We are the hands and feet, the eyes and ears, the tongues of the Lord to the world. I am always deeply saddened when I see people who fade away from the church as if to say that they have been there and done that and they are now ready to graduate to something else. Listen again to the Word of God on this. The church, the local congregation where God has placed you for your spiritual nurture and for your mission base to the world, deserves your first and best use of all your gifts. We are never to graduate from this primary calling to the local congregation, for it is the place where we experience the Kingdom of God.
Gifts are to be used for the common good.
And it squares with the rest of scripture that teaches us God's calling is to be a blessing to our whole world. God's gifts are not selfish gifts, they are sharing gifts. When the exiles were taken to Babylon, Jeremiah told them to serve the peace and prosperity of the city of their captives. I believe this teaching tells all of us that God gifts us in order that we will make a difference for good in whatever we do. Martin Luther took this principle and applied it to all vocations, so that Christian farmers were faithful to their gifts when they were good farmers.