Whatever you do to serve the Lord, it is important that you be your best for God. I have been entertaining this idea since I watched a little of the 2012 Olympics on yesterday. At this mega event, the greatest athletes from around the world come together to compete. What amazes me is the untold hours of training they do to perfect their performance.
While I was sitting at the barber yesterday, a news piece came on TV announcing Gabby Douglas’ historic achievement in the women’s gymnastics. What really amazes me is the moving story behind the journey of this sixteen-year-old athlete to the top, which I won’t recap here since I am sure by now most of the world knows.
What does this have to do with Christianity and our service to God? In contrast to the excellence I see displayed at the Olympics, I see too much sloppy work for the Kingdom of God. Let me just vent a little, in this regard. These are just a few of my gripes about the way some churches handle God’s business:
• They fail to take pride in the outer appearance of the church’s property
• The choir sings as if it had not practiced and perfected what it presents in worship service
• When new members unite with the church, the congregation has no infrastructure in place for making them disciples and moving them into responsible ministry
• The church’s website is not kept current, and the content is sketchy at best
Brothers and sisters, these things ought not be. Now let me clarify this statement. I realize there are churches in very poor parts of the world, and they do a great job with the resources and people they have to work with. No offense intended. I also know there are struggling local churches in prosperous countries like America and other places as well. But the bullets I listed above are based on my observations of some local churches that have but one bottom line problem—a lack of commitment to the work of the Lord.
You see, my conviction is that the work of the Lord is the most important work in the world. We, the people of God, ought to handle it as such. I don’t watch a lot of the Olympics, but I can tell you that during the portions I see, it is evident that the athletes have made the preparations necessary to do their thing with excellence.
Personally, I admire the sacrifices the athletes competing in the 2012 Olympics make to train and to perfect their performance, hoping to bring home the gold. “Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible” (1 Cor. 9: 25). That’s the point: What we do for God is far more important and the crown we shall receive is far more valuable, so why don't we commit ourselves to excellence in our service to God?
Copyright ©2012 by Frank King. All rights reserved.
While I was sitting at the barber yesterday, a news piece came on TV announcing Gabby Douglas’ historic achievement in the women’s gymnastics. What really amazes me is the moving story behind the journey of this sixteen-year-old athlete to the top, which I won’t recap here since I am sure by now most of the world knows.
What does this have to do with Christianity and our service to God? In contrast to the excellence I see displayed at the Olympics, I see too much sloppy work for the Kingdom of God. Let me just vent a little, in this regard. These are just a few of my gripes about the way some churches handle God’s business:
• They fail to take pride in the outer appearance of the church’s property
• The choir sings as if it had not practiced and perfected what it presents in worship service
• When new members unite with the church, the congregation has no infrastructure in place for making them disciples and moving them into responsible ministry
• The church’s website is not kept current, and the content is sketchy at best
Brothers and sisters, these things ought not be. Now let me clarify this statement. I realize there are churches in very poor parts of the world, and they do a great job with the resources and people they have to work with. No offense intended. I also know there are struggling local churches in prosperous countries like America and other places as well. But the bullets I listed above are based on my observations of some local churches that have but one bottom line problem—a lack of commitment to the work of the Lord.
You see, my conviction is that the work of the Lord is the most important work in the world. We, the people of God, ought to handle it as such. I don’t watch a lot of the Olympics, but I can tell you that during the portions I see, it is evident that the athletes have made the preparations necessary to do their thing with excellence.
Personally, I admire the sacrifices the athletes competing in the 2012 Olympics make to train and to perfect their performance, hoping to bring home the gold. “Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible” (1 Cor. 9: 25). That’s the point: What we do for God is far more important and the crown we shall receive is far more valuable, so why don't we commit ourselves to excellence in our service to God?
Copyright ©2012 by Frank King. All rights reserved.
2 comments:
It's refreshing to hear a preacher concerned like this about the church and Oh how I wish you were around when I was baptised as an adult and was trying to point out all of these things ( plus many others things) in a nice godly way. Well, it didn't go down to well, and now, after all the abuse, heartache, and disillusion, I am somewhat a different person.
I don't understand that if people really and truly believe in God, and in the bible, why they would not want to do their very best to please him and to keep his house in order (to the best of their ability of course) I can only explain it like this. You own a gold watch. You do everything to keep it in good working order. You put it away carefully when you're not wearing it. You have it serviced if you think it is running too slow. You don't get it wet. You insure it and will turn the whole house upside down if you lost it etc etc. So why when it comes to the things of God do people get lazy?
My conclusion is that they don't really know or believe who they are serving.
Nice Post.
Good points. The things we truly value we will handle with care and always give it due attention. There is certainly too little of that happening in the house of God these days.
I will also add that 30 years ago when I started preaching it seemed to me that more people cared more for the things of God. But society has really changed since that time and not for the better. Even church members appear to be too preoccupied with the things of this world. The end result is that the work is plenteous but the workers are way too few.
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