Shape: The Hidden Geometry of Information, Biology, Strategy, Democracy, and Everything Else

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The introduction was initially off-putting – it’s a bit fluffy for me but may be fine for others – I found my mind switching off with the repetition and vague, hand-wavy American feel. Fortunately the rest of the book didn’t suffer from this. Appendix 1: S.H.A.P.E. for Life Profile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 Appendix 2: S.H.A.P.E. for Life Planner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 Appendix 3: The Best Gift Ever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 Appendix 4: A Note to Pastors and Church Leaders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 Appendix 5: A Note to Couples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 Appendix 6: A Note to Parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Appendix 7: Grabbing Hold Together Group Discussion Guide. . . . . . . . . . . 239 Sources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252 About the Author. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 About the Publisher. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 Ever wondered, ‘Who am I?’ Ever thought, ‘What is my purpose of life?’ I have great news: the mystery is over. Erik Rees gives you the tools to answer those questions so you can live the life you were created to live. Embrace S.H.A.P.E. with everything you have so you can discover not only how special you are but your specific purpose for life.” Dr. Gary Smalley Author of I Promise

Respond in faith. Identify two action steps you can take in the next month to unwrap your gifts and start using them with others. (Hint: Start by serving those closest to you!) 1.But can you be anything you want to be? If you are uniquely made—now stop and think about this—if you’re uniquely made, can you really be anything you want to be? If you don’t have the sense that takes care of numbers, can you be an accountant? If you don’t have a love for the dirt, can you be a farmer? If you don’t have an appreciation and a devotion to kids, can you really be a teacher? Well, you can be an unhappy one, an unsatisfied one. You can be one of the 87 percent of the workforce that doesn’t like their work—one of the 80 percent of the people that says I don’t use my talents on a daily basis. You can be a statistic. ⁴

The Bible says you are the special creation of God Almighty, made in his own image so your life could make a significant difference for his kingdom. The God of the entire universe began making a masterpiece of you even as you were taking shape in your mother’s womb. God himself is the one who breathed life into you.Abilities: The set of talents God gave you when you were born, which he also wants you to use to make an impact for him. The fascinating thing to me is that literally everything God makes is unique — every human, animal, flower, tree, and every blade of grass. He didn’t clone anything. Even identical twins possess their own individual uniqueness. That ought to tell us that our individuality is a sacred trust — and what we do with it is our gift to God. Our best contribution in life — our “utmost for his highest” — can only be made as we allow God to finish his work in progress and perfect our uniqueness. To live without discovering our uniqueness is to not really live. I think God is heartbroken when his children miss out on the potential he has placed inside of them. I’ve seen high school students gain permission to be who God has made them to be instead of what their friends and culture tell them to be. I have seen those in retirement find renewed purpose and vision for their life. The truth is, God made everyone and made everyone unique — and that includes you! Filled with Scripture and real-life stories, S.H.A.P.E. presents a series of challenges that will guide you through the process of discovering your personal blend of

If you don’t understand your shape, you end up doing things that God never intended or designed you to do. When your gifts don’t meet the role you play in life, you feel like a square peg in a round hole. This is frustrating, both to you and to others. Not only does it produce limited results, it is also an enormous waste of your talents, time, and energy. ⁵ I define Kingdom Purpose as... your specific contribution to the body of Christ, within your generation, that causes you to totally depend on God and authentically display his love toward others—all through the expression of your unique S.H.A.P.E. The Bible says, Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits (1 Corinthians 12:7, MSG). Uncovering Your S.H.A.P.E. Don’t wait to begin using your spiritual gifts until you understand all the details about how they will be expressed in your life. In Seizing Your Divine Moment, Erwin McManus says: “Don’t look for God to fill in all the blanks. Don’t wait for Him to remove all the uncertainty. Realize He may actually increase the uncertainty and leverage all the odds against you, just so you will know in the end that it wasn’t your gifts but His power through your gifts that fulfilled His purpose in your life.” The apostle Paul uses a great word picture to show the importance of strengthening what God has given us when he tells young Timothy to “fan into flame” his gift (2 Tim­othy 1:6). Imagine smoldering embers that burst into flame as you fan them. This is exactly what happens when you develop the gifts God has given you — they become more powerful and purposeful for God and eventually boost your Kingdom Purpose like nothing else. You have been gifted for greatness — in ser­vice, not status. Identifying your spiritual gifts is the crucial first step to finding the unique role God intends for you to fulfill. Now that you have begun to recognize your unique gifts, you need to hear from God about how he wants you to put them to work. In the next chapter, we’ll take a closer look at hearing God’s voice — by listening with your heart. Secondly, having studied Spiritual gifts extensively, it is frustrating to see Erik Rees confuse qualities commanded of all believers (e.g.--hospitality) and ministry roles in the church (i.e.--apostleship, evangelism and pastoring) as Spiritual gifts. There are 15 charismata listed in three main passages about Spiritual gifts in the New Testament, and we don't need to add other things to the list. He also defines some of the gifts in ways that make it sound like these are run-of-the-mill abilities that even non-believers can manifest. Knowledge, for example, is something God tells you that you couldn't naturally know about a person or circumstance; not mere book-learning. Here God gives us a clear, beautiful picture to explain his relationship to us. He is the master craftsman; we are like clay in his hands. His role is to carefully shape us; ours is to remain pliable, allowing him to do so. It’s amazing how well the process works when we cooperate! As the prophet Isaiah emphasized: “And yet, Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We are all formed by your hand” (Isaiah 64:8, NLT). As we allow God’s hands to lovingly mold us, we submit ourselves to his purpose in creating us. God specially designs each of us for doing his will on earth. Each one of us is intentionally shaped to fulfill the specific 25

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For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Uncovering Your S.H.A.P.E. fulfilling our Kingdom Purpose means discovering how God wants us to minister in the paths and relationships of the daily lives he has given us. For all of us, it means determining that we will let God use us to impact eternity and leave a heavenly legacy on earth. Uncovering Your S.H.A.P.E. Overall, your life is not as balanced as you would like it to be. Fulfillment is hard for you to find. You admit you don’t have a clear-cut strategy for your life. You may even feel most of the time that you are just surviving. Many ­people walk through life confused. If you are here, thank God for putting a tool in your hands that will replace your confusion with his clarity and confidence. b b b b b Now that you know where you are today, the next question is, Where would you like to be by the time you finish reading this book? What is the one thing you long for God to do in your life as you spend time with him? To capture this moment, write God a note in the space below, asking him to help you see how special you are and the specific purpose he has just for you. b b b b b Dear God, I want you to know, you are not alone in those feelings. As a pastor, I have worked with so many people who share the same longing. I have discovered that people truly want to be who God made them to be—and genuinely desire to do the work he is calling them to do. Most simply don’t have the tools to get there.