Hop In
Dear Faith Family,
To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up the body of Christ, (Ephesians 4:12).
I watched like a kid from the outside of a sandbox. The Matchbox trucks and front-end loaders hauling massive mounds of sand from their (random, untrained, element-driven) current pile to their designated dropoff. Scoop. Haul. Dump. Distribute. Level (governing the pitch for proper drainage). And smooth. It was a spectator’s dream.
And then he said, “hop in”. Wait. What?! Ok. Maybe it wasn’t a kid’s sandbox. And maybe it wasn’t a Matchbox. In fact, it was a friend of mine operating a Bobcat with precision. His sandbox? A horse arena. It was a thing of beauty to watch. And then this happened. I heard him say “hop in”!
At that point, two competing thoughts drew swords. On one side, I was tickled with the thought of operating a grownup Matchbox! Who doesn’t want to play in the dirt with heavy equipment?! The opposing sword? A little voice asking questions like: “What if you do it wrong? What if you break something? What if you drive through the fence around the ‘sandbox’?” (My friend calmly responded that there was nothing some wood and a few screws couldn’t fix.)
Here’s the point. Church is not a spectator’s sport. In fact, church is not this thing over there somewhere that we (believers) get to watch. It isn’t a separate entity apart from the people of God. No, the church is us. And although we have the privilege of watching God at work in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ, we are called to “hop in”. To participate.
I get it. The thought of getting involved is frightening for some of you. Maybe you just need to hear the call of Christ to “hop in”. He’s here. He knows what He’s doing. He can handle you and everyone else and everything else. There is nothing to fear. Jesus is here!
Some of you need to hear the invitation with the sheer delight that you get to follow Jesus and serve Him. Are you aware of what a privilege it is to hear Him say to you, “hop in”?! He called you to serve. In Christ you’re an operator. So, hop in! Explore some opportunities like taking a brother or sister to lunch and ask them how you can pray for them. (Don’t just nod and say that sounds like a good idea. Hop in. Make the call.). Like asking if you can help with a Sunday School class. Like asking if you could serve with the praise team. Like reaching out to a neighbor and introducing yourself. Like…. Ready? Hop in!
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