January 31, 2020 – Click here to listen
Most partnerships are destroyed due to divisive partners. In fact, I’ve never had a partnership in business that worked. Invariably one of the partners thinks they are putting in more money, time, effort, and business acumen into the business than the other. This resentful behavior acts like poison and will effectively kill the business dead as a flying goose in a hailstorm.
Ministries are just as susceptible to this kind of division and many have gone down in flames because of it. Christ desires for the body of Christ to be unified. We are to work as one. Serving Christ is the only objective. We cannot be the center of attention and no matter what we might think of ourselves, it is Christ and not us that is the center of attention.
If you serve Christ in any capacity, you can know that your job is just as important. Take the fight against lung cancer as an example. The surgeons and oncologists are often in the spotlight as the champions against the fight to solve this problem. But there are those who work tedious jobs running experiments for years on end to find cures that no one ever hears of are just as much champions as the most brilliant surgeon. Those who wage the anti-smoking campaigns and fund the same to prevent lung cancer all have an important purpose and are champions of Christ too. The same goes for a church. The pastor gets the recognition and many of them allow it to go their head and become arrogant buffoons. What happens behind the scenes with vast teams of greeters, ushers, counselors, assistants, and assistants to the assistants, prayer warriors, Bible teachers, groundskeepers, bus drivers, nursery workers, cafeteria workers, marketing people, musicians and sound technicians, security, etc. are all serving God and He values every last one of those who toil for Him. They are all champions for Christ.
I believe God chose the term “body of Christ” carefully. Our bodies cannot subsist just on the eyes, nose, mouth, and so on. If we were all eyes, we could see but that is it. The entire organism must work together in order to be effective. A church is exactly the same. Thus, you should never feel as though what you do for Christ s less valuable or more valuable than what anyone else contributes. God has a purpose for all of us and we are to use whatever gifts we might have to serve Him and do so cheerfully.
Romans 12:4
Just as each of us has one body with many members, and not all members have the same function, so in Christ we who are many are one body, and each member belongs to one another. We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If one’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith; if it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is giving, let him give generously; if it is leading, let him lead with diligence; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good . . .
Have a great weekend and go to church this Sunday!