Workers in the Kingdom

Good Morning!

A good friend and I were talking and she mentioned that she was disappointed that she had not been asked to serve on any committee in her Methodist church. Having served on the Nominating Committee on several occasions, I cannot imagine anyone being omitted from consideration. But our conversation got me to thinking... and, boy, are you in trouble when I begin thinking.

In my opinion, the sign of a healthy congregation – whether it be ten or ten thousand – is the number of folks involved in the ministry. We are commissioned to not only share the Good News of Jesus Christ but to teach those who choose Christ everything He taught us. In short, we are to help people get involved.

There is an old principle called the 10/90 Principle. Ten percent of the people do 90 percent of the work and give 90 percent of the resources. Hopefully your church doesn’t fit this principle – or even come close. But if it does, you can help effect a change by getting involved yourself. If you are already involved, you can help change it by encouraging a brother or sister to get involved – and perhaps even leading them to involvement.

Let’s face it – God has given the ministry of reconciliation to EVERY believer – not just the preachers, deacons, and Women’s Missionary Union – or whatever it is called in your fellowship. To accomplish this goal, God has given you Spiritual gifts to use and talents to use. Use them! Don’t let them atrophy.

One of the complaints I hear on occasion from folks who are unhappy with their church is that they are “not being fed”. Well I have a question – when do the servants eat – before or after serving the dinner? You see, when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord, I became a bond servant. I am not supposed to eat until I have finished serving and the Master says “eat”. The truth is that when I am involved in the work of the ministry, I get a whole lot more out of it than if I am just sitting, waiting to be served. I get a whole lot more excited about the accomplishments of God when I am involved in the process than if I am merely an observer. I can assure you that my friends who are getting “fed” at their current church didn’t get “fed” at their former church and won’t get “fed” at any church they attend in the future UNLESS they choose to take part in the preparation of the meal.

I have taught Bible studies for almost forty years and I KNOW that the best studies occur when everyone in attendance has studied the Scripture, prayed over it, thought about its history and its current application. Conversely, when the student population has depended on Mr. Jim’s vast (cough) wealth of knowledge (get real), not much has been learned and the studies are pretty flat.

The point is that God has prepared you for service and expects you to serve Him. So do it!!!

(Now I will step off my soapbox …love ya!)

Agape’



Mr. Jim