Only three (3) to go!!

Wow! Awesome journey thus far. I've been sharing these thoughts to our University group that meets at our condo each Sunday night (I think I've mentioned this before.) We had some good convo (conversation) regarding the issue of "every member a minister and a mentor through incarnational influence." The girls seemed to resonate with that point. I put the challenge out there to be Jesus to your friends and those you meet, make friends for the point of leading them to Christ and find someone you trust/respect to be your mentor and, when you're a bit older, find someone whom you can mentor. I had a few other points for us to discuss but we didn't get past that first one. Like I said: some good convo. And then the girls all talked about boys.

15. Individual members take their personal spiritual lives seriously
A few years ago I worked part time at a Chevron gas station in Maple Ridge, BC. I worked there because I needed to get out and meet unchurched people. I rented a basement suite from a family in our church, I spent most of my free time with church people and I was working on my Masters degree--more church people. I had to get out. So I started working the night shift, two nights a week, at Golden Ears Town Pantry. I enjoyed working there--I made a lot of mistakes but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I don't know if their motto is still the same but at that time we boasted, "We jump to the pump for you!" I didn't because we didn't have full serve but I know that others did. The image is this: sit back and relax...we'll do it all for you. I've seen similar slogans with other organizations. I saw a commercial advertising a hair product. It's apparently really good and they tell us to use their product because "you deserve it." Why do I deserve it? What have I done to actually earn the right to "deserve it"? The image is the same: sit back and do nothing and let us take care of it for you.
Don't get me wrong, I don't mind if someone wants to "jump to the pump" for me, nor do I mind automatically deserving something. The trouble is this: I buy into the notion that I can sit back and let others do things for me. I take it a step further and believe that if something's not going right or life just isn't going my way then somehow that's someone else's fault. After all, don't I deserve it?
I take this same notion into church. It's easy to go to a church's Sunday service and complain it didn't "do anything" for me. It's easy to complain that the church "has nothing for me." I couldn't worship because you didn't do this, I didn't learn because you didn't do that. Won't someone please jump to the pump for me? It's easy to put the responsibility of my spiritual life into the hands of others.
This point about the church challenges my complacency and puts the responsibility for the spiritual development of myself and my family firmly into my hands. To worship on Sunday I must worship throughout the week and lead my family in worship. To "get something" out of the sermon I must take notes and reflect on it throughout the following week. To see life transformation take place I must take seriously what's preached about and put it into practice.
I've often told team members that I can give them all the training, technical advice and support in the world but there's only one thing I can't give them: initiative. This point about the church is a point about initiative. Picture the church like a fire: if all the members are "on fire" then the whole will be a roaring blaze. If only one or two members are "on fire" the blaze won't be that high.
Comments, questions, concerns, suggestions, addtions, addendums, revisions, clarifications? Add a comment.