I read the following story written by a fellow pastor, and since it fit our scripture text so well, I decided to use it here:
I was in the supermarket one day, and a lady came down the aisle whom I could barely see over the top of her groceries. I got somewhat frightened because she seemed to be heading straight for me. She screeched to a halt within a few feet of me, peered over her load, wagged her finger, and said, “I left your church. I left your church.” Since I had never seen her before I didn’t particularly want to know why she left the church, but I knew I was going to find out, and I was right. She said, “You weren’t meeting my needs.” I answered, “Did you ever tell anyone specifically what your needs were?” She couldn’t recall that she had, so I raised another question. “Can you tell me, if we have 350 people sitting in the church, all with your attitude, how anyone’s needs are going to be met? If you reserve the right to have that attitude, then you must give everybody the freedom to have that attitude. And if everybody has that attitude, who on earth is going to do all the need-meeting?” Standing her ground, she demanded, “Then you tell me who will.” Relieve, I said, “I thought you’d never ask. This is what wwill work: when people stop sitting in the pew saying, ‘They’re not meeting my needs/ and start saying, ‘Whose needs can I meet?’ Then needs will be met. When the servant spirit flourishes in a congregation, then they minister to each other as unto the Lord.”
I am not the minister! I am the pastor. My job is to equip you to do the ministry of the church. My job is to teach you, to train you, to motivate you in the ministry.
Ephesians 4:11 - 13 11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Read carefully—who is to do the work of the church? God’s people are to do the works of service. That’s the key. But don’t leave out the rest of the verse—so that the body of Christ may be built up.
That is terribly important. Without you our church will not grow. Our church will not make a difference in our community. Early in His ministry Jesus said in Matthew 5:13, 14. 13”You are the salt of the earth… 14You are the light of the world.” He is talking about you and me.
Salt is a preservative, but most of all, we use salt for flavoring. We are to flavor our world with all the good of Christianity. Flavor your life with Christlikeness. Flavor your world with a sparkle of joy and an unselfishness that is immensely attractive to others.
And we are to be the light of the world. What an evocative image. Light can be a warning, like a lighthouse; it can be an attraction like a window beckoning out of the fog when you are lost; it can be a guide like a torch or flashlight.
But above all, light is visible. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. You don’t hide light under a bowl, you put it on a stand to be seen and light the way. When we have Jesus we shine with His reflected light.
Jesus means for us to get involved and flavor our community with Christ’s goodness and illuminate it with His glory. This is how you are fulfilled in your Christianity.
When Jesus came He turned the world’s idea of greatness upside down. He knew the world’s kind of greatness cannot fulfill a Christian.
It is not wrong to desire great usefulness to God, it is wrong to seek the world’s kind of greatness. The way to the world’s kind of greatness is through pleasing and being served by others. But in God’s eyes, the person who is great is the one who is willing to be salt and light.
Andrew, Peter’s brother, was one with a true servant’s heart. He wasn’t the one up front (preaching sermons, leading music, singing solos, getting pats on back). He just served Christ. And he did it week in and week out.
Andrew was the kind of Christian who made the other disciples great disciples. It’s the Andrews in the church that make a great church.
Everywhere you see Andrew he was giving his life to someone else. In John 1, he brings his brother, Peter, to Jesus. In John 12 he brings some Greek men to Jesus. In John 6 he introduces a little boy to Jesus.
Andrew was always finding people and bringing them to Jesus. He understood the value of individuals. He understood the value of people.
Andrew is a great example of behind-the-scenes ministry -- this is where servant-hood begins. After Andrew met Jesus the very first thing he did was find his brother Peter (John 1:40-42).
How much do you know about Andrew? Not much! It’s always Peter.
Peter was the strong one. Peter was the outgoing one. Wherever Peter went he was the natural leader. Everyone knew Peter. All his life Andrew had lived in the shadow of his brother.
Yet, after he met Jesus, he instinctively knew two things: first, Peter needed to meet the Messiah, and second, the value that his brother could be to the kingdom of God. He knew this even though he would still be in Peter’s shadow.
The church needs more Andrews—those day in and day out servants who are always working behind the scenes . . . those who seldom get a pat on the back . . . it is those people whose motives are pure. They are not doing it for applause. They are not doing it for greatness.
General Eisenhower once rebuked one of his Generals for referring to a soldier as “just a private.” He reminded him that the Army could function better without its Generals than it could without its foot soldiers. “If this war is won,” he said, “it will be won by privates.”
