Thursday, September 10, 2020

Stop Wasting Your Church's (and Ultimately, God's) Resources

Right now, I think there is someone who needs to hear this. Right now, I think I'm going to offend someone. Right now, I could just be preaching to me. A few weeks back, our pastor preached a sermon entitled, "Endgame." Starting with the premise that God desires to make Himself known, Pastor, through Scripture, led us to the conclusion that we, as Christians, should share the same objective: to make God known to all. Sharing in that mission, as we are privileged, equipped and ordained to do, we should live in a way that brings that goal to fruition. Our endgame should always be to make the name of El Elyon known to all the earth that He might receive the praise of everyone. Our endgame is to live to God's glory! 

During the sermon, a thought came to mind and it has bugged me ever since: Am I wasting my church's resources? Am I sitting in this pew week after week, hearing word after word but not doing much of anything to make the name of the Lord known throughout the earth? 

Life can get a little intense from time to time. Things can get so busy, I feel I am merely putting out fires from one day to the next. Everybody needs something, they need it now, and they need it from me. Instead of feeling blessed, I'm feeling stressed. "Mom, you're gonna have to wait!" "Don't let the dog out again; she just came in!" "No, I didn't get a chance to stop for milk -- I just brushed my teeth at 1:30!" Not exactly the responses that would cause someone to say to me, "Hey! That God you serve is really awesome! Look how He sustains you through all of this. How do I get to do what you do?" But, just how many Sundays have I sat there "amen-ing" and nodding as our pastor spoke about keeping our eyes on Jesus rather than the waves? How many times have I left church feeling refreshed and motivated, ready to love others and speak life, only to find myself dropping Jesus back off in the pew by Sunday evening? I heard every word, but chose emotions over application. I nodded in agreement, but chose self-sufficiency over service and surrender. And, ultimately, I wasted a perfectly good pew.

Now, I know God wants me there, and I am not advocating anyone stop meeting regularly with other believers, but, we have to take the blessings He has given us seriously. Being able to sit in a church every Sunday, hearing the Word of God preached is a blessing, a valuable resource. We are there to be equipped. But if we are not using the resources we have been given to make the name of the Lord known to others, if we are taking up space, but choosing to live the same way when we leave as we lived when we walked in, we are wasting what we have been given. Maybe even wasting a resource someone else is dying to put to good use. If our church is spending its resources applying and reapplying discipline, teaching and reteaching the same things we refuse to accept or apply in our own life, we have to conclude those resouces may one day run out. If our church is spending its resources repeatedly talking to its people about things like stewardship and service, because we refuse to give and serve, what resources will be left for outreach and evangelism -- for those that have not had the privilege of sitting in a pew week after week?

We need to stop being namby-pamby, spoiled, entitled brats of God, listening to the same message over and over, never really wanting to "get it" (maybe preoccupied wishing others would "get it"), whining about the blessings we don't have and think we should. We need to stop being angry; stop getting our feelings hurt; stop debating and infighting; stop focusing on the obstacles; stop serving ourselves. We need to get ourselves fed. Obey. Apply what we hear and keep it moving. There are others who need and want to hear what Jesus has done for them. There are others who want to follow and obey. There are those hungry for change.

If you're over thirty, you've probably heard the words, "Eat you dinner! There are starving children in (insert third world country here) who would love to have what you have." Maybe as adults, we should say those words a little more frequently to one another.