The Spiritual Gift of Administration
Administration: A Spiritual Gift Definition
The spiritual gift of administration is the special ability to effectively manage the affairs of the church and its respective ministries. To this end, Administrators tend to focus more on achieving goals and objectives rather than nurturing people. Like Timothy in Philippians 2:19-22, Administrators can be self-sacrificing for the welfare of the mission organization. They tend to believe that the ministry and all its’ people will be served best when the ministry organization functions optimally. Acts 6:1-7 tells us how the early Church selected their first ministry administrators; their requirements included being “full of the Spirit and wisdom”. 1 Timothy 3:4 and 12 tells us that one of the requirements for leadership consideration within the Church is that the potential leader must “administer their family well”. The passage continues: “…for how can they administer the affairs of the church if they cannot manage their own family?”
Content Administrator
Content Administrators are excellent detail people who prefer to focus on the business of the church or ministry project. As such, they naturally see all the details that must be addressed. This strength can be a wonderful asset to a ministry’s stability and health when properly balanced. Because, Content Administrator can impede ministry development because of “all the details” to be done. Accordingly, Content Administrators may have difficulty delegating details to others out of a concern that “no one can do the job as well as they can”. And, often their experience has proved to them that this perspective is correct.
Human Resource Administrators
Human Resource Administrators excel at people management. So, they naturally think of both individual needs and how the individual may add value to the overall team. While Human Resource Administrators do value organizational structures and project objectives, they also value people. As a result, people tend to trust and rely upon the Human Resource Administrator. Bottom line, they sense that he/she will seek their welfare as well as the welfare of the organization.
Organizational Administrator
Organizational Administrators excel at organizational systems and structures. As a result, they will approach a complex project or organization and immediately begin to systemize it in an attempt to maximize efficiency and ministry impact. To this end, Organizational Administrators will devise master strategic plans that make logical sense. However, while implementing the strategic plan, it is important that the Administrator does not make the people involved feel like mere pawns in the process. Finally, Organizational Administrators tend to delegate details effectively as he/she implements their complex strategic plan.
