One of the great joys I have as a pastor is training volunteers to do ministry. The Church is a beautiful organism, made-up of everyday people who have pledged their love and faith to the Lord Jesus Christ. A Church cannot function without these special people. No pastor can do all the work that is needed to be done. No staff member, board member, or deacon can do everything that is needed for the Kingdom. The load of God’s work must be carried by all His followers. And when they work in unison it really is a beautiful thing to behold.
The Apostle Paul picks up on this while writing to the Church in Corinth. The Church, the Ekklesia of God, is the called out assembly of Christ-followers. Christ Himself is the Head of the Church, not a man, but Christ. And Paul explains in the 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians, that we as Christ-followers make-up the Body of Christ, the Church! Paul writes, “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body…For in fact the body is not one member but many.” (1 Cor 12: 12-14 NKJV).
Everyone is important in God’s family. Each of us as believers has an important role in making up the representation of Christ’ body on the earth. Paul goes on to inform the members in Corinth that we don’t all have the same function just as the foot is not like the hand and the ear is not like the eye. Sometimes Christ-followers judge their value to the Kingdom by their responsibilities within the local fellowship of believers (local church). Perhaps that was what was happening in Corinth and the reason Paul is addressing the issue. It’s easy to acknowledge the one out in the front, or on the stage and forget to acknowledge the one behind the stage or down in the nursery.
In verses 22 and 23, the great preacher Paul writes, “No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor…” Paul is saying, “Here’s one for all the folks in the nursery, the ones down in Children’s Church, the ones in the sound booth, the ones working the parking lots, the ones greeting and ushering at the doors and info centers, the ones who take out the trash, who sweep the floors, the ones who clean the restrooms. Here’s one for you! Your Are Valuable to the Kingdom of God! Way to Go! We applaud you!”
So let me take an opportunity right here and now and give a big salute to all of you who are serving Christ in the local church, to all of you who visit the elderly, the sick, the lonely. To you who share Christ with your neighbors, co-workers, classmates, we say “You are awesome!” To you who pay your tithes every week, pray for the needy, who are faithful week after week to worship our great God and King with your church-family, we honor you. To you who live lives of integrity, generosity, compassion, meekness, faith, we say, “The world is better place because of you.” It’s people like you that make pastor’s wake-up each morning and thank God that He has called them to lead some wonderful people.
Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
