WE ARE THE CHURCH!
Dear People of God,
Scene #1: The football team nearest us is standing together, heads bowed in prayer, with the coach in the center. Suddenly, they give a big cheer, and the coach trots out on the field by himself. The players go sit on the bench. “What going on?” we ask as we stick a microphone in front of a 250 pound guard. “What’s the coach doing out there?” “Oh, he’s going out to play today!” “All by himself??” “Sure, why not? He’s had a lot more experience and training than the rest of us. We’ve got a lot of rookies on this team, and we might make mistakes. Anyway, we pay the coach well. We’re here to cheer and support him – and look at the huge crowd that’s come to watch him play!” Bewildered, we watch as the opposing team kicks off. The coach catches the ball. He valiantly charges up the field, but is buried under eleven opposing tacklers. He’s carried off half conscious … You think that’s ridiculous? But isn’t it the picture many of us have of the church? The members expect the pastor do the preaching, praying, witnessing, and visiting because he’s paid to do the Lord’s work and he’s better trained. But listen to God’s Game Plan. According to Ephesians 4:11-12, Christ has given the Church “apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teacher to prepare God’s people for works of service.” God gives leaders to the church, not to do all the work, but to help all of God’s people to do it! Lay people are not simply to pay pastors and evangelists to do the Lord’s work – rather, pastors, evangelists and teachers are to equip God’s people to be ministers!
Now look at Scene #2: The football team realizes that they’ve got to play, so they’re on the field in a huddle. They huddle … and huddle … and huddle some more. The referee calls a penalty for delaying the game and moves the ball back five yards. Still the team huddles and huddles and huddles. The referee calls penalty after penalty, until finally the ball is moved back all the way to the goal line. “Hey coach!” shouts the quarterback to the sidelines. “This is the greatest huddle I’ve ever been in … What a group of guys! We have the best fellowship … and some of these guys are amazing students of the playbook. Some have me-morized over a hundred plays and can analyze them precisely! We learn so much in this huddle!” The coach shouts back, “Why don’t you get up on the line and play?” “Why should we?” is the response. “What we want is bigger and better huddles! Besides, we might get hurt. No one ever got hurt in a huddle!” Our church is in trouble if we allow ourselves to become a holy huddle – a band of saints gathered Sunday after Sunday, singing, praising, enjoying each other – but never setting out on the line to apply what we have learned! The church is Christ’s body: His hands, His feet, and His voice – by which He carries out His plans in the world. God intends that “through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known” (Ephesians 3:10). The church is to be God’s light in a dark world. The Christian life was never meant to be lived only in the church – it’s meant to lived in the public arena: on the firing line at school, the office, at home, in the neighborhood – seven days a week! Of course, we need worship and training and fellowship with one other Christians – a football team needs the huddle! But what happens after the huddle is what the game is all about!
Please keep in mind that Christmas Eve is the most attended day of worship on the Church Calendar – and people are much more open to attending the Christmas Eve Service than any other! So don’t hesitate to ask your family, friends, relatives, co-workers and neighbors to join you on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day to worship the new-born King!
Pastor Hank
