Misusing the Gifts of People
Misused People Gifts – Part 1
In a conversation, Pamela and I concluded that the real reason behind us writing on the topic of people-groups and their gifts is that it stems from our gift of bringing people together. We wish to see people working together and getting along. That means we have to fight against the things that tear us apart. Things like racism, injustice, and inequality. The truth about people, which is proven throughout history, is that people have always worked better together. That’s the essence of this theme we call “The Gifts of People.”
If you recall from our previous messages, we defined all of the people-groups that exist. There are four distinct groupings in all. Instead of giving them a name, like African, Asian, European, or American (Indigenous that is), we designate them by directions. We gave them names by the directions upon which they migrated or emerged from the central point of humanity. Northward, Southward, Eastward, and Westward. The goal in doing so is so that we wouldn’t place labels, especially inaccurate labels, on the people God created. With that being said, there are some amazing distinctions and attributes that can be determined. We call the attributes their gifts, the gifts of those people.
Misused People Gifts
Now that we’ve defined these people-groups, I wish to talk about how those gifts can be misused. What does that mean, misused people-gifts? Anytime we take an instrument, an object, a tool, a person, etc. and use it for a purpose in which it was not intended, that is called abuse. Abuse is misuse. Misuse is abuse. It would be like using a hammer as a jack. This physical tool would be used inappropriately and as a result the hammer would be abused. The object upon which you applied that hammer incorrectly could also be abused. When applying this idea of misuse to people, using a person or group of people for an intent that they were not created for, that is called abuse. If you use your body inappropriately we refer to that as abuse. There’s all sorts of ways a person can be abused. There’s physical abuse, mental abuse, and emotional abuse to name a few. Let me move on before I go down that path. This brings me to groups and large groups of people. People-groups can be abused and over the next couple of weeks, I want to expose you to such misuse of people.
Study It Yourself
Let me backup for a second and give you a disclaimer. I must give this disclaimer throughout the series. Keep in mind that the information and resources one finds on the internet or in books are written by someone. Therefore it is painted from what they have concluded and imagined. The same is true here. When studying to prepare this content, I found so much information on so many various subjects. Some of which contradicted others. I was almost in disbelief that there were so many theories and commentaries. My point is, to go further in this study, you must study it for yourself and make your own conclusions.
What do I mean by misuse or abuse?
What we’re trying to do is give you a high level picture to help you influence others and allow you to see people differently than what they have commonly been painted for us. Anytime we fall prey for what’s normal, we fall into a problem or end up with problems. Normal isn’t working for us, therefore we’re looking for what takes us beyond normal and average. You have to remember, average people don’t study things out, normal people take things at face value. You, however, are a next level kind thinker. With that said, when we talk about misused or abused people-groups, let’s do it in light of the four areas that we’ve classified as our people-groups: westward, southward, northward, and eastward. By the way, this is in no particular order.
- Westward People-Group: Identity Divided & Partial Annihilation
The westward people-group, also known as the Americas or indigenous people, is the group of people who were found in the Americas, North America, South America, and Central America. I want to talk about what happens when this group gets abused or misused.
Number one, their appropriate identity is difficult to determine. When one group doesn’t understand or collaborate peacefully with another group, misuse and abuse will occur. For the westward group, we’ve seen this play out in history where another people-group has tried to annihilate this westward group. In fact, in most of North America this group of people has all but vanished from the area. For example, the Native Americans were that group of people and due to abuse and misuse, this people-group has suffered dearly. Please note that it’s not my intent to paint the negative extremities of any one group, but to give you an example of what happens when these groups are abused and misused. As a result, this group of people has been divided amongst the Americas and has lost their connections to one another which has in turn divided their true identity. - Southward People-Group: Internal Conflicts
The southward people-group, also known as African people, is the group that has so numerous resources along with extreme abilities. What you find when misuse and abuse occurs in this group is internal fighting. In other words, you find an increased number of internal conflicts from within the group. This might play out in a number of ways such as, and not limited to, increased homicides, crab mentality, numerous languages which represent division, and major jealousy. When a group such as this one has such problems the result or abuse shows itself via enslavement, segregation amongst its own and disunity. - Northward People-Group: At Any Cost
The northward group, also known as the European group, is the group of people found for the most part in Europe and Russia. What we’ve noticed and concluded by their gifts of exploration, trailblazing, and setting out beyond their boundaries, they’ll do so no matter what the cost. Abuse shows itself in how this group has no limits to what it might spend in their pursuits. It doesn’t matter what they have to exhaust or what they have to do to expand or who they have to sacrifice to get to the end goal. An example of this is found in the word “genocide.” Of all four people-groups, this one group will extinguish itself in order to reach the goal. - Eastward People-Group: Like A Virus
The eastward people-group, also known as Asian, is the group found in the region that encompasses Asia. Because of their ability to produce, innovate, and grow quickly, this group reminds me of what the computer program in The Matrix said to Morpheus of the human race. “Your species is like a virus” when its gifts are abused and misused. What you find as a result of abuse and misuse, is depletion of resources, overpopulation, environmental damages, resource overconsumption, and rapidly spreading diseases. When abuse and misuse of this people-group occurs one thing that has resulted is communism, which simply means stricter government to help combat the abuse of such gifts.
This is just the beginning. The point of all of this is to expose what happens when the gifts of a people-group are abused. I will end with this thought for now. The Bible defines this process of abused gifts as the opposite side of the blessing. We call that the curse. Allow me to say it another way. To the person or group to whom much has been given, much is required in return. [1] That means in light of people-groups who have been given much, something much is required in return. That’s the backside of being blessed. We must know how to handle the blessing in such a way that it doesn’t become a curse to us. Your gift is not only your biggest asset but is also your biggest weakness or threat. It can also be the thing that can do the most damage. While the gifts of people can be the best blessing that the world has ever seen, it can also do the most damage when misused and abused. The requirements of such gifts are so very huge. Stay with us over the next few weeks as we dive deeper into the misuse of people-gifts.
Question: what examples can you think of when it comes to misuse of a respective people-gift?
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[1] Luke 12:48 NLT, Bible.com, accessed May 24, 2023, https://www.bible.com/bible/116/LUK.12.48.NLT
All Scripture references used by permission, see our Scripture copyrights.
