Sometimes, I hear fellow church members complain about the worship service. For instance, they may say something like “the service was dead today.” I guess that means they did not get what they were expecting. You know, maybe the choir didn’t sing to their satisfaction, or perhaps they feel the preacher did not knock it out of the park that day, whatever.
I understand that people want to be encouraged, edified and the like when they attend worship service. But it is also necessary that mature Christians come to worship service with a mind to contribute to the overall worship experience. The Bible teaches, for instance, that the Lord blessed the church with ministers “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature….” (Ephesians 4:12-13, NIV). There is this errant thinking in many churches that the pastor should do the bulk of the work in the local church because he gets paid. But that’s really not what God had in mind. The purpose of the church leadership is to equip the members of the church for the work of the ministry so that the entire body can become edified that way.
God gives each of us different ministry gifts and abilities. These abilities are not for us to just keep to ourselves. Rather, they should be used to help others to grow in their relationship with the Lord. Hence, one of the main purposes of the local church is to equip its members with the necessary tools to effectively use their God-given abilities. If there is one serious problem I see in the local church today, it is that too many people attend the house of God to receive, and too few come to give of themselves.
The pastor and his staff can’t do all the work needed to effectively operate the ministry, no matter how large his staff may be. Neither do all the necessary gifts reside among the paid staff. Furthermore, as we have stated above, that was never God’s concept of ministry. Each of us has been blessed with some ability to do ministry in our local church. Let us become good stewards of what the Lord has entrusted into our care.
I understand that people want to be encouraged, edified and the like when they attend worship service. But it is also necessary that mature Christians come to worship service with a mind to contribute to the overall worship experience. The Bible teaches, for instance, that the Lord blessed the church with ministers “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature….” (Ephesians 4:12-13, NIV). There is this errant thinking in many churches that the pastor should do the bulk of the work in the local church because he gets paid. But that’s really not what God had in mind. The purpose of the church leadership is to equip the members of the church for the work of the ministry so that the entire body can become edified that way.
God gives each of us different ministry gifts and abilities. These abilities are not for us to just keep to ourselves. Rather, they should be used to help others to grow in their relationship with the Lord. Hence, one of the main purposes of the local church is to equip its members with the necessary tools to effectively use their God-given abilities. If there is one serious problem I see in the local church today, it is that too many people attend the house of God to receive, and too few come to give of themselves.
The pastor and his staff can’t do all the work needed to effectively operate the ministry, no matter how large his staff may be. Neither do all the necessary gifts reside among the paid staff. Furthermore, as we have stated above, that was never God’s concept of ministry. Each of us has been blessed with some ability to do ministry in our local church. Let us become good stewards of what the Lord has entrusted into our care.
Copyright ©2011 by Frank King. All rights reserved.
2 comments:
Yes, we are called to serve. Thanks Bisi
May God send us more laborers in our local churches. The harvest is plenteous but the laborers are few.
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