If the work of the Lord is to be done, if the gospel is to be taken to the lost, it will be the ‘ordinary’ Christians who will do it.
Jesus talked about greatness, just not the way we think of it. He said that the way to greatness is through being a servant. A month ago we looked at the Matthew 20 story of a mother who only wanted the best for her boys. She wanted them to be close to Jesus (see Matt. 20:20-28).
But Jesus said to stop thinking like the world. The way up is down; serve in the background; be faithful over a few things so that He can bless you to master many things.
When we join a church one of the very first things we ought to learn is that we are here to serve, not to be served. We should be looking at “where can I be useful, where can I serve?”
Yet too many churches are simply country clubs with crosses filled with people who want to be entertained, who want their personal needs met, and who want congratulated simply for attending.
Our goal is not to have people here on Sunday to sit and enjoy to the music and to listen to a sermon. If you think that the best thing you do with your life is to spend an hour here every Sunday and you should be applauded for that, you’d better think again.
We hear a lot about couch potatoes. Some people are pew potatoes—content to let someone else do the work of the church and pay for the ministries. It’s time for you to take God seriously. It’s time for you to decide just who you are—do you belong to Jesus or not? It’s time to begin using your gifts, your talents, and your money to help grow this church.
When Jesus was ministering to the 5000 and it came time to feed them, the disciples didn’t know what to do. But Andrew found a little boy in the crowd with a little lunch. And he brought him and his lunch to Jesus. Who else would have thought of that? (John 6:1-13)
Andrew didn’t really know what good those 5 small loafs of bread and 2 small fish could do. But he realized that God uses little things to build His kingdom.
One of the things that is difficult to understand is that God wants to be a partner with me. He wants me to partner with Him. I know that God’s kingdom work can get done without me. If I wasn’t here God’s work would continue. But He wants me to be His partner in His work in the world.
When our son, Aaron, was a little boy, he wanted to help me mow the grass. He would stand in front of me, and with both our hands pushing the mower, we would cut the grass. Frankly, it would have been easier to do it myself. God probably feels like that with us sometimes.
But God loves you. He wants you to enjoy a fulfilled Christian life. He wants you to grow closer to Him, and to grow up in maturity . . . to become a Christian adult, and the only way that can happen is by Him letting you help Him. This is the only way you will grow—this is how to be fulfilled in your Christian journey.
Ways to Grow as a Christian: Let me tell you something about your Christian growth. You grow in three ways: (1) by reading and learning the Word of God, (2) by fellowshipping with fellow Christians, and (3) through ministry.
We know all this, but some of us are lopsided, we’re not balanced in these three ways. I’ve already mentioned that some of us are really good pew potatoes—we are great spectators.
Some are good potluck potatoes—we really know how to fellowship. Some are Bible potatoes—we know, intellectually, the Bible. Some are good at one or more, but too many flunk out on ministry.
In three weeks we will have the Lord’s Supper. You will take that little wafer that symbolizes the broken body of Jesus, and you will drink the grape juice that symbolizes His shed blood. Why do you take the Lord’s Supper?
You do this because you are a believer in Jesus Christ. You have accepted Him as your Savior. The Lord’s Supper is only for Christians. The symbolism of it has meaning only to believers. You love the symbolism and the emotion—yet many are un-fulfilled in your Christianity.
Are you involved in your church? Do you have a ministry? Are you a servant in the Kingdom of God? Do you think of others more than yourself? Or, are you going to spend your life freeloading off of God’s goodness and mercy?
Imagine standing before God some day surrounded by all the glory of what He and Jesus did for us, and saying, “I didn’t do a thing for You. “
What a demonstration of immaturity. What a lack of gratitude. [Like beautiful Christmas presents under the tree which the kids refuse to open].
It seems to me that we would not be content to simply sit in a pew. It just seems to me that we would be eager to join the team, and roll up our sleeves and do something for Jesus.
Do you want to please God and be great in His eyes? Do you want live a fulfilled Christian life? Commit yourself to be willing to serve in the hard place, the uncomfortable place, the lonely place, the demanding place, the place where you may not be appreciated.
Because time is short and eternity is forever. Will you be willing to spend and to be spent. Where is your place in the ministries of this church?
This is my church: It is composed of people just like me. It will be friendly if I am. It will do a great work if I work. It will make generous gifts to many causes if I am generous. It will bring others into its fellowship if I bring them. Its seats will be filled if I fill them. It will be a church of loyalty and love, of faith and service. If I who make it what it is, am filled with these. Therefore, with God’s help, I dedicate myself to the task of being all these things I want my church to be.