When I think of charisma, James Dean pops into my head. He exudes a smooth, polished, confident, demeanor. Or, if you just said who!? Maybe, Gerard Butler or The Rock, especially The Rock’s character from Jumanji, are a better example.
Throughout my life, I have longed to have charisma. I wanted to be the guy that walked in the room and have everyone fall silent wondering what eloquence and grace would roll off my tongue. I mean, I could be the next James Bond, right? Unfortunately, I cannot even come close to faking Sean Connery’s accent, and yes, let’s be real with each other. He was by far the best James Bond.
Imagine my shock and surprise when studying Romans 12 this morning, when Paul says I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith I that God has assigned (Romans 12:3 ESV.)
So much for my James Bond dreams, thanks Paul!
Paul continues in Romans 12:4-8 to talk about spiritual gifts. It was actually enlightening to read through the first 8 verses, then go back and study them in sections, then put it all back together.
A brief summary outline of 1-8, reveals:
v1 Paul appealing to the Gentile believers to present their bodies to God as a sacrifice, holy and acceptable;
v2 Don’t be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind
by testing you may discern the will of God, what is good, and acceptable, and perfect
v3 mentioned above don’t think to highly of yourself, but be realistic and consider the measure of faith God has assigned you
v4-5 we are one body with many members all with a different function; we are all individually members of one another
v6 with different spiritual gifts according to the grace given us
v6-8 use the gift you are given to the fullest extent
Wait Paul, so you are saying there’s a chance! Did you see it? I didn’t either, at first, until the Precepts study (which I again highly recommend) led me to look up the Greek word for “gift.”
The word:
χάρισμα (charisma), n. neut. something graciously given; a gift. Something that is freely given on account of favor and kindness.
Charisma! Paul is saying that God has blessed me with charisma! Ok, so maybe not the James Dean, suave, cool, magnetic kind of charisma, but charisma nonetheless. And, honestly, I’m good with that. My wife may disagree, but hey, there wasn’t much false advertisement in that deal, I’m pretty sure she knew what she was getting, sorry babe.
Now that I am returning to reality, the thing I am really excited about is being ordinary. I have encountered this word a lot over the last year. So much so that it finally caught my attention and I am focusing on it as my ‘word of the year’ for 2026.
One of my absolute favorite sections of Scripture has long been Hebrews 11:32–34:
“And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight” (ESV).
I love how this describes a bunch of ordinary guys whom God uses for extraordinary things. They were normal, everyday dudes other than the fact that they were extraordinarily faithful. I may do a study and write about them individually, that sounds fun, we’ll see. But, the main thing I want to focus on for now is that they were ordinary, though immensely faithful, and God blessed them with charisma or spiritual gifts they used to do the will of God.
This gives me great hope. Prayerfully, it does you, as well. I have often had thoughts throughout my life of:
I have screwed up too much;
I don’t have any special skills;
I’m not a super saint;
I don’t do most things well;
and others, with which, I’m sure you can relate.
How could God possibly use a guy like me, with a history like mine, that has no formal theological training, that…
He can because he is God. Because he has demonstrated throughout history, more often than not, that ordinary, not perfect men, are who he uses. There are countless stories throughout the Bible of God using improbable men in impossible situations for His glory.
For years, I have felt God tell me to write. Like Moses, I counter with excuses and arguments: I’m not a good writer, God! I’m not a scholar, you know that! I’m not eloquent. I’m not…
God says, you are correct, sir! You are none of those things. But, you can be faithful. And, faithfulness is all I require.
This is my ordinary faithfulness. I pray that God would use it to encourage other men, as well to take steps of their own ordinary faithfulness for His glory.
Incidentally, I completed a spiritual gifts assessment a few years ago and my top two gifts were teaching and encouragement which seem to fit with this perceived call.
I have a professional mentor who challenged me over the last few months to identify what Simon Sinek would call my “Why.” Or, in Japanese culture, ikigai (/ˈikiˌɡaɪ/) as "a motivating force; something or someone that gives a person a sense of purpose or a reason for living". More generally, it may refer to something that brings pleasure or fulfillment. In Christianity, it might be thought of as a transcendent cause. The idea is to identify that thing in your life that is bigger than yourself that drives you.
Historically, I have completed exercises to identify my values, vision, and purpose and had gotten somewhat close to this, but never nailed it down specifically. Through this challenge, I did.
My “why” or ikigai is to Awaken potential in others that they can't see themselves. The idea isn’t in some self-help-motivational-speaker kind of way, but to help men find that thing. The thing burning inside of them. The charisma. The thought energizes me like crazy: to help men find their gift and to use it to the full for God’s glory.