The workforce of the church, its laity, elders, and leaders, its pastors and parishioners are not simply the Lord's servants. They are an appearance of the Lord Himself. They are not only gifts of Christ; they are Christ Himself at work. They not only serve His people; they celebrate the privilege to do so. They are supplied by their Lord, used by Him, and kept by Him for his gracious and loving purposes. An officeholder such as a congregational chairman or a member of a board, doesn't run the church, equip the church, or empower her. Neither do those who tithe fund the church.
They will tell you that is a great relief.
If the fate of the church rested on the ideas, intuition, and energies of those who hold office, or if the church depended on the amount of its offerings, the church would surely lose its way. Each new "administration" would feel compelled to reinvent the organization, come up with innovative objectives and effective ways to achieve them ... a recipe for frustration.
How great it is that God doesn't give us formulas for "doing" church. Real life is not a procedure mastered by following some holy method. Life is born of Christ. The church is not an algorithm or list of instructions for completing religious tasks.
The church is the living, breathing, blood-pulsating Body of Christ. The church is our undivided Lord Jesus into Whom we have been united by baptism and the Word as living components of Christ Himself.
Every Christian is a little Christ. Every Christian is a servant. Every Christian believer is united in our Lord Jesus with all those who have been baptized into His Name. As a part of the body therefore, every member serves and blesses each other. Leaders serve by leading. Those led serve by following loyally. Members share with each other. Believers give and the whole body benefits.
From where did the idea ever come that Christians give away? A Christian never becomes poorer by service. A member of Christ is never drained or diminished by giving. The priest and Levite of Luke 10 are to be pitied far more than the man stripped, beaten, and left for dead.
Why? Because the Samaritan servant came along and rescued the man who fell among thieves. It was really Christ who acts in mercy, who binds up wounds and pours on oil and wine. The Parable of the Good Samaritan is really about Jesus who carries the broken to the place of refreshment, cares for every need, pays for our safeguarding, and promises he will provide if anything more is needed.
Is this not how we then see ourselves as the Body of Christ?
Not to serve is to be deprived. Not to work is the real burden. Not to help is not nearly so much a misfortune for others as it is to those who won't serve.
St. Paul wrote in First Corinthians 12:20-21, As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." How wonderful is a body in which the hand serves the welfare of every other member of the body. The eye serves the interests of the limbs and the head governs the welfare of all.
Being the church is about being served before it is ever about serving. We are first given life in our Lord. Then, and only then, may we live for others. One cannot be a servant in the kingdom of God without first being supplied, without first being united to Christ by holy baptism. And once we are united with Christ, all we do for others is essentially Christ working through us.
Faithful Christians don't have the church put into their hands to run it. They become the hands of Christ. He uses each to care for His Body, the church. Someone who doesn't serve cannot truthfully call himself a Christian. Anyone who means to live without the Lord's Word, the Lord's supply, or the Lord's keeping and loving purposes is an impostor and hypocrite.
Not part of the workforce; not contributing, not serving or supporting negates the very meaning of being a Christian. Ironically, to those who do nothing, give nothing, and support nothing consider this a great relief-a fortunate circumstance that serving, responsibility, participation, problems and accountability can fall to others. They turn the wealth of Christ upside-down.
That is why I am so thankful for the many blessed true servants we have at Grace. They will be the first to tell you they often feel ill equipped, overloaded, or puzzled how best to go about their tasks. They worry and wonder why the tasks are hard. They don't always have the answers. They struggle, but they do so with the confidence that by themselves they accomplish nothing.
It is Christ who builds His church, and He does so, not with great, powerful human ideas and resources, not with deep financial reserves or the assembled notions of smart people with the latest brainstorm. He does it by serving us with the means of grace, the unpretentious elements of water, bread, and wine united in His Word.
He serves us. He endows us with His own life. Then He sends us to participate in the great benefit and joy of blessing others by service. I am enormously grateful to the Lord for those at Grace who serve in exactly that understanding. God bless you.
