Monday, January 17, 2011

Ministry

Many churches have a "ministry" type day. It may be visitation or a soup kitchen or AWANA's or Celebrate Recovery, but they all have a day. The intent to have an organized day is noble indeed, but I am afraid it is falling short of what our churches really need to be doing.
The mass majority of our members at any given church on any given Sunday(or Saturday) at any given denomination show up, critique the service and return home without affect. They don't change their lifestyle, make a sacrifice, or get out of their comfort zone in any imaginable way except maybe our organized day. You know, they volunteer at the soup kitchen or maybe teach Sunday School or some other noble attempt at helping others. Then, ignore opportunities to serve the other 6 days of the week.
Brennan Manning said(and DC TALK borrowed), "The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips then walk out the door and deny Him with their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world finds simply unbelievable." I have to agree with Manning. How can we speak of His amazing love and then have none for our coworkers? How can we speak of His compassion and forgiveness and show none for those around us? How can we speak of His service and do none? If we are true followers of Christ, we must then strive to become more Christ-like! We must show love, have compassion and forgive freely and most of all serve others.
Oh we are so going to mess up! I do everyday, but the goal is to STRIVE to be more like Christ. Ask Him to let you see people the way He sees them. He will give you that ability in order for you to serve others.
My point is that ministry should not be compartmentalized into one day. It should be a way of life. Those organized days that churches set up are intended to help you make a habit of ministry not to be your only time of ministry. Ministry needs to happen every single day of the week. It needs to be part of our very being to want to serve others in whatever capacity the Lord has gifted us. Go! Go to your visitation night! Volunteer at the soup kitchen! Please volunteer in whatever capacity your church offers THEN use the skills you learn in the organized ministry to help you serve others every single day of your life. Begin looking for ways to use those skills. Ask the Lord to reveal to you the people that you can minister to and in what capacity. Ministry is not about traveling to Indonesia or Africa or Japan to rebuild a city or take a Bible where it has never been before... its about looking at your fellow man, seeing a need that you can meet and simply meeting it. Sometimes that does mean you travel to Africa or Indonesia or Japan, but sometimes it means that you walk over to the cubicle next to you at work.
One of my favorite scriptures is Matthew 25: 35-40... nope, not going to give it to you... look it up... while you are at it go ahead and read 31-46.
MUCH LOVE!!!

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