You Have Something to Offer

When I meet with people who would like to become members of our church, I emphasize three points that I believe every Christian should know.  I’ve already explained the first two: God loves you, and it is important to spend time every day reading the Bible and in prayer.  The third message for us all to remember is:

You have something to offer.

God knows what he is doing when he brings people together as a church.  Each person has something unique to share that no one else can provide in the same way.  The Lord gives each of us an ability, passion, or resource that is essential for the church to be a healthy, thriving witness of his love and grace.  When we each use the gifts that God has provided, he is glorified, we are drawn closer to him and to each other, and our community and world are blessed.

The Bible refers to the church as “the body of Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:27).  Our bodies consist of many components, and we need each of them.  If even one miniscule enzyme is out of whack, we suffer and may even die.  Just as we need every part of our bodies to function well, Christ’s body needs every one of us in order to be healthy.

Our bodies do not have spare parts, and they do not have useless parts.  In the same way, when God brought you into our fellowship, he equipped you with something vitally important for us all.  No exceptions.  If you do not use what God has given to you, we will all suffer.

Not all gifts are flashy and noticeable.  We may all recognize the gifts of worship leaders, teachers, and elders, for example.  But someone puts out the garbage each week.  Somebody invited that guest in worship sitting across from you.  Someone tends to the landscaping.  Someone made sure we knew an individual was in the hospital or is in need.  Someone put together this newsletter that you’re reading.  You may never know who these people are, but without them our church be only a shadow of God’s dream for it.

Unfortunately, God’s plans for our church do not always come to reality.

·         We may not know what our gifts are.

·         We may not be willing to use our gifts.

·         The church may not provide an opportunity to use our gifts.

When we do not provide what we have to offer, the church can get by somehow.  But it fails to be the thriving powerhouse that God desires.

When we use what God has given us to offer, something amazing happens.  Normally, when you give something away, you no longer have it.  But in the Lord’s wonderfully crazy way of running the world, when you serve and give, you receive and are blessed with exactly what you need as well.  Yes, there may be times when you are frustrated or weary.  But overall, providing what you have to offer will bring life to your spirit and draw you closer to God.

What do you have to offer?  If you don’t know yet, I encourage you to try out a few possibilities until you discover it.  And when you do, it may surprise you!

Daily Time with God

In the last post I described the first of three points that I emphasize about the Christian life for people preparing to become church members: “God loves us.”  This month, I’d like to describe my second encouragement:

Spend Time Every Day Reading the Bible and in Prayer.

Becoming a Christian is the easiest thing in the world: Jesus Christ took care of that on the cross.  Nothing needs to be added his perfect work in suffering, death, and resurrection to accomplish the goal of a perfect relationship with God.  All we do is receive and accept what he has done for us.  On the other hand, remaining a Christian is one of the hardest things you will ever endeavor.  We face constant pressure, from the passions, willfulness, and pride within us and from the appeal and force of competing claims around us, to revert to a life in which God is at the periphery.  Daily time focused intentionally upon the One who seeks to draw us back to him is the best way for us to respond to and to overcome this pressure.

Jesus once said of the Good Shepherd that “his sheep follow him because they know his voice” (John 10:4).  It takes time and practice for us to recognize and to follow the voice of our Shepherd.  The voice often comes to us faintly, and we struggle to distinguish it from the many other voices that shout at us.  But the more time we spend seeking that voice, the easier it will become for us to identify it through the din that overwhelms our spiritual ears.

If you want to develop a skill or an ability, start where you are and become stronger or more adept with practice over time.  In the same way, your prayer life and your ability to recognize the Spirit’s voice through Scripture develops over time.  If you feel discouraged because great spiritual insights don’t flow upon you, or because you can’t make heads nor tails out of a Bible passage, don’t sweat it.  Even Arnold Schwarzenegger had to start on the light weights before he became a champion body builder.  Daily exercise will strengthen your spiritual muscles.

You don’t have to impress anyone with your daily time with God.  So often we tend to fall into “performance-ism:” doing things so that others can see us doing it, and ensuring that they will admire or appreciate what we’re doing.  When performance-ism strikes our time with God, we focus no longer upon the Lord, but on what we can tell others about our time with God.  Our devotional activities become a game of one-upsmanship, as we try to outdo one another in our descriptions of the blessings we receive from our spiritual disciplines.  Resist the temptation, either to boast about your practices, or to feel inadequate in comparison to someone else’s.  Nobody needs to know how you spend your time with God except for God.  And there’s no need to impress him; he’s already hopelessly in love with you.

How should you spend your time each day with the Lord?  You have many options about what to do, and I can give you suggestions if you like.  But the best way is the way that works for you.