What if everyone at the Church you attended was a member just like you? What would that Church look like? Would it be empty except at Easter and Christmas? Would Sunday School have anyone in attendance? Would the offering plate be passed along with scarcely a dollar placed in it for the ministries of the Church? Would the Pastor be encouraged or defeated? Would anyone ever be invited to join the congregation for worship? Would Wednesday Evening services need to be cancelled due to lack of interest and involvement? Would the Church even need to bother opening its doors?
What if the Church you attended was filled with members just exactly like you? Just as committed as you? Just as willing to contribute as you? Just as willing to work as you? Just as willing to pray as you? Just as willing to study the Bible as you?
What if the Church you attended looked just like you?
Many Christians seem to believe that doing Church is up to everyone else. Let others invite their friends to worship; let others put more than a dollar in the plate to see that the work of ministry is funded; let others pray; let others study Scripture; let others work in VBS; let others attend regularly. Let others, in short, be involved, engaged, and committed.
But what about you? Why not you? Why let others do all the heavy lifting, all the witnessing, all the praying, all the studying, all the working, all the teaching, all the giving while you reap the benefits of it all and are privileged to attend, when your heart seems to prod you to it, a Church that's doing the work and Word of Christ?
You will want others to pray for you sometime; why not pray for others now. You will want to know what Scripture says about some issue when you confront it; why not study it now. You will want ministry at some point; why not be involved in ministry now. You will want your kids and grandkids to be in VBS; why not work in VBS now?
The real question, I suppose, that every Christian (who actually is a Christian) needs to ask him or herself is, if I am less committed to Christ than I should be, why am I less committed to Christ than I should be? What have I found in Christ that is so reprehensible that I am unwilling to give myself to him as he has given himself for me?
What if the Church you attended were filled with people committed like you?
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