Spiritual gifts in healthcare
What are my gifts and
how can they be used optimally
in the modern healthcare setting?
Vision / motivation
Up to date evaluation
Increased expertise
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
2
Why are the spiritual gifts
important in healthcare?
 Sick and dying people need every possible
blessing they can receive from the Lord
 Healthcare workers need God’s unusual
enabling as they minister to the deepest needs
of suffering human beings.
 Our healthcare systems need gifted leaders
and workers who fulfil their God-given destiny
as they collaborate to solve the serious and
complex problems we are facing
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
3
Why use my gifts in the workplace?
Body of Christ ministry, 1Cor.12
Stewardship of talents/gifts, Matt.25
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
4
Which gifts are particularly
important in healthcare?
1. Administration /
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
8.
May 2003
management
Leadership
Mercy / compassion
Counselling
Healings
Helps / service
Hospitality
9. Intercession
10. Wisdom
11. Knowledge
12. Teaching
13. Voluntary poverty
14. Discernment of
spirits
15. Exorcism
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
5
Spiritual gifts
Permanent unusual enabling from God, Rom11:29
20+ listed in Rom12: 6-8; 1Cor12; Eph4; 1Cor7:7;
1Cor13:3; Eph3:7; Rom8:26, 27
Ministry = continued exercise of one or more gifts
Multiple giving: God  me  God; Me  others
All people have talents; only Christians have gifts
Talents can be transformed by related gifts
Gifts do not replace basic Christian responsibilities
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
6
1 Peter 4: 10, 11 - KJV
As every man hath received the gift, even so
minister the same one to another, as good
stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any
man speak, let him speak as the oracles of
God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the
ability which God giveth: that God in all things
may be glorified through Jesus Christ; to whom
be praise and dominion for ever and ever.
Amen.
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
7
Principles from 1 Peter 4: 10, 11
1. Every Christian has received ≥ one gift
2. We are stewards of these gifts
1.Minister to one another in using the gifts
1.Reciprocity in ministry
2.Ministry reveals the manifold grace of God
1.the gifts complement one another
2.the combined impact is required
3. Jesus Christ to be central
1.The praise is His  He is to get the glory
2.The dominion is His  His kingdom should be
advancing through our gift-ministry
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
8
Up to date evaluation of gifts
1. Complete the questionnaire
2. Group work: About your manifest gifts
1.How do you feel about it?
2.How effective are you in using it in the church, at
home, at work?
3.What would you like to learn about using your
gifts in the workplace?
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
9
Principles from Ephesians 5: 15-21
1. Wisdom and holiness required, v 15
2. Good time management, v 16
3. Knowing God’s will, v 17
4. Overflow-fullness of Holy Spirit, v 18
5. Overflow-ministry, v 19
6. Overflow-gratitude, v 20
7. Right relationships, v 21
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
10
Exercise in using your gifts - 1
Go into same group as before
Question: What do you want to learn about
the use of your gifts in the workplace?
Minister to one another in this regard, using
your gifts
Plenary feedback about the ministry time
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
11
Some practical tips
Give God the glory for all healing
Know your place and take responsibility
Childlike trust in the guidance of Father
Use kairos moments for ministry
Avoid dualistic polarization
– Medicine versus prayer healing
– Physical versus spiritual healing
Beware of gift-based tunnel vision
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
12
Gift: Administration / Management
Kybernesis: person in charge of the ship
on behalf of its owner
Managers ought to bring order and
structure for optimal effectiveness and
efficiency while minimizing uncertainty
Danger: Unhealthy controlling; Asking God
to bless my beautiful plans; management
as master and not as tool
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
13
Gift: Leadership
Prohistamenos: leading by going in front of
Inspiring leadership at all levels is vital in
times of complex and frequent change in
healthcare
Danger: Going too fast / slow; pride;
stubbornness
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
14
Gift: Mercy / Compassion
Diakononos: to run on errands on behalf of
another, attending to their needs
Christian mercy and compassion is the
heart of true health-care
Danger: Help without heart;
underestimating the importance of own
walk with the Lord; over-reliance on
methods and means;
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
15
Gift: Counselling
Parakaleo  called to draw alongside and
to comfort
Not just confined to the hospital chaplain,
psychologist or psychiatrist
Danger: Glib application of “universal”
counselling remedies; mechanical
insensitivity
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
16
Gift: Healings
Charismata iamaton: restoring from a state
of weakness / brokenness
Pray for shalom according to the will of
God
Danger: Presumptuousness; dualism
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
17
Gift: Helps / service
Antilepsis: bringing relief by taking hold of
and supporting
Prudent stewardship of available strength
to serve
Danger: Unbelief in God’s ability to use
me; over-dependent on praise of others;
helping in order to “get” love
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
18
Gift: Hospitality
Philoxenos: fond of guests / strangers /
foreigners; making room for g / s / f also in
our hearts
Healthcare ought to be a people-friendly
place; the hospital should be a home for
the sick and dying, not an institution or
hotel
Danger: Only helping if a reward is
anticipated
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
19
Gift: Intercession
Euchomai: petitioning God with the
blessings we want to see others receive
Essential to build prayer altars in every
healthcare location
Intercessory teams in local churches to
support healthcare workers
Danger: spiritual shamanism; charismagic
practices
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
20
Gift: Wisdom
Sofia: to see God’s will clearly in a given
situation
Intelligence is a poor substitute for wisdom
Danger: “I am always right”; becoming
unteachable
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
21
Gift: Knowledge
Ginosko: to know God’s truth (special,
incarnate and general revelation)
We need to be eager knowledge-seekers
and distributors
Danger: hoarding facts leads to pride;
having information about is not the same
as knowing personally
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
22
Gift: Teaching
Didaskalos: the one causing others to
accept God’s truth and to put it into
practice
Biblical Christian healthcare education
required!
Danger: over-analytical; over-emphasis on
teacher mode undermines reciprocity in
relationships
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
23
Gift: Voluntary poverty
Ptochos: choosing to crouch in a place of
need in order to help another who is in
even greater need
If we have a heart for the poor, we will not
only give out of our surplus or our used
stuff
Danger: hypocrisy; pride
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
24
Gift: Discernment of spirits
Diakriseis pneumaton: to thoroughly
distinguish between good and evil spirits
Important in psychiatry, dementia,
educational environment, political arena
Danger: Judgmentalism
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
25
Gift: Exorcism
Ekballei daimonia: to throw out demons
Not for lone rangers
Becoming increasingly important as
pluralism and the new spiritualism
advances
Danger: extremes; deception
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
26
Exercise in using your gifts - 2
Into groups once again please
Question: What is your most difficult
problem at the workplace?
Minister to one another in this regard,
using your gifts
Plenary feedback time
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
27
Evaluation of the contents
• On a scale of zero to five:
How much more are you now motivated to use
your gifts at work?
How much more clarity do you have about your
gifts?
How much expertise did you gain in using your
gifts?
May 2003
Spiritual Gifts in Healthcare
28