2014: The Light... 'all ... not every'

‘I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.’ Phil. 4:13

Such an empowering verse …

However, there is a difference between being able to do all things one is confronted with – through the power of Christ – and being able to do everything. Over the past couple of weeks, we have talked about the light and what that means to each of us individually. We have also looked, in part, at what shining the light looks like at home. Today, we talk about the light in the context of church life.

Psalm 92:13-14 tells us, ‘Those who are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing.’

There is indeed a flourishing which comes from being firmly planted in the house of the LORD, growing in the house of the LORD, serving in the house of the LORD. I have experienced it in my life in my home church. Yet, there is also a very delicate balance which must be maintained.

While service in church is needed to facilitate the advancement of kingdom priorities and to fulfill our role as ‘ministers of reconciliation’ (II Cor. 5:8) – it is a poor substitute for actually being in relationship with the King of the kingdom. We see evidence of this in scripture in the story of Martha. In Luke 10 we see her frustrated with the responsibilities of ministry, demanding that Jesus make her sister help. In John chapter twelve, following the death and resurrection of her brother Lazarus, we find Martha doing what she does best – serving, again. The sad thing is that Martha, despite having close fellowship with Jesus, appears to have continued in her struggle of balancing work with worship.

Even so – I must stand alongside every Martha and, at the very least, see things from their perspective: Somebody has got to do the work ... we cannot all lie at the feet of Jesus all day long.

There is a long standing ‘statistical generalization’ which states that 80% of the work in most churches is performed by 20% of the people. While I do not know how accurate that statistic is, many can agree that it, at the very least is on the target somewhere, even if it is not the bulls-eye. Many would also agree that it is not indicative of church health but of spiritual dysfunction.

Scripture plainly tells us that we all have gifts differing (Romans 12:6). It goes on to tell us that we all – being different parts, with varying responsibilities – make up the church of Christ, the body of Christ.

Therefore, the next logical question is:

Since we all are different parts and have different roles, why does the problem persist, why does a mouth have to do double-duty as a foot or hand? Why is it that all are not shining their light, doing their part? Simple question …. Multi-faceted answer

Therefore, let us start at the top …

THE LEADERSHIP – There is a quote attributed to motivational speaker John Maxwell which states that ‘Everything rises and falls on leadership.’ And, while I do not co-sign to this sentiment 100%, there is some truth to the statement. Leaders do have an added responsibility. In a post I shared several months ago, I noted the following regarding leadership:

‘To lead is to live a life under intense scrutiny – no matter what you do. There is unimaginable opposition and true leadership requires constant covering and protection. Leaders are not perfect … yet they have taken on the often thankless position of leading.’

With that said, PLEASE understand that I am not attacking leadership. Leaders and followers alike are blessed with the same gift of free-will granted to us by the LORD God Almighty. Each person must own their individual decisions and the consequences – favorable or unfavorable – of those choices. Unfortunately, in the area of serving and letting one’s light shine in the house of God, leaders often find themselves wedged between the difficult place of managing all the responsibilities which facilitate ministry and the more difficult place of finding fully-engaged co-laborers who will assume some of the responsibility.

Recognizing and applauding the results that many in church leadership are able to accomplish, I would be missing the point of our 2014 The Light series if I did not focus on areas where we can improve, where we can shine brighter. I say we, because I am at all times both a leader and follower, in every area of my life – church, home and work. In the coming weeks and months we will look at ‘The Light of the Leader’ from an all-encompassing standpoint. However, for today, let me say that there are many church leaders who unwittingly contribute to the problem that they face.  Subject to human nature – like every other human – a leader will not go to an empty well attempting to draw water. Hence, the leader, when he or she has found a well that produces potable water, will frequent that well – because it is reliable, there is not hard labor involved in retrieving what is needed and it serves the process of quenching the various thirsts associated with ministry. The problem with this approach is the fact that many good wells have been run completely dry as a result. Then, to add insult to injury, the response of the leader is typically not one of thankfulness for the many benefits which came from the well. Rather, the unintentional response from leadership is, ‘Unfruitful well, how come you are not producing anymore!?!’ All the while, a completely untapped well lies dormant with no demands made upon it from leadership. It happens in homes, it happens in business and it happens in churches. It is not an easy task to overcome, by any measure, yet an intentional effort must be made to somehow reach and cultivate the untapped wells. Again, we will delve deeper into this area in the future posts.

THE LAY LEADERS – These are the wells that the leadership tap. They are faithful servants, stepping up to answer the call and meet the needs of ministry. These are individuals – most often – who are spiritually mature, who identify with the mission and values of a particular church group and, most importantly, have a heart for God and people. I say ‘most often’ because the faithful who serve, are not always spiritually mature. Some are spiritually dysfunctional and find involvement in multiple ministries as a way to fulfill a need to be needed. There are also those who, rather than identifying with the mission and values of church establishment, are jockeying for influence and are covertly undermining and tearing away at the fiber of what they claim to support. Then there are those who simply have not learned how to say ‘no’.

Not to add one more task to your plate – but, as a lay leader, it must be understood that we share in the responsibility of equitable distribution of work. One cannot, like Martha, run around doing everything and then become bitter, complaining ‘LORD, make her help!’ We all have choices. Yet, it does not have to be an all-or-nothing situation. We have the ability to be balanced, to protect our light so that it may consistently shine bright and not be dimmed. We also have a responsibility to help mentor and disciple others – to help them shine their own light.

Lastly, there are …

THE LAYING AROUND – These are the untapped wells. They do not fail to produce because there is no water there. They fail to produce because they have been allowed to do so. Their actions [again, intentional or unintentional] are tolerated by peers, by leadership and by themselves. Whether influenced by inexperience, spiritual immaturity, fear or selfishness, they appear all too content to sit and warm a pew/seat. Now, please do not misunderstand me. There will be seasons, for every individual, where you may not be serving officially in an area of ministry. This is not what I am talking about. I am referencing individuals who have been at the same church for five years and have never done anything beyond showing up for church and ministry functions to be served. II Thessalonians 3:10 tells us that a man should not eat if he is unwilling to work. Practically, even the laying-around, can understand this sentiment. Spiritually applied, however, it may be more difficult to grasp a concept of one being unable to benefit from the preached word, the worship and the multitude of ministry services, if one was unwilling to work. What would that look like? The same Spirit that resides in the pastor, the Spirit which raised Christ from the dead, is alive in every believer. Therefore, it hard to imagine any believer being completely inactive with respect to shining light inside and outside of the church. But, we will tackle that in future posts as well.

This is one of the longest posts I have written in quite some time. Yet, I have only barely scratched the surface of shining the light as the church. Throughout the year, we will take bite-sized bits of this topic and we will, through purposeful action, visit the entire matter. However, whether a leader, lay-leader or ‘the laying around’, we each have a charge today:

Shine the light of Christ … in who you are and in how you serve.

And remember, while you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength … you cannot do everything. No leader can do everything, no lay-leader can do everything and no laying-around person should want to stay in that state. For every person, irrespective of role in the body, there must be a commitment to continual growth in Christ. This requires time, energy and resources. Understanding that, let us all work together to ensure that each person is shining their brightest. I assure you, we will experience fewer blown out bulbs and fewer dried up wells. Further, the light which will emanate from the church, into the world, will be even brighter.

Have an Abundantly Blessed Day!