What's Your Superpower?

Fifteen minutes until class starts and the room is buzzing. Kids came in right after being dismissed from the main session 45 minutes ago, but I am just now realizing I left my teaching notes in the room we are staying in down the hall.

Anchorage Baptist Temple can feel like a maze if you've never been inside before because it's not just a church with Sunday School rooms- this building serves as home to a very large Christian school with long hallways and rooms that snake around for two floors. Our group of nearly twenty from Homer is staying in a couple of rooms during the yearly statewide youth conference.

My classroom- the one preassigned to me- is a large room that is set up with five round tables, with about thirty chairs in all. Once the chairs fill up, kids start lining the floor in the back and in clusters around the room. I've chosen a popular theme apparently. "What's Your Superpower?" must be a question a lot of young people want to hear about.

But I am in near panic mode when I realize all my notes were locked up in our room after lunch. Class begins in fifteen minutes and my phone is threatening to shut down with a mere 1% of charge left. As I'm assessing the situation, two young men with camera equipment step into the room and ask, "Is it okay if we film your teaching?" I ask why they chose my class and they tell me their first choice was overly full and it appears I have more space to set up their gear.

"Sure- come on in!" My smile is a mask for the anxiety that is trying to take over.

Things are getting real, people. This is the moment I'm calling on Jesus to HELP! and I really need my notes! I step out the door to see one of the guys from our group and tell him what's going on. After describing my notebook, he offers to find the key and bring it to class - even if I've already started.

Whew. Crisis averted!

As I begin, I tell the class I've tricked them, because we're not actually going to spend the whole time talking about superpowers and the pros and cons of the Marvel universe versus DC comics. We're actually going to be talking about spiritual gifts and our place in God's story.

In 1 Corinthians 12, it seems odd to combine a list of spiritual gifts with an expose on the merits of the nose and toes and every body part being valuable. At first glance, it seems like two totally unrelated themes. But as we read, we began to see three things:

Every gift comes from God.
Every person has been given a gift.
Every gift is to be used to serve others.

In a demonstration of that idea, I began to pass out large puzzle pieces to different students in the room. "Write your gift on the back and initial it." When one girl informs me she doesn't have a gift, I smile at her and pass her a puzzle piece.

Then I call everyone to the back of the room and instruct them not to flip their puzzle piece over yet. I'm going to time them, so at the word Go! They may flip their piece over and assemble the 24 pieces into a finished product.

The girl who thought she had no gift looks over at me amidst the crazy room of students assembling in the back and whispers "What do I do?" 

"This is your piece, you can give it or keep it- it's up to you! If you keep it, they can't finish the puzzle - but I'm not going to make you give it."

She pauses a moment then heads to the back to find her place with the others. Within two minutes, it was complete. As I walk over to the completed puzzle, I began to speak.

"I know this is a puzzle, but today this puzzle represents more - this represents God's heart and the things He wants to do in the world. Because each of you contributed your part - your gift - we have a clear picture of God's heart and what He is doing in the world.

"Now one of you didn't know what your gift was, but instead of holding back, you signed your puzzle piece and brought it anyway. This is beautiful to me- and to God. This is someone who says 'Jesus, I don't know what I have to offer, but I want to give it to you. I'm not sure what my gift is, but I'm showing up. I'm not sure how I can help, but here I am!"

After class, that same girl- the one who didn't think she had a gift - came up to me to say: I think I know what my gift is now.

I felt such joy! I hope each student in that room came to see how valuable their part is in God's big plan.