It’s a commonly known fact among the servant-hearted, go-getter church goers that 20% or less of a church congregation does all of the serving and a whopping 80% or more does nothing but attend, observe, and expect to be served. Writing about this may make me seem harsh, cruel, and offensive but that is not the attitude of my heart. I am just tired and discouraged by the lack of zeal and willingness to serve that I see among the body of Christ. I write this because I sincerely love you, I passionately love our Lord Jesus Christ, and this love compels me to speak! So please accept my apologies if my words inconvenience your comfort. In all honesty, this is something that must be addressed.
The 20% (or less) of church goers are exhausted. We’re wondering if we are enabling the 80% (or more) to continue living selfishly or if we’re actually glorifying the Lord we love. He did not command 20% of His body to carry the other 80%. He died for the WHOLE ENTIRE body. He offers His enabling power to work throughout the WHOLE ENTIRE body. But it seems that the majority of the body has been sitting so still for so long that it has fallen asleep and is now numb and unresponsive to the commands that the Brain is sending out. Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night unable to feel your arm or your leg? It just feels heavy and numb. You are in such a sleepy state that you are tempted to lie back down and slumber some more but the reality that your numb arm or leg is a part of you beckons you to shake the lifeless limb like a crazy person until it starts to tingle. The tingles hurt and tickle. It’s totally uncomfortable. But you shake it nonetheless because that discomfort is bringing it back to life before the lack of blood circulation causes it to turn blue and wither away. Well, my friends, many of you have become numb and lifeless as members of the church body and my words here are my attempt at vigorously shaking you to wake you up. You will feel discomfort in the process, but that is just His blood flowing through you again and reviving you to fulfill His purpose for you in His body. Do not ignore Him. Wake up!
Do you only attend church and church functions when it is convenient for your schedule? Do you allow work, sports, and other outside events to be of greater importance to you? Do you shy away from leadership roles, expecting someone else to do it instead? Perhaps your priority is your feelings of complacency, inadequacy, or lethargy. Maybe you used to be a part of the 20% and you were so burned out that you decided to disappear into the 80% crowd. Whatever your diversion is, I am begging you to please, please soften your heart toward the Holy Spirit and become a living, active member of this body of Christ.
Convenience is an attitude of selfishness. If we have given our lives over to Jesus Christ we have no reason or business being selfish. Our hearts, minds, and entire lives should daily be conformed to Him, reflecting His heart that is selfless and full of love. We are not to rely on ourselves but on Him. His blood covers our every sin, inadequacy, weakness, and failure. He willingly gave His life for us and took on the full wrath of God in our place. As a result, He accepts us as we are but loves us too much to leave us that way. When we confess our belief in Him and choose to give our lives to Him He begins to change us but often we fall right back into our old patterns and fight Him for control. I say “we” because I am included in this. We must surrender ourselves to Him daily, along with every worry, doubt, responsibility, and belonging. His salvation is played out in our lives anew each and every day.
“Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?’”
–Luke 9:23-25
Sanctified and Surrendered by Caitlin Marie Stacy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
–Luke 9:23-25
Are we His disciples? Are we His body? In our individual lives is He our head? In our congregation is He our head? We MUST ask these bold questions and answer them honestly. We MUST allow Him to have Lordship over our lives so He can remake us into His new creations for His glory. His blood covers us, allowing Him to see us as righteous. We cannot appease our heavenly Father and have no need to because Christ already did. So why are we not responding to Christ as thankful, abandoned, obedient servants? Why do we allow so many temporary things to be of more importance than Him and His glory? We need to be united as His body and it starts with repentance and submission to Him in our personal lives.
The 20% (or less) cannot carry the 80% (or more). Eventually that 80% will die off and the 20% will go on in Christ without them. As Jesus told His disciples, the branches of the Vine that bear no fruit will be cut off by the Gardener while the branches that do bear fruit will be pruned and made more fruitful.
“’I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”
-John 15:1-6
If we do not remain in Him, we will be cut off. We can do nothing apart from Him. His strength, joy, peace, and wisdom are available to us when we daily choose to surrender ourselves to Him again and abide safely in Him, our true Vine.
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.”
–John 15:9-17
–John 15:9-17
Jesus loves us. We need not ask why. We need only trust and respond to His love as He commands us- in obedience, loving each other and laying aside our rights and conveniences to serve one another. In doing so, we serve and love Christ. He is our strength and ability to love and serve. Let us not waste one more second living for ourselves and this world. Let us choose this moment to surrender to Him and allow Him to prune us and bear fruit through us. That is why we live. We are here for His glory; to know Him intimately and abide in Him. We are to be his complete, 100% thriving body. No more 20/80% separation.
Every convenience of this world is temporary. By the world’s standards Christ is inconvenient but that matters not because He is worthy. Dying for you and me was not convenient for Him. Living for Him overcomes every inconvenience. What do you choose: convenience or Christ? The choice is yours.
Sanctified and Surrendered by Caitlin Marie Stacy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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