Aloha
Dearest Family,
Watching sports can be exciting and rooting for your favorite team can be a lot
of fun. I remember watching the summer Olympics with my wife and cheering on
the participants in swimming, gymnastics and track and field and being excited
when they won gold medals. These athletes had dedicated many years of their
lives in training to be able to compete against the best athletes in the world.
My wife and I love to watch the games, but we also know that we will never win
a medal just by watching. We have to actually compete.
Early in my military career on submarines I learned that you couldn’t just
watch, you had to participate. (In fact they strongly frown upon those that do
not get involved). We were taught that each person had an important and vital
role to play in the success of the ship’s mission and unless we worked as a
team we would fail to meet our objectives. And when the ship’s mission was
successful, you knew that you were part of that success because each one did
his specific part. Nowhere is this more evident than in the small confines of a
submarine.
Just as active participation is vital for success in activities such as sports
and military service, your participation is required on God’s team as
well. It is sad to say, but I have spoken to lots of brothers and sisters who
seem to be “bored with their faith”. Many believe that their Christian service
means nothing more than sitting in a church pew each week, week after week. If
we are on God’s team, isn’t there more to do than just sitting on a bench?
Christianity was not meant to be a spectator sport. We are all members of the
body of Christ and have important roles to play in the church.
“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” (I Corinthians 12:27 NIV)
In I
Corinthians 12, we learn that just as each body part has an important and vital
function to play in the body’s operation, we each have been given a function to
perform in the body of Christ so that God’s family can function properly.
“For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.“ (I Corinthians 12:14-19)
On God’s team we do not all have the same function, but each person is
essential. We have been given certain talents and abilities that are unique to
us. We use these God-given gifts to serve each other in the church. Each member
of the team has their own specific ministry so that the church can properly
function. And no one can do the ministry chosen for you to do. As I once heard
a minister say, “You are the only you God has. If you don’t do what God
has called you to do, it goes undone.” Romans chapter 12 also
instructs us to serve one other with our certain gifts, our own ministry.
“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift (your ministry) is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.” (Romans 12:4-8)
These are just a few
of the ministries in the church but there are many more. What’s your ministry?
In short, the Apostle Paul is saying, that whatever your ministry happens to
be, start doing it (Get ‘er done).
All team members should praise God (Psalm 30:4). We should
be kind (Ephesians 4:32). We should be patient (Colossians 1:11). We should
look to God to meet our needs (Philippians 4:19). We should speak positives to
each other (Proverbs 18:21). We should stop complaining and ask God to make our
situations better (Philippians 2:14-16). We should be encouraging (I
Thessalonians 5:11). We should take our cues in life from God and let Him tell
us how to go forward (Psalm 119:105). We should find out what God thinks of
things by reading His Word (Romans 12:2). And we should pray for one
another–our fellow teammates (Ephesians 6:18). These are just a few of the
things you can incorporate in your lives every day.
When we start serving in our specific ministry in the
church, we will find that life is exhilarating because we are doing what God
has called us to do. And nothing is more exciting than that. Then we will never
be satisfied just sitting on the bench. We would rather be in the game,
competing. We are on a championship team - God’s team.
Love Always, Ray
“As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” (I Peter 4:10 NASB)
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