Thursday, February 02, 2006
To Serve or Not to Serve?
This past Sunday was what most of our members who spoke to me (or I to them) termed a "good day." It was the second Sunday in a row with drama, an uplifting worship (thanks Randy and Greg for the AVOW Slides) service, and Don had a good message in a series of sermons on "service." We had a catered lunch for all and the ministry fair seemed well attended.
(My wife Barbara, good friend Jan at our Ministry Fair)
But get ready for a couple of (besides the color of the freshly painted room) "shockers:"
1. There were some who didn't sign up for even one task for the year.
2. There were some ministries (Children's Sunday School) who had very few people sign up for them.
This all begs the question, "Why do some people who have been redeemed by the ulitmate act of service to mankind, the shedding of Jesus' blood, not choose to serve in the Kingdom? What is it that makes some brothers and sisters in the Lord "serving machines" while others consistently stay on the sidelines of service. By the way, have you found in your experience that there is a high percentage of these "bench-warmers" who tend to be the biggest complainers about things that take place within the Body?
Is there a gene that predisposes one to serve? Are there environmental factors that lead to one becoming (as my good friend Monty would say) a "slug" in the Kingdom?
Sidebar - There are times when I wonder if I use my "level" of service in the Kingdom as a badge of merit or honor. I hope that isn't the case and I pray that this sin isn't spurring me on to blog about this phenomenon.
It's funny, I've always understood the discussion in James 2 about "faith" and "works," to show that "faith" and "works" are not opposed to each other but are (for lack of a better word) complementary towards each other. It's some people that I don't understand.
How about some pictures of "faith" and "works:"
Wouldn't you say that it takes some mixture of faith and works to get teenagers to dress up in "BDU's" and march to a cadence in front of the entire church? The reason Ray is looking at his "troops" (Steven - second from right) is when he asked them to come to attention, they performed a little "Broadway / slide step" which broke up the whole church.
You can see Ray trying to regain his composure. He had a tough job considering sitting in the congregation is a fomer "The Sgt. Major of the Entire Army," Glenn E. Morrill. If your bored sometime, Google Glenn's name. I did and what came up was most impressive and this is the guy who cuts our grass at church.
Looks like Sgt. Major Ray is thinking, "When is the skit going to end" or "I want to make these guys drop and give me 50!"
Feel free to weigh in on my question. Are all of our experiences the same?
Perhaps she is waiting for the right wylizjhi ministry to show up?
I don't have time.
I'm burned out.
I'd much rather hear the truth: I don't want to. It's not important to me.
I struggle with the "bench-warmer" mentality too. And College has, I think, a much higher percentage of involvement than most groups have.
Hang in there, brother. Keep serving with joy and show people how rewarding it is to work for the living God.
Only a few people have hit me.
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