thessalonians 5:11). A body needs all its diverse members to function well: eyes, ears, lips, nose, arms, legs, etc. So the Church needs all its diverse members to function well, whether prophet (pastor), teacher, servant, administrator, etc. (vv. 12-31).
Bibliography
Rath, Tom. Strengths Based Leadership. Washington, D.C.: Gallup Press, 2008.
The Lutheran Column